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Old 01-23-11, 10:31 AM   #20
bennelson
Home-Wrecker
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
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Yeah, math is sort of the boring part of all this, but it IS much easier to figure something out on paper before cutting and soldering copper.

The cutting and soldering part is much more FUN though!!!

Another take on all this is the fewer walls, the longer length, and the more heat the fluid can hold, the more efficient the system is.

A long coil of copper pipe inside a big tub of hot water is excellent for transferring heat!

At my house, I don't have a basement, and the solar panel will be ground-mounted, so it's not appropriate for a drainback system.

For a pressurized system, you really need some kind of heat exchanger. I have finally gotten my hands on a combined heat-exchanger and solar heated water tank. It's in my garage, and the weather is below freezing for a couple of months. Once we thaw out in the spring, I can test it out and start work of hooking up my actual - real-world - solar hot water system!!!
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