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Paulh_Boats
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« on: December 03, 2008, 10:04:21 PM » |
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30 tubes/120L, short run of 10mm pipe, DTO 5.5, DTF 3.0
Sunny morning after a sharp frost. Right now at 10pm the tank is 55C (at the top)
Yesterday similar weather, tank 50C in the evening.
No added boiler heat, but the CH pump overrun sends residual heat into cylinder which might add a degree.
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« Last Edit: December 04, 2008, 12:13:19 AM by Paulh_Boats »
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Billy
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« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2008, 10:18:27 PM » |
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That is very encouraging Paul, can't wait for my tubes to arrive and get rid of the immersion, which your figures might suggest is possible at times even in winter.  |
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Navitron 24vx300watt windy thing, 20x47mm toobs,24v Rolls @458ah C5, Victron MultiPlus 3kw inverter/charger, WBS with boiler.
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2008, 10:40:40 PM » |
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Billy,
It all depends on the weather - a couple of long sunny days will give useful heat any time of the year, if you are economical with water.
Unfortunately we don't see the sun much in the winter, which is why I really enjoy frosty sunny weather.
-Paul
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Ivan
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« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2008, 11:39:08 PM » |
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My 260litre tank, bottom heated, no other heat input, raised to 34C at bottom on solar. No where near as impressive as Paul's system, but still a good temperature rise, given the volume of water involved.
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Dan
Jr. Member
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Posts: 96
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« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2008, 12:27:07 AM » |
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HAd a good result in South yorks today as well
I had a power shower for 10 mins or so and as sun was bright made a quick check on the tdc3
temp at 9am 12C at the bottom of the tank and end of the day it was 31C
E/W set up with 2 x20 tube, 2x10m loops of 10mm, 170L odd tank
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try all things at least once
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2008, 12:28:55 AM » |
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The key feature is the retro-coil heating a small volume of water via 30 tubes. That means we get a small volume of hot water, whereas Ivan gets a larger volume of warm water.
Hot water is more useful and rarely needs the boiler, so the small volume is ideal for a water efficient family. Money saved using the 22yr old cylinder easily paid for the larger 30 tube panel.
-Paul
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Ivan
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« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2008, 03:09:11 AM » |
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Sunny all day here, but very cold - outdoor temp between 2 and 5C for most of the day.
Bottom of tank temperature reached 38C. No woodstove input for several days now, so 2/3 of the tank would have been cold (or residual solar heat from yesterday) at the beginning of the day.
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2008, 03:58:31 PM » |
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30 tubes, south-east facing, 120L tank, immersion retro coil
Sunny frosty morning
Top of tank:
Sunrise 35C
11:40 45C
16:00 50C
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Ivan
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« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2008, 04:03:10 PM » |
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Bah!
Sunny all day here today. Temperature reached 35C at bottom of tank, although the solar air heater, increased the bedroom temperature from 17.5 to 19.5C without any central heating assistance
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Hugo
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« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2008, 10:48:02 AM » |
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Paulh with your Temperature gains, come the summer your cylinder will drive a steam powered generator. |
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2008, 01:32:38 PM » |
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Paulh with your Temperature gains, come the summer your cylinder will drive a steam powered generator. Hugo, We almost did this year... 92C was the top-of-tank record.  Next summer we need a heat dump or 3 way valves to switch in the boiler coil so the tank is heated bottom up instead of top down. |
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Hugo
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« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2008, 10:30:40 AM » |
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92c is very high.
How high can you go on a Newark cylinder without the need to worry about leaks.
Come the summer I shall need a heat dump, as I have a 30 tube SDF with a Newark cylinder of 186 L .
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Ivan
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« Reply #12 on: December 20, 2008, 09:31:18 PM » |
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Well the braze/copper won't melt until it gets a lot higher than that. The tank will cope with boiling water, although you don't want it to boil in the tank, and the controller will stop that from happening.
You will potentially get more chemical reactions eg between acid in the water and the copper, so this may shorten the lifespan. I've noticed with my own tank, that in the summer, when we get temperatures of over 75C in the tank, bathwater for the kids has a slight green tinge to it. Some types of limescale precipitate at 70C, so temperatures over this may increase deposition within the tank in areas with high 'temporary hardness' in the water.....this shouldn't influence the chances of leakage, though.
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Ivan
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« Reply #13 on: December 27, 2008, 12:58:34 AM » |
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Bottom of tank up to 36C today, as we had a few hours of cloudless skies. It was overcast early on, but by about 10.30 we had sunshine until late afternoon.
Today I discovered an additional reason why South-facing panels don't do well in deep winter - fully shaded by 2pm (as well as being in main house (E/W roof) shadow until late morning.
On the other hand, the SFG solar air heater was really belting out the heat today - I dangled a temperature probe in front of the hot air delivery vent - temperatures of 50C+ for 3½ hours (until shaded by main roof), with a maximum of just under 54.7C!! With outdoor temperature of no betwee 3 and 5C throughout the day, it was quite impressive. And it's not even South-facing!
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