Frot n Spec's Navvydrome sponsored 'Donut o Delite' solar heating array.

[Paulh_Boats]

Kingspan will float, so will polystyrene.

[knighty]

pah, I'm surprised you haven't hooked it into your genny hot loop to heat it with that yet :-o

you're letting us down here, the only way you can re-gain our confidence if you make an engine/hot tub heat exchanger out of that cheese with holes in it :-o

[MN]

We have one of these beasties in the garden too.

I rigged it up to a time switch and have it running on economy 7
But switching it on and off means it defaults to 35oC – so when we need to use it we need to turn it on and up the temperature to 39oC and wait for a couple of hours.

I can not isolate the hub from other electrics so I can not tell how much it costs – so your figures are very interesting to me.

I have been wondering if it is better to
1.   Continue with the 35oC economy seven way
2.   Leave it at 38oC constantly on (and up it by 1oC when it is used)

I assume you will be showing us the way to convert to solar at a later date 

Keep the number coming!

BTW – with the extra rockwool insulation – are you worried rats might use it for a nest and nibble at your electrics?

MN

[Rooster]

pah, I'm surprised you haven't hooked it into your genny hot loop to heat it with that yet :-o

Perhaps the 'Lard Crunch' is starting to bite. 

[martin]

I'm eagerly awaiting the polar bear enclosure to house the dispossessed bears as they drop off their ice floes - perhaps a loop for a gshp in their pool water could provide the warmth for the "donut", powered of course by lard

[kristen]

"Kingspan will float"

My Kingspan KoolTerm pipe insulation (is that the same stuff?) gets very soggy when wet, and looks like its not going to work well when wet, but I don;t know that for sure

[wigmyster]

Hi
I had the same problem. I managed to stuff mine with loft insulation. It went down from 20KWh to a now still painfull 8. Huge difference.

I would like to make my own stainless manifold with blind heat pipe tubes. Use a 12v pump & controller & circulate the water around 30 58mm tubes or like the thread I have just started use a 1kw turbine directly linked to a stainless steel heating element again circulating the water.

[frotter]

Good comments chaps....
Re using Ivor and Sweet Lard to heat it - i would absolutely love to but there is the small matter of it being about 60metres or so away from Chernobyl. Impractical distance i reckons...
Going to get loft rockwool this weekend (fairly determined to keep rodent population OUT!) and stuff its HUGE cavity (ooer..). Also going to make floating foil bubbly cover (thanks Paul...) to fit snuggly under the cover.
MN - Economy 7 seems a good plan. We dont have it here, sadly. Have Lard factor 7 at times though...
Our new Mancooker is slightly smart in that if the lectrik goes out and back on again it retains whatever setting it last saw. This is very handy.....

Now then -

Day1 ¦ Mon 23.2.09 ¦ Reading 1585 ¦ used 16kwh ¦ total per day 16 ¦ (mild, still)

Day2 ¦ Weds 25.2.09 ¦ Reading 1598 (+13) ¦ total used 29kwh ¦ total per day 14.5 ¦ (mild, dull)

Day3 ¦ Wed 25.2.09 ¦ Reading 1612 (+14) ¦ total used 43kwh ¦ total per day 14.3 ¦ (dull, still)


So - 14 kwh today then. It will be brilliant if stuffing (ooer etc...) and cling-filming the blighter gets this down. Ivor could not keep up with this wot with the Lard crunch and all.
The Dark Lord of Spekxxon is materialising here on Saturday to look at stuff and speak long technical phrases unto me. Awesome!

I exspeckt.


 

[knighty]

pah, 60m is nothing! use plastic tube... running underground inside some plastic drain pipe etc.. for insulation, then set it only to run water through that circuit when Ivor is up to temp.... I'd think (guess) that Ivor is making way way way more heat than you can use ?  and remember...  you should be getting 2kw of heat for every 1kw of elecy you get...

even if the hoses etc... lose you a load of heat... you should have loads to lose anyway ?

[wigmyster]

I tried the floating mat idea. I used interlocking expanded foam floor pads (the kind you use to protect the floor from gym equipment etc) & on top of that I sealed loft insulation in poly bags so all in all it was around 150mm thick. Net result loads of hassle getting the stuff in & out & 0.5KWh gain. It was not worth it especially if you are the one left in the wind all wet putting the stuff back in while the FRIENDS are long gone   

You also have to remember that the water has bromine or chlorine in it so you can't directly circulate the water thru any pipe or pump that's metal (stainless is OK) you need to use a heat exchanger.

The temp you leave the tub to idle at is really dependant on how often you use the tub. We use ours about 2-3 times a week & I find leaving it at 37 & whacking it up to 39 about an hour before is best. By the way my 8kWh a day is with using the tub. If its not used it goes down to about 6.5kWh.

[Taffyboy]

I could point you in the direction of a liquid pool cover....Honest!

[wigmyster]

When you stuff it be carefull not cover any motors or obstruct any air intakes.

If you really want the hassle of having a floating cover it needs to be closed cell. Something like plastazote or similar would be good but its expensive. You can use polystyrene but you would have to bag it as the humidity gets into it after a while.

[frotter]

Day1 ¦ Mon 23.2.09 ¦ Reading 1585 ¦ used 16kwh ¦ total per day 16 ¦ (mild, still)

Day2 ¦ Weds 25.2.09 ¦ Reading 1598 (+13) ¦ total used 29kwh ¦ total per day 14.5 ¦ (mild, dull)

Day3 ¦ Wed 25.2.09 ¦ Reading 1612 (+14) ¦ total used 43kwh ¦ total per day 14.3 ¦ (dull, still)

Day4 ¦ Thurs 26.2.09 ¦ Reading 1631(+19!)¦ total used 62kwh ¦ total per day 15.5 ¦ (mild, breezy)


Oh dear..... Enormo lectrik bill building nicely methinks.... Hoping to have some insulation installed after the weekend.

 

[Taffyboy]

Frot, get those mind cogs whirring and think of a way of preheating the air when you turn bubbles on.. Massive heat loss pumping cold air through hot water...

Alternatively, build a woodburner to heat water and air....

[Treebeard]

How about a heater like this:-