| This article is on a subject that I think is very | | | | free. It was very inexpensive and all the Scouts |
| underutilized in the world and that is solar energy - | | | | and Leaders loved it. Anybody can do this. On |
| and I'm not talking about expensive solar panels | | | | Fontana Lake in the Smoky Mountains, you'll see |
| either. I'm talking about practically FREE solar heat. | | | | big coils of black plastic tubing (and maybe 50 |
| I can't tell you how many emails I get from | | | | gallon drums) on top of the houseboats - that's |
| people complaining about their high energy bills. | | | | their hot water heaters! With a few |
| Someone emailed me a couple of weeks ago and | | | | improvements, you can easily make scalding hot |
| said they were thinking about switching from | | | | water with a system like this. Some |
| natural gas water heating to electric water heating | | | | improvements could be... |
| (they had a radiant floor heating system). That | | | | Making the heating pipes or hose longer. |
| was a "first" for me! Natural gas has always been | | | | Painting the inside surface of your frame black. |
| less expensive than electric (at least in Georgia | | | | Insulating the outside of your frame. |
| anyway). I emailed them back and told them they | | | | Putting a glass cover on the frame to trap the |
| could heat their hot water inexpensively using the | | | | sun's thermal energy inside the frame sort of like |
| sun as I describe in my book "Electricity - Make it, | | | | a solar oven. |
| Don't Buy it". | | | | Insulating your input & output hoses. |
| When I was a Boy Scout, a friend of mine and I | | | | Set up some solar reflectors to channel more |
| got tired of taking cold showers at Camp | | | | rays into your frame. |
| Straughn in Savannah so we decided to take on a | | | | Insulate your holding tank. |
| little "project"... my friend found a huge aluminum | | | | Feed the hot water from your holding tank into |
| tank somewhere and all we did was mount the | | | | your existing hot water heater so you always |
| tank on a stand about 4 feet off the ground. This | | | | have hot water even on cloudy days. |
| is required for the thermosiphon effect to take | | | | You can also feed the hot water into your radiant |
| place as described in the book. The next thing we | | | | home heating system. |
| did was build a simple frame out of 2x4's and | | | | I can assure you... a good chunk of your energy |
| plywood. If I remember correctly we only used | | | | bill goes to heating water and cooking. Nobody |
| one sheet of plywood. We then ran a black hose | | | | uses solar ovens and they are so simple to make |
| serpentine style back and forth horizontally on the | | | | and use and they work like a charm! I encourage |
| frame. I know everyone reading this article has | | | | you to go to and get all the details on how to |
| turned their garden hose on after it has been | | | | make your own solar oven. Doug Edwards runs |
| sitting in the sun for a while and noticed how hot | | | | the site and it is absolutely free. Lots of great |
| the water gets. Down here in the South it will | | | | information there that will definitely cut a big |
| scald you if you're not careful. One end of the | | | | chunk out of your energy bill - not to mention |
| hose was connected to the right/bottom of the | | | | how useful a solar oven will be when the power |
| water tank and entered the lower part of the | | | | goes out. |
| frame - this was the cold water in connection. | | | | And... don't forget about all the home heating |
| The hot water output side came out of the top | | | | principles as described in "Electricity - Make it, |
| of the frame and into the left side of the tank. | | | | Don't Buy it". I guarantee you, solar home heating |
| There was also a "cold water in" line going into the | | | | will save you some money by cutting your |
| tank and a "hot water out" line coming out of the | | | | heating bill dramatically. And it can be as simple as |
| top part of the tank (where the hot water rises) | | | | installing a solar room on your house and |
| and went to the showers. | | | | channeling the heated air into and throughout your |
| That's all there was to it! The water was warm | | | | home. Not only will it heat your home, but you will |
| with this setup and it heated the water absolutely | | | | enjoy the extra space too. |