12-02-2008, 07:20 AM
I have a friend (only person in household) in HPP whos electric bill generally runs about $85/m. Used to be ~ $135/m. She has electric stove, dryer, waterheater, and laptop for a computer. Has always hung her clothes to dry as much as possible. She managed to shave $50/m off electric bill by turning off her waterheater, however she still has hot water. How? Her water pipes run through her attic so during the day she has HOT water coming out of her cold water pipes, cold water (from her off waterheater) in her hot water pipes. Her cold water pipes, even on cloudy days, average about 100 degrees. There is enough piping in her attic for her to take a shower and then the pipes reheat in 30-45 minutes. By making sure she uses all her hot water needs during the day, and using the pre-heat on her dishwasher, she does not even turn on her water heater. Her roof is light colored.
So for a cheap, DIY, unapproved, pre-heating solar system:
Black roof (if you must insulate to keep your house cooler, then insulate the attic floor)
Run HOT water pipes in attic on top of insulation, then to hot water tank
Depending on how hot your attic gets, you may also need to install an expansion tank
Or, if your pipes already run in your attic, just do what my friend does:
Hot faucet = cold water
Cold faucet = hot water
So for a cheap, DIY, unapproved, pre-heating solar system:
Black roof (if you must insulate to keep your house cooler, then insulate the attic floor)
Run HOT water pipes in attic on top of insulation, then to hot water tank
Depending on how hot your attic gets, you may also need to install an expansion tank
Or, if your pipes already run in your attic, just do what my friend does:
Hot faucet = cold water
Cold faucet = hot water