Alternative ways for water heaters?

[Forres]

Hi All,

I'm looking for some suggestions on how to alternatively heat water in the house. I have a small homestead here in Lithuania with a small log house and a sauna house. I also have my own water supply from a well I have near by. There's pretty much water reservoirs all over the country so easy to find.

Inside the house I have a main wood burning stove and I have a wood burning oven which can pretty much cover all types of cooking. So even when its -25 outside it only tales about an hour to heat the whole house so I am covered that way for heating and fuel.

Water is pumped from the well which unfortunately is electric and my water heater in the bathroom is electric. The only electric I use is for lighting and heating the water so could quite easily go off grid completely. I am trying to figure out a way of perhaps heating the water from a different tank but would probably need to have another wood burner to do it but pretty sure this is doable. If I am allowed to post photos on here I can post some pictures to give a better idea.

The sauna house is fuelled by wood also and I have a a ten gallon water tank right on front of the coals so the hot stones heat the water. This could be another option to shower or bathe in the sauna but would mean about a 150 meter walk from the main house.

I know I could go solar for the summer and perhaps a geothermal generator for the winter months but trying to stay away from battery banks that would come along with that.
Hopefully I will find a solution.

[Brambles]

https://www.anevay.co.uk/outdoors/water ... stove.html

This is the simplest idea, basically a 'kettle' shaped to go round the flue.

Or this which uses thermo-syphon pronciple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qdb0ZA7UnI

[Yorkshire Andy]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12689

[Mortblanc]

I think this needs to be viewed as a two pronged situation.

Your well is electric.

Your water heater is electric.

If the grid goes down you will not have to worry about either one because neither will work. You will be back to the age old custom of pulling water up from the ground and keeping a kettle on the wood stove, which is the simplest and probably the best solution to the problem.



During normal times the installation of a timer on your electric line would cut down on expense. I have a 50 gallon heater and if I turn off the current it will remain hot for 48 hours. It recovers in about 30 minutes so I only run it for a couple of hours each week to maintain hot water.

If you have a tankless heater it is not running when you are not using hot water so the expense should be minimal.

When hot water becomes an expense that needs to be trimmed I always wonder how much hot water can a person use?

It is the same with operating the well pump. Some things one simply has to have, like a pump on the well and a water heater. It is not an extravagance or luxury, it is a well pump supplying you with the water you need to operate at a civilized level. Some simple things like a well pump and water heater are worth the connection to the grid as a normal part of life. You might be able to cope without them or replace them, but result is not worth the effort when there is a solution as simple as it has been made by the presence of the grid.

I am old enough to remember when the grid was not present. It was not an easy time.

Embrace the technology, and welcome to the 20th century.

[Forres]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Brambles, I like the idea of a water heater that can be attached to a wood burning stove. I think that would be the simplest solution as I only have a simple water heating tank but its a great idea.

Yorkshire Andy, I love that Storm Kettle. That is something that will be added to my kit bag for sure. Its amazing the things I can find out when I ask peoples opinion. I've been bumbling along by myself for too long.

Mortblanc, I appreciate your comments. While I do embrace 21st Century technology, I'm always looking for a back up should the worst happen and the grid goes down for an extended period. Either way I will survive that period, as you say I can haul buckets of water from the well but should be able to source a manual pump over here.

Thanks again everyone.

[MissAnpassad]

This is a version of Brambles idea, but we use these : http://www.nackabyggnadsvard.se/p/eldst ... liter.html

like this:
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/imag ... Y-1zA4JAH6_

And if you ever take the boat over the pond, they cost almost nothing second hand.

[featherstick]

Friends of mine in a semi-off-grid, definitely-no-money situation used to use a massive volcano wood-fired water heater perched over the end of the bath. It was effectively an enormous Kelly Kettle with a tap at the bottom of the reservoir. A small load of wood was enough to heat sufficient water for several baths, especially as the water was effectively boiling when it came out. I can't find a link though.

There are a couple of links for build-your-own rocket stove water heaters though:

http://permaculturenews.org/2013/05/20/ ... er-heater/

[Forres]

Thanks MissApassad and Featherstick, I've certainly got a lot of food for thought now with plenty ideas. I will work on something over the coming months. I go to my farmstead most weekends and always looking at ways to heat the water alternatively.

I'm not too sure how to attach a photo but I'm giving it a try. I hope its successful. But thanks for all your suggestions.

[preparedsurrey]

If it's for heating bath water I stayed at one place where if you wanted a bath they had an old cast iron one sat over the top of a firebox, you filled it with stream water then lit a small fire, come back a while later and sit on a board to keep your bum off the bottom. It's the only time I've had a bath that has got hotter while I've been in it.
Just make sure your bottom isn't wider than the board....

Could you use a 12v pump run from a car battery to pump up water from the well, recharge from a solar panel?