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Thermosiphon - Sale of House - Easy Shade/shutoff?

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  • Thermosiphon - Sale of House - Easy Shade/shutoff?

    When it was found the propane for my house was alledgedly leaking we decided to put in a solar hot water system. We had a Thermosiphon system put in outside with two panels and a ~90 gallon tank behind our house in Texas since we had concerns with the weight on the old roof. It is similar to these http://www.solahart.com.au/products/...d-systems.aspx

    Worked great for 8 years however we are selling the house and one concern for the house being long term vacant and consistently short term vacant is "Turning Off" the water heater so it doesn't constantly overheat and wear out or fail to fully close the pressure/temp valve and continuously slowly drain out.
    I'm hoping I'm missing something obvious that doesn't require draining the system unfortunately right now my thoughts to make something nice and long term are:
    Building a 5 sided cover with cutouts for the pipes for each panel out of foam insulation and painting it to blend in that one could put on and remove easily.
    Building some kind of roller shade mounted to the top of the panels that could be pulled down to cover the panels.

    We currently either stop by every other day and run the hot water (sometimes steaming) or leave a tap running so it uses about 20-30+ gallons of water which goes into the anerobic septic and used as greywater to tease the lawn with a tiny bit of water through sprinklers. We might just tell the new owners that is the best thing to do and if they don't remember it has an overtemp valve however that the overtemp valve is a fail safe not really meant for everyday use.

  • #2
    I'd get a sheet or 3 of plywood, and build a cover for it. leave it charged with water as normal.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
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    • #3
      Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
      I'd get a sheet or 3 of plywood, and build a cover for it. leave it charged with water as normal.
      Sounds good to me. I'd only add consideration of freezing conditions, which, depending on the situation may/may not need some thought. FWIW, if there are concerns about appearance, Grey corrugated panels appear similar to flat plate coll. I strap mine down w/ bungie cords when I go away and want less concern in case of a power failure. On/off time for 2 X 8 panels, 2 ea. on a 4 X8 coll. is about a min. or less. Cords seem to last ~~1 yr. in sun if left in place.

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      • #4
        Thank you for he replies I Think I'm going to Try a simple lightweight box to slide on top of them. In freezing I found one must fast drip the faucets or a brass t even under pipe insulation freezes. The panels have antifreeze suitable for our local so shouldn't have a problem. The big issue is now through October it'll make steam in a day or two if not regularly used even worse in the summer where the air stays over 100 for nearly 24x7 for days at a time.

        I worry about plywood because it might be difficult to move or damage the panel if moved wrong plus I sadly have no way to get it without renting a truck. There is a guinie pig rescue nearby that sells currigated plastic in sheets i can sort of roll up and I could use to make a five side box to slip on top of each one and I don't think anyone could intentionally do damage with that stuff. Then I just need a bungee to keep it from flying away and at least day one they'll have something till the sun eats the plastic to dust in a few years but by then they won't need it anymore except perhaps during snow/ice storms. Of course with the lack of rain plain old cardboard might last years here.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by evblazer View Post
          Thank you for he replies I Think I'm going to Try a simple lightweight box to slide on top of them. In freezing I found one must fast drip the faucets or a brass t even under pipe insulation freezes. The panels have antifreeze suitable for our local so shouldn't have a problem. The big issue is now through October it'll make steam in a day or two if not regularly used even worse in the summer where the air stays over 100 for nearly 24x7 for days at a time.

          I worry about plywood because it might be difficult to move or damage the panel if moved wrong plus I sadly have no way to get it without renting a truck. There is a guinie pig rescue nearby that sells currigated plastic in sheets i can sort of roll up and I could use to make a five side box to slip on top of each one and I don't think anyone could intentionally do damage with that stuff. Then I just need a bungee to keep it from flying away and at least day one they'll have something till the sun eats the plastic to dust in a few years but by then they won't need it anymore except perhaps during snow/ice storms. Of course with the lack of rain plain old cardboard might last years here.
          Like I wrote, corrugated plastic 2 x 8's last several yrs. at least, bungie cords about a yr. or so. Just make sure the panels are opaque. Depending on how flexible the plastic is from the guinea pig depot and how windy it is in your locale, wind fatigue may extract as big a toll as sun damage. That sometimes happens to stuff that's UV inhibited that shreds in the wind and people think they got screwed figuring the sun did it to a non UV protacted product when it may well have been as much the wind as the sun. One reason why tarps shred sooner than expected sometimes - wind fatigue & sun combined.

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