Tankless Water Heater as Heat Source

[lrrowe]

Like it....on demand water heater.

[MtnDon]

This guy was using a hot water pump as a hot water circulator, so he didn't have to waste water running it down the drain till it got hot.

I did similar thing in our cabin a few years back. But I just used the Shurflo pressure pump. The cabin is off grid and setup with a typical RV water system. I did not want a water feed from outside to inside as I did not want that pipe as a bother in freezing temperatures. (Cabin is raised off ground so any water feed from ground up would be freeze prone)

The hot water bypass / warm up is the valve and hose at upper left. I used a 1/4 turn shut off (lower position) with a s/s braided flex hose back to a fitting and return line. Give the valve a turn and the Shurflo fires up. It takes water from just before the hot side of the mixer. The return line dumps back in the fresh water supply tank.



(the shower head has been replaced with a hose and hand shower since the photo was taken)

If anyone is interested about the cabin follow this link.

[Prem]

irrowe,

Works like a charm . . . with a very large solar array.

And somebody mentioned making hot chocolate with water from the hot water tank.

Here's my Better-Than-Starbucks mocha recipe for camping:

You pour cold chocolate milk in your cup. Sprinkle in a little instant coffee. Take your tongs to the campfire, remove a 2" round rock from the glowing embers. Blow it off, then carefully drop it into your cup. It immediately brings the drink to a boil making some really tasty froth on top.

P.S. It adds healthy minerals to your drink too!

[lrrowe]

MtnDon, I peeked at the first two links on your cabin build. Looks like something I will peek at here and there. You have a lot of posts there to look at.

Prem, why not have a set of sterilized stones by the campfire and use them? I have not totally converted to the wild yet. I don't let dogs lick my face either...getting old I guess.

Bob

[Prem]

Bob,

They've been in the hottest part of the fire. They are sterile!

MtnDon,

How come that shower (humid environment) has wood trim, a wood ceiling, and drywall instead of Hardy Backer (cement board) to put tiles or vinyl on?

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Jerry,
The way I look at it is that one man's idea causes another man to have another idea and so on. By the end of the day, just maybe a great result is achieved. I believe no idea is bad if it causes you to think about it and work out the kinks.

Many ideas never get implemented, but for me at least the formulation and research process is well worth the effort. If one does do not find the idea acceptable after giving it due process then at least he knows it is not for him and does not wonder about it later. Everyday it seems I learn something new from this forum.

Bob

Ok .... now i'm clear, you just want ideas on the theory how it could be done, should someone wanna do it ?
I took my stuff down ....since now I see I was on the wrong page all along
I don't wanna confuse anybody - like I confused myself.

[MtnDon]

Good questions, Prem. Shows somebody is doing more than just looking at the pretty picture.

The wood trim in the corners is that foam stuff that looks like wood. It is set in silicone.
The wood trim around to ceiling perimeter is real redwood, all heart. Polyurethaned on all sides before final installation. Also siliconed in place.
The wall top surface is FRP. Under that is Hardie cement fiber backer board, 1/2 thickness.
The ceiling is T&G Aspen. Each piece was polyurethaned separately before installation. It is installed over Hardie cement fiber board as well.

What really saves it all is that showers are limited to a couple gallons of water each, 4 to 5 for Karen when she washes her hair.
That is because there is no well. A well would likely be a 600 foot deep hole. We haul water and store that in a below ground cistern, hence the economy of water usage.

And if anyone wonders, the light is a 12 VDC Thinlite. Not too much danger of electrocution there.

[lrrowe]

Jerry,
The way I look at it is that one man's idea causes another man to have another idea and so on. By the end of the day, just maybe a great result is achieved. I believe no idea is bad if it causes you to think about it and work out the kinks.

Many ideas never get implemented, but for me at least the formulation and research process is well worth the effort. If one does do not find the idea acceptable after giving it due process then at least he knows it is not for him and does not wonder about it later. Everyday it seems I learn something new from this forum.

Bob

Ok .... now i'm clear, you just want ideas on the theory how it could be done, should someone wanna do it ?
I took my stuff down ....since now I see I was on the wrong page all along
I don't wanna confuse anybody - like I confused myself.

Well, not exactly.....I love this forum for kicking around ideas and then just maybe when I go start some of these ideas, I will not have to reinvent the wheel. Hope that makes sense. In your case, I am thinking of how to give your set-up a mock-up trial with a holding tank to try just to see if it would work for me.

[Prem]

MtnDon,

Got it. New Mexico Rustic.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Jerry,

In your case, I am thinking of how to give your set-up a mock-up trial with a holding tank to try just to see if it would work for me.

Well bob just go and get 6 - 5 gallon HD buckets , use your garden hose & fill her up with hot water.
Then sit back in the trailer & enjoy

[bdosborn]

Stayed up way too late last night going through the cabin build. Very cool stuff.

Bruce

[MtnDon]

Thanks, I did thoroughly enjoy the build. We also enjoy the cabin, the location a lot.

[lrrowe]

If anyone is interested about the cabin follow this link.

MtnDon, I also went through your cabin pictures. I like what you have done. I see a lot of good hard work and creativity.
What did you finally end doing with your "small radiator" project under the cabinet? I might have missed your results when I looked at your cabin build post.

Bob

[MtnDon]

Thanks for the kudos. Well that proved to be unreliable as the water heater flame would go out from time to time. When the heater stayed lit there was plenty of heat to keep the canned goods in that cabinet from freezing. FYI, I figure one of two things was the problem. #1; strong winter winds blew the pilot out? #2; the cold weather caused a drop in propane cylinder pressure. When the thermostat called for heat it flamed out with the sudden demand surge? (Cold weather and small cylinders (20#, 30#... ) don't mix well.) See here.

We ended up giving up on that. We now store canned goods over the winter in a deep hole in the ground. I split that off from the cabin build thread.... You can see the whole thing here. In any event it went out a few times and luckily nothing of any matter was damaged. But we could not count on it.

[lrrowe]

The coldest I can see myself camping out in a CT would be in the low 20's. Maybe, just maybe a night or two in the high teens. And this would be for a week or so in a hunt camp environment in the East. So if I read the bottom chart you referenced correctly, as long as the minimum BTU requirement for my heating device is around 10,000 BTU's, with a 20# propane bottle, I should be ok. And of course I would not leave the CT idle while not in use for any length of time w/o draining the water in the tank/lines. With an air input in the lines I believe I would be ok to quickly and easily purge the system of water. I have winterized many regular RV's over the years this way.

I have an idea how to test Jerry's water reservoir concept which I will do over the next few days when the outside temp drops to the 20's. But I would like to continue to test of the finned radiator concept.

Now regarding your can storage: it is just another testimony to your ingenuity. And it is a good thing bears do not know how to use a can opener nor like beer with their Baileys.