Homemade solar heating system..........upgrade??

[billjoat]

I built my solar heater 5 years ago. Works pretty good. I want to add a hot water line from my current heater to a double-barrel wood stove and back to the heater. The power for all this is the pump for the pool. My question is I'm not sure where to bring the line from.

 

[billjoat]

Whole solar pool heating system. I apologize for the poor looks of it but it still works GREAT. Planning on some modifications to it this summer. Here's a pic:

 

[billjoat]

Panels are 40" square with 50' of poly in each coil. The whole system is pumped via the pool pump with a manual valve shown earlier. Plywood centers are beginning to show age and will probably be replaced this summer with 75% of materials placed upon the shed. Shed is 33' long and I'll probably have 6 larger coils to use the whole half top. I feel as though I'll increase the flow and have warmer water hopefully due to having reflective heat as I will have no center structure. Aldo from a take off on the bottom left, with manual valves also, I'll put an outake for directing water to the double barrel heater in my shop for some extra early year heat. Current water temp on 2/2/16 is 64 degrees. Went swimming yesterday after a 200 mile Harley ride on a 1/2 day off from work. Rather brisk but stayed in for 15 minutes.

 

[banditig]

maybe use stainless steel flex tube?

 

[pooldv]

I would heat through solar first and wood stove second and then back to the pool. I am wood stove burner and there are people on wood stove forums who mount copper coils on their stoves to make hot water for domestic hot water and/or for radiant heat in floors, etc.

 

[billjoat]

I would heat through solar first and wood stove second and then back to the pool. I am wood stove burner and there are people on wood stove forums who mount copper coils on their stoves to make hot water for domestic hot water and/or for radiant heat in floors, etc.

This was my first thought as well. On the move to the top of the shed. Do you think the 6 larger coils on the roof with the metal of it providing a hotter surface to reflect from with do better or worse than the current set-up?

- - - Updated - - -

Wanting to do something along this line but with MUCH more copper.

 

[pooldv]

That's a pretty good start with the copper line around the stove. If that roof is hot in the sun then it will be better.

 

[billjoat]

That's a pretty good start with the copper line around the stove. If that roof is hot in the sun then it will be better.

The roof faces almost due south. I'm really hoping that by having only six coils; at probably 100' per coil, on top of the roof will give me more heat that 16 coils at 50' each on the ground. Plus I'll make the plumbing 2" instead of 1-1/4". More stratigically placed valves to isolate and drain the set when it get below freezing for an extended period. Or I can use the pool as a heat source and run it to keep the solar panels warm. Plus I'll have a valved take-off for the barrel heater when I'm in the shop at nights and on the weekends.

 

[billjoat]

It appears to me that the copper in the picture, which isn't mine btw, is 1/2" copper. Would this be better wrapped around more like 85% of the barrel or would 2 1/4" lines from a manifold set-up so as to keep the quantity of the flow the same as the 1/2".

 

[pooldv]

Not sure on that. Although, that is how commercial solar panels are designed, lots of small tubes feeding to and from a larger manifold pipe/header.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

I don't want to make this too complicated but you'd need three 1/4" tubes to almost equal the flow of the 1/2" tube. It would heat better because there would be more surface area.
If you go with 2" to the solar collector you might want to bypass some of that from the wood fired heater as that would be a lot of copper to keep the flow up. Think of all the 1/2 pipes you could get into a 2" pipe and then there is the space between the 1/2 pipes.