Solar Water Heater! Multi-Bottle & Poly Pipe Solar Water Heater - 145F - Easy DIY

in the instructable i'll how how i made a plastic bottle and poly pipe solar water heater

Solar Water Heater Made with poly tube and plastic bottles. Easy DIY. Constructed using plastic bottles and poly tube. temps up to 145F. this closed loop/off-grid design requires no municipal water hook up or plumbing. great small off-grid water heating system. how it works: the water to be heated is placed in a bucket. it's then circulated through a length of black poly tube (which itself is embedded in a series of clear plastic bottles). as the water passes through each bottle (or mini solar collector) it heats and then ultimately is returned to the bucket. an AC or DC (solar powered) pump can be used. bottles are 64oz containers. used approx 80ft. of 1/4" black poly tube (rated up to 180F). temps up to 145F. higher water temps can be achieved with the addition of bottles and/or higher air temps.

1.) 8 or more plastic bottles (use the clearest ones you can get). use as many as you can. the more bottles you use, the hotter the water will get.

2.) 1/4" black poly tube (i used about 80 feet)

3.) small metal hose clamp

4.) water pump. i used a 200gph one. *from harbor freight. cost about 8 bucks

5.) bucket and thermometer

6.) tools used: drill and screwdriver

i drilled a 3/8" hole in each lid and the bottom of each bottle

start by feeding one end of the poly tube thru the bottom of the first bottle. then feed it thru the top of that bottle and slide the lid on. then slide that bottle almost all the way down the length of the tube. once you do that, stuff as much of the tubing into the bottle as you can (without it kinking inside of the bottle). i think i was able to get about 8 feet of tubing inside each bottle. continue adding the bottles the same way and after about 20 mins (in my case) you'll have a string of them.

now take your pump and connect it to one end of the poly tube (i used clamp) and place it in the bottom of the bucket. then add the water to the bucket. and place the other end of the poly tube in the bucket as well. this makes a loop. the water will be pumped thru the plastic tubing and will be heated as it passes thru each bottle. each bottle is a little solar collector. after a little while, the water in the bucket will be a lot warmer. see pics above