OK So I installed this enormous skylight (a pyramid about 1800 x 1800mm (6' square) into my bathroom and I noticed that there is a lot of heat there in summer and also in winter. It happens to be a great room for picking pimples in.. all our guests comment so. Anyway... I was thinking I could use the thermal mass of water to retain some of the heat gained during winter days and the water would re-readiate that heat into my house.. I was thinking of buying slabs of Fosters lager cans and sticking them together then lining the outside of the cans with some mini-orb powdercoted corrugated steel panels so that heat transfers readily. Because te room is small I can shut the door and not lose much thermal storage through the skylight at night... and in summer, I can shade the skylight so that the beer cans stay cooler.
Is this going to work? What do you think?
2007-07-03 15:29:12 · 7 answers · asked by Icy Gazpacho 6 in Environment ➔ Green Living
Oh yes.. the bathroom is an island in the centre of our living room (which is in actuality a recycled old scout hall) ... and I have a fire place on one side of it. So the thermal mass is right in the centre of the living areas.. and I have lantern glass above the walls to let light from the skylight flood the living areas.
2007-07-03 15:32:32 · update #1
Geothermal heating.. as in earth mounds ... or do you mean deep geothermal heat.. as in lava flow?
Water is a good thermal storage device here.. it settles at the diurnal temperature ... so if it is heated up to 40 degrees in the sun and the internal air temperature stays relatively warm from the fireplace at aourn 18 degrees, at night the water wall should not fall below about 28 degrees C... that's a cosy thermal mass.. that helps keep the internal room temperature constant. As for the use of beer... it is cheaper than bottled water (go figure) ... and it is already in storage containers that last for ages and are designed for stacking in cubes...... so I don't need to make a tank to hold the water - thus saving $. Water holds its temperature well by reason of convection within each can. If they are touching, heat transfers ebtween cans through the metal. I dont know but it seems sort of logical to me.. surely someone has used a water wall? Isnt this "Green Living" forum?
2007-07-03 16:35:05 · update #2
I would stack them so that each can was lying sideways.. to maximise heat transfer between cans.. matter of fact, I was thinking of just leaving them in their boxes.
2007-07-04 11:55:10 · update #3
You would probably do better with a geothermal heating system in lieu of Fosters cans. I think you could have a lot of fun draining the cans for usage, but I do not see where they would retain the heat that you seek.
2007-07-03 16:05:51 · answer #1 · answered by Christmas Light Guy 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I am warming to this idea .... there is only one serious flaw - at some point some or all of the beer will be drunk (or attempted to be) - in which case the quality of beer neeeds to be well above that brand (known here in the place of its origin as Vitamin F)
VF quality has slid over the years making it the bottom of the pile - if you must buy CUB beer from an Oz company - get Cascade.
For true green living tho - you need to choose local beer in bottles.... then you would not want to expose them to the Sun..... which takes us back to using water in a reused steel container or empty bottles (in crates - all secondhand pref.)
In a project for a hen house/sunroom building (a textbook permaculture concept) we filled a disused oil-heater tank, painted black. The small out-building works very well.
2007-07-10 00:37:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure it would work, but do you have the structure to hang a huge mass of water?
You might also think about going down to a scrap yard and picking up and old in tact water heater tank, it would barely cost you anything and you would have a much easier time than connecting a bunch of beer cans together.
2007-07-03 18:33:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
As for picking pimples.. well I have no opinion on that..
As for the "water wall" to retain and re-radiate heat. Beer (fosters) cans would not work as well as a simple steel tank painted black.. for heat gain..individual cans would not be as efficient at transferring heat from can to can.. even with the aluminum rims touching..(remember they are concave top and bottom so you actually have mostly air gap)
But it would sure look cool!
2007-07-04 06:59:02 · answer #4 · answered by Attorney 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Go for it. Send pictures.
2007-07-06 06:43:34 · answer #5 · answered by Jeanne P 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Genius can you build me one?
2007-07-09 22:03:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
* Too much reading for me....
2007-07-06 06:26:39 · answer #7 · answered by Mariska 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋