| Building your own solar powered water heater is a | | | | or even back to an existing electric boiler. The idea is |
| great way to save money on electricity. It also makes | | | | that the boiler won't need to use as much electricity, as |
| for great camping trips if you want to build a portable | | | | the water is already hot from the solar heater. |
| one. You can build a system that heats on demand, or | | | | The best plans to build either one of these systems |
| just hook your existing electric hot water system up to | | | | can be found in many basic solar power manuals. |
| a homemade solar panel and some batteries (for | | | | However, it's important to calculate exactly how much |
| those not-so-sunny days). Whatever path you choose, | | | | energy you can save before committing to converting |
| finding the best plans to build a solar hot water heater | | | | your existing system. You might find that you can |
| is imperative to your success. | | | | save a lot more money by not only changing your hot |
| The most basic solar hot water system is essentially a | | | | water system, but also your home energy system. |
| container of water with added features that allows it | | | | Solar panels and wind turbines are cheaper and easier |
| to capture and convert light energy into heat. A good | | | | to build than you might think. |
| example of one of these can be found in your local | | | | Don't buy a hard copy instruction manual, that's just |
| camping store. They usually carry some kind of | | | | throwing away money. Download one from the |
| portable solar shower. | | | | internet instead. It's cheaper, and online guides usually |
| Taking this concept a step further is the home solar | | | | have much more information. Most will not only show |
| water heater that is located on the roof. It's basically a | | | | you how to build a solar hot water heater, but also a |
| large light collector with tubes running over it. Depending | | | | wind turbine, home biodiesel setup, and basically how to |
| on the temperature, water will run through these tubes | | | | run your entire home from free, natural energy. |
| to get heated up, and circulated back to a large tank | | | | |