Totally free hot water

silverweed

silverweed

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I bought one of those black plastic solar showers that you leave in the sun. My husband was very sceptical about it but it worked great. We used to leave it on the bonnet of the estate car when camping. We have moved on and now fill 1lt drinks bottles, leave them at on the dash at the bottom of the windscreen, face the van into the sun and put on the silver screens to increase the heat on the bottles and keep the van cool. After a few hours the water is warm and often hot. It has even been too hot to use to wash with:cool: you can purchase a spray top for watering plants and with that on the bottle you have a free shower :o great!!
 
hi yes we used to use the black tango bottles .if you slit a clear bottle the next size up you can make a greenhouse bottle to put the black one in.
 
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You've just reminded me we've got one of those in the garage! Maybe I'd better get it out and try it!! (Lidls have got them from Monday next for £3.99) We had friends that used to heat water in plastic bottles on their dashboard, but they painted them with matt black paint to absorb more heat. No idea if that would help, but I do vaguely remember from physics lessons that black absorbes heat, so perhaps there's something in it??

Every little helps, especially with gas the price it is now!
 
OFF TOPIC ,I once left my garden hose uncoiled and turned on around my garden in hot Sun, water was not coming out of the hose as the spray end was closed and the water in the hose was under mains pressure,Well with the heat of the sun the contained water became very hot and the hose swelled like a huge Anaconda Snake it looked really funny, after I let the hot water out of the hose the hose was useless as it would not shrink back and I had to throw it away.
 
it definately works . trouble with the bags is the water tastes horrible .at least with bottles you can pre warm the water before boiling .
i,m mean you should know that. ha ha .
 
Bought our first one in the late 80's when we lived in the US & it's still going strong. Got 2 of them now, made some slats so I can fit one under the skylight (just a few litres in it, got to temperatures over 70 degrees C. Use them with a electric shower we got from Maplins 12V Car Shower : Maplin Electronics they were selling them off cheap, put the water in a bucket, the shower is basically a submersible pump with a waterproof switch & shower head (you could easily make one). We use this in the shower compartment powering it with a 12 volt power pack (charged from the solar panel.

Totally free electric shower for very little effort, but does need some sunshine.
 
I will have to go to napkin and have a look for the pump shower, sounds good. Iv poured the water over myself and actually hurt my back with the heat and that's been in this country. The silver screens also make a big difference as they reflect through the back of the bottle
 
Thanks for this thread, it's reminded me to dig my black shower bag out, and I've also ordered a new one for £4.64 from ebay (I shop online mainly as I live rural) eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

And the cheapest I've found the 12v shower for is £14.99 on ebay eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Maplins (or napkins ;) ? ) is out of stock online so I guess all their old stock is gone now.

I thought about getting one of these last year before I got my Transit but wasn't convinced that they would be much good. If anyone can recommend them, I may get one. It would be really handy for muddy boots and paws, although it's probably too late now for my Peugeot Partner which has endured 10 years of muddy dog walks, but it would help keep the new carpet (which I'm hopefully laying this weekend :D) clean in the Tranny. And with the back doors of the Transit open and a curtain up across them, I've got my own spacious shower cubicle :D

I'm hoping to replicate a similar solar water heating system in my back yard for my hot water in the house during the summer - my hot water comes from a back boiler on my woodburner, which is great during winter as I have constant hot water. But in the summer when the stove is only lit for a couple of hours at night, or not at all, I have to boil the elec kettle for the water to be hot enough to wash up in. At under a fiver each, the cheapest solution may simply be 4 or 5 black solar shower bags hanging from the yard wall, strategically placed to catch maximum sunshine at different times of the day as the sun passes overhead. Plus maybe a tenner for tubing and tap, and silver foil behind them, it shouldn't cost more than about £35 for (potentially) up to 100L of warm / hot water. That would probably pay for itself in wood and coal saved, and elec used, by the end of the year :banana: (so long as I have got my maths right....:confused:)
 
I bought a storm kettle last summer that burns small twigs and sticks picked when walking the dogs. Heats the water in minutes, paid for it self in no time. I also bought some cheap stainless flasks ( not the best as don't keep water realty hot over night but will do). I then can keep water for washing in the morning.
 
silverweed said:
I bought a storm kettle last summer that burns small twigs and sticks picked when walking the dogs. Heats the water in minutes, paid for it self in no time. I also bought some cheap stainless flasks ( not the best as don't keep water realty hot over night but will do). I then can keep water for washing in the morning.
Click to expand...

Ditto re storm kettle last summer - it's fab, one of my best buys ever, we used it for a camp fire last weekend, on the stand with the stand in an old frying pan, and next morning there wasn't even a single burned bit of grass, an eco friendly camp fire / bbq / kettle.
 
Its amazing how fast those kettles work and as they are hot and you have a fire going, the reheat is almost instantaneous.

We have two large flasks. One an ordinary one but the other is a pump type that you get in meetings. In cold weather we fill both with boiling water so we have hot water for coffee and washing first thing in the morning. In hot weather we fill them both with ice from the deepfreeze (-25C) and top the pump one up with water. Gives us ice and chilled drinks for atleast four days.:offtopic: Sorry!



I woud not heat drinking water in plastic but it preheats hot water for washing very well.


Richard
 
Only use the water in plastic bottles for washing, washing up or boil it for hot drinks. When the water was hit last summer and did not want to use it right away I hit on the idea of storing the bottles in the folds of the silver screen against the shiny side. Couldn't believe! Water was hit 5 hours later.
How good are the pump flasks. Thought of getting a couple but how long do they keep liquid really hot for.
 
I've often seen these solar showers advertised, but assumed they would be require you to be in the Med at least to work, but it sounds like they are usable in the UK. Might invest in one. Thanks for the info.

Steve.
 
hi ,the solar showers arent perfect but do help a saving on gas . best in hot summer .but the kelly/volcano kettles brill. have had one for years . managed to buy a second one a few years ago for a quid .the seller didnt know what it was. i soon explained after i gave him the quid . hee hee. best quid i could have spent.
 
Our daily routine, where ever we are in Spain or Portugal is fill up empty 8L water containers, which we buy from the Mercadona's. Leave it outside our MH before we hit the beach. Come back a few hours later and you have very hot (I mean hot) water, which we pour into a bucket, add cold water and have a great shower outside the camper on the grass or sand. In 7 years, nobody has complained, infact the folks have smiles on their faces. A couple followed suit after a while. You get to wash your shorts out at the same time.☺☺☺
 
Looking on eBay I can see no-brand ones, and slightly more expensive Gelert ones - does anyone know if it is worth paying extra for the Gelert ones?

Steve.
 
Bought a cheap one on flea bay about 4 years ago and it sits on my dash board. wouldn't be without it. Also have a 12 volt shower attachment that fits into bag and hangs onto the tail board when it is lifted. great shower. as long as you are not poluting any ground.
The only problem I have with the bag on the dash is when my daughter is riding shotgun, she says she gets sea sick watching the bag move.:)
I also have a solar water heater on the roof of my house and it is fantastic and will have saved the cost of istallation in 2 years with the government grant I got to install it.
 
When going wild here at home, when in a quiet spot we always shower outside, saves cleaning out shower room after. Sorry, don't know what your washing donkey too to have to worry about pollution. There are a few brands of kettle, Storm and Kelly and Gelert. You also can choose from aluminium, powder coated or stainless steel. I liked the Kelly but didn't want the cork stopper so chose the storm. They'r all great I think, not much between them
 
Poor old Rick. Trying to start a fire from scratch and using kindling totally the wrong size. I get the impression he did it deliberately, so he could make a kind of comedy story to get more views!
 
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