How much water hose would I need to have it in direct sunlight and have a continuous flow of hot water?
>>2787340Totally depends on the volume of that flow, also the surface area of the hose/tube that's exposed to sunlight (or reflected heat from the material it sits on) and how efficiently it conducts heat from the exterior to the water inside it.Rather than a giant hose with one inlet and outlet, solar collectors of this type and other heat exchangers (like radiators) usually split the flow of liquid into many smaller tubes/branches that have slower individual flows with a higher surface area to volume ratio. They also use metal tubes; rubber is an insulator.If you consider a 100' hose flowing X amount of water, if you put the inlet in the middle of the 100' length and bring the two ends back together with a Y, you will still get X amount of flow, but the two separate legs will cause each half of the water stream to spend twice as long in the tube giving the water more time to get hot and more buffer before the heating capacity can't keep up....a single stream is the least efficient way to heat the water even if its the same total length..Also FWIW if you plan to use gravity for the flow, keep in mind that heat rises in the opposite direction so the lowest part of the hose will always be the coolest...if that's your outlet it's the opposite of what you need for getting the hottest water.
>>278734013.472 miles
>>2787340I got one of those tankless water heaters.It’s cold here, and the water comes in at about 7 deg C in the winter.You get hot water out of the thing to have a shower only if it’s in “golden shower” flow, like being pissed on.
>>2787340Too vague. Without further information, the answer could be 20 feet or 300 feet.Where do you live?What time of year?Cloudy or clear sky?What is the flow rate of the water?What is the diameter of the hose?What material is the hose?What color is the hose?What material is behind the hose (is the backdrop thermally reflective or absorbent?)What is the starting temperature of the water?What temperature does the water need to reach for you to consider it "hot"?
>>2787469you forgor outside temp senpai
>>2787340I have a 75 foot black hose, it provides hot water for about 5 minutes then it gets cold again.
>>2787340you're better off using a large tank, and then circulating the water through the hose into the tank so it can slowly heat up the tank and then use it like a very shitty normal hot water heater, instead of trying to get a continuous supply from just the hose itself
