Do It Yourself Solar Water Heater

- Water
- Buckets (2)
- A drill containing both screw bits and drill bits
- Scissors
- Saw
- Wood
- A glass pane
- The back of an old, used refrigerator
- Air pumps used in fish tanks
- Old door mat
- Wood screws
- Aluminum foil
- Duct tape
- Hack saw

Enough leads should be left on a refrigerator radiator panel to be attached to the water hose later. The wood can be collected from old and unused furniture. The pane of glass and the door mat will be used for the front and backing of the case so they should be selected carefully. The glass should be big enough to fit the entire frame.

Cut the backing to size. Build a frame around the fridge radiator. Then use aluminum foil to cover the frame -- this will form a collector. It prevents backing from heating up and also re-reflect the sunlight back on the collector which may not have been absorbed the first time. If a metal sheet was used then foil wouldn't be needed as the collector can now be directly fixed on the metal sheet which will allow for better heating.

Use duct tape to seal all the cracks on the inside and hold foil in place. Make some notches for the entry and exit of the collector ends. Attach water hose to the entry and exit ports of the collector. Fit the collector upon the radiator using duct tape. You can even use wood and screws to fit them in place. Put the glass on top of the whole construction. Glass prevents the air from re-escaping back into the atmosphere (same effect as in greenhouse). Seal the sides of the solar water heater using duct tape to prevent the glass from sliding off.

Now comes the gross part. Put one end of the hose into cold water and suck from the other end. Try not to swallow the dirty water which will first come from the old fridge radiator. Place the hot water collecting bucket at a lower level than the cold water providing bucket. As long as water is fed into the collector it will keep on getting heated and u have a continuous supply of hot water. It works pretty well and be sure not to burn your hands.

This is a nice do it yourself project which you can do with your kids. If you are looking for how to build a big system which will heat water for your house, make sure you check out this guide below: