500 hot showers from one, small compost pile

[paul wheaton]

I took a fresh video of a guy at a permaculture farm talking about a compost pile he made where he looped 100 feet of 1/2 inch poly pipe. It sounds like he got about 500 hot showers out of it!

[nickolas]

I took a fresh video of a guy at a permaculture farm talking about a compost pile he made where he looped 100 feet of 1/2 inch poly pipe. It sounds like he got about 500 hot showers out of it!

I think about it a lot every time I turn my hot compost pile over. Yes it does work but it is a very labour intensive and temporary hot water source. You would get a much better result heating water by making a solar hot water heater rather than making a new compost pile every time the pile that you have your pipe in gets cold, than you will have to make a new compost pile and you will have to move your pipe to the new pile, you could have a series of compost piles in parallel and the pipes going from one to the other with each pile in a different stage of decomposition but that would take up a lot of space which I have but not a lot of other people do( I would appreciate any opinions on this idea). I did some research on using compost for hot water source some time ago and a lot of people said that because the water is cold when it first comes into the pile through the pipes that the cold water lowers the temperature down and temporarily stops the breaking down process from taking place in the compost pile that is touching the pipes with the cold water inside and that it terns the organic material in the compost pile that is within the first few feet of the cold pipes into a silage like substance and undermines this effected area of the compost pile as compost if that make any sense.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Nickolas,

That makes a lot of sense. It would act just like a wort chiller in beer making.

100ft of 1/2" doesn't hold much water. If I calculated correctly it only holds 1 gallon of water.

Eric

[resin]

sounds very interesting, never thought of that before.
I think the pile would have to be pretty large to get any real heat into the pipes and as Nicholas mentioned the the cold water would initailly cool it down. (this why it would have to be a fairly large pile).

Problem with solar it just doesnt work that well in winter even in Australia! I havent been that impressed with it. Works well in summer though.

Also Doubledogfarm I think its prob more about max surface area and then its stored in a insulated tank maybe?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Also Doubledogfarm I think its prob more about max surface area and then its stored in a insulated tank maybe?

Yes, I would think a super insulated tank would have to be involved. My well water is about 54 degrees year around. One would not run it straight through the buried pipe to the shower head.

Will Allen heats some of his greenhouses with large piles of compost.

Eric

[nickolas]

Problem with solar it just doesnt work that well in winter even in Australia! I havent been that impressed with it. Works well in summer though.


I ‘m afraid that I have to partially disagree with resin in regards to solar in winter. Although in winter or on overcast days it takes longer to achieve your desired temperature, it can still be reached through using a storage tank system where the water passes through a storage tank and re-enters the system pre heated every time or by using a more efficient solar collector (such as a parabolic reflector array where steam can be made on a cloudy, rainy day). In really cold weather or where the days can be super short as in near the poles you could add a booster to your system and achieve the desired results. Boosters can be in the form of wood or coal burners, electric, gas or other fuel.( If you happen to have an anaerobic or methane digester you can not only utilise meat and human waste for your compost but you can also get a supply of free methane to fire up the booster on your hot water service. So in conclusion I would have to say that, unless you go out and buy a super expensive store bought unit, the initial cost and ongoing running costs makes solar a very viable proposition anywhere on the planet.

Freedom from need is Freedom indeed.
Today’s mighty oak is just yesterdays nut that held it's ground.

[resin]

Yes there are probably better ways to improve the performance of the solar panels during winter for heating water. Ive only had limited experience with an off the shelf consumer variety. It also doesnt point directly north either rather more north east to east. (this wont help) The tank also lays horizonally on the roof and I think this generally suffers from increase exposure to the elements. It has a booster but the usual off peak electrical source. ( from the good old coal fired powered plant )

[FlowerPowerGirl]

Great idea. I'm glad somebody is working on it.