Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Window Lickers on December 05, 2014, 10:15:47 pm
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Anyone used this?
http://www.thefreeheater.co.uk/index.html
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Interesting Matt do you think it's viable ?
Darran
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Its been done before often used in ocean going yachts as excess motor heat.
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But would it really heat water to 35 degrees on only 3 minutes driving?
Darran
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Interesting Matt do you think it's viable ?
Darran
Not really investigated yet. I was browsing and spotted it whilst ordering my Pizza, which still hasn't arrived ;)
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I done it using a stainless steel twin calorifier rigged through engine radiator and water fed pole tank many years ago. Water gets extremely hot and need to use radiator hoses as food grade tubing will just melt. Definitely heats the water up to VERY hot (scalding), unless you fit a thermostat to regulate the temperature. Cracked two sealed double glazed units in the beginning as water way too hot and melted two shurflo pumps as well. Can rig a really good system but like everything it all cost money. Mine cost me £650 for tank, fittings, thermostat and lots of reading material to familiarise myself with how to rig it all up properly. Free heat-yes definitely. lot of hassle initially but good experience ;D
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Hope it's not like my curry, Mrs smudger got hers, so did daughter they forgot to pack mine :'(
Well I'm interested, no dangerous gas bottles/ heater, cheaper than a 4k diesel heater and wouldn't have to worry about plugging into leccky either
Hmmmmm....
Darran
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Exactly the same reasons as me ;)
Pizza was great 8)
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You'd need a shower after sitting in that car!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3VAR4iiBuU&feature=channel
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The problem is with modern diesel engines is that they are very efficient and don't produce much heat. Our engines don't get up to operating temperature in the winter mornings due to the short distances we travel. His demonstrator car is an old 1.6 diesel Golf.
I find that the engine looses its heat anyway being parked up, so you may as well put that heat to some use. How good it would be is questionable. He would need a pump to circulate the water from the engine, through the heat exchanger and back to the block.
In the kit he shows an auxillary pump. On the video on the beach he shows a small pump in the water tank at the back, but that's not it. This point isn't very clear. What ever the case is, in a window cleaning application we would need a 12v circulation pump as we couldn't leave the engine running. (Your internal heater matrix is a water to air heat exchanger. If you switch the engine off but leave the circulation fan running, it doesn't take long before the air coming out gets cold.)
The water circulating through the engine will be treated with antifreeze so there wouldn't be a problem there. However, the water in the second circuit of the heat exchanger will be pure water. Any water in there will freeze and damage the heat exchanger. Even with antifreeze, our washer bottle always seems to freeze at some point during winter. Even if the heat exchanger was drained down, the passages in the heat exchanger are very small and I doubt you will get every drop of water out. That would be a big negative for me.
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Nothing wrong with gas bottles millions of people use gas bottles with no danger !!!
Probably more dangerous to drive than use a gas bottle ?
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Cheers spruce these were some of my thoughts, I can't see you getting more than a minute or 2 of warm water, but I'll ask some questions
Darran
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Cheers spruce these were some of my thoughts, I can't see you getting more than a minute or 2 of warm water, but I'll ask some questions
Darran
I think you are probably right. I can't see it being worth the cost to do it and then still having to protect it against the frost in winter.
I'm inclined to think along the same lines as Danny. Its either got to be gas or diesel/petrol for controlled, sustained heat output - all fossil fuel related.
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he says in the video 25 litres from only running the engine for a few mins , could work if your work is not too compact ......on very compact work i think it would be a no go .
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As spruce pointed out the pure will need frost protection, then your going back to heating the van (+ engine bay) to protect from freezing
Personally will never use gas been witness to one going up in flames and gutting 3 houses
Darran
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i have had a couple of close calls in my other job with gas cylinders .....including being knocked over by one exploding .
Thats what puts me off but diesel heaters are so expensive ! x
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last year I looked into marine calorfiers but seemed too much hassle esp as gas heaters now so cheap
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=180448.0
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last year I looked into marine calorfiers but seemed too much hassle esp as gas heaters now so cheap
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=180448.0
Ian,
This was such a good thread - I'm glad you referred us back to it. Scrooge McSoupy ;D last couple of posts added a lot off insight. As per Darran's comments, I can't see a system like this working for us. And again, having to protect the pure side of the heat exchanger from frost is a no go.
The guy on the web is advertising a system he wants to sell. He will not tell you the negatives as that will put you off and for what I have seen, heard and concluded, has overplayed the positives in some instances (ie running the engine for just a few minutes.)
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yup think for simplicity and cost gas heater way to go for many of us ... think Corwoods do one for under £200 and lets be honest gas bottles wont make a massive dent in your profits.
For me if I was going to go hot would prefer to go to pure freedom and get them to fit one of their diesel hot systems ... just my preference as don't fancy diy gas system though i'm sure its easy to do ... i would use it all year round though cos IMHO if its below freezing then you just take day off
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Ian do PureFreedom just do diesel heaters or something else?
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Ian do PureFreedom just do diesel heaters or something else?
just diesel as far as I know
http://www.purefreedom.co.uk/pure-freedom-isothermal-diesel-water-heater-p-297.html
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yup think for simplicity and cost gas heater way to go for many of us ... think Corwoods do one for under £200 and lets be honest gas bottles wont make a massive dent in your profits.
For me if I was going to go hot would prefer to go to pure freedom and get them to fit one of their diesel hot systems ... just my preference as don't fancy diy gas system though i'm sure its easy to do ... i would use it all year round though cos IMHO if its below freezing then you just take day off
I would fit gas if I hadn't spent so much money experimenting with diesel over the years.
When I started the L5 heater was all that was available and I wasn't interested in having to vent the van by leaving the back doors open. Now we have a perfectly good, fit for purpose Meny gas heater that can be used with a roof vent.
I personally would fit an under body LPG vapour tank and rear towbar mounted gas filler. They aren't that expensive and way cheaper than a diesel system which, IMHO, isn't designed for our wfp use.
Filling at an LPG gas station is simple and cheaper than buying bottled gas.