Saturday, November 19, 2011

Solar Water Heater Build

Operation "Clean Up" has taken a back seat at the moment.

This morning started off with my Pops bringing over a load of compost and I had all intentions to finish filling the gardens with this, but I got side tracked again.
At least it's here and I can do it at my leisure   

With the newly obtained sheet of OSB, I was able to finish the housing for the water heater and get it mounted on the Bathhouse wall.

I made sure and calked every seem to keep the heat in. (That's the white stuff)
 After the chalking had dried, I started to fit the reflective back insulation board.
My buddy Dave had three badly beaten up sheets of this stuff that he was going to throw away and I told him I wanted them. I was able to piece all the good pieces together and it looks new.

I did not use any other insulation in the box because the only reason you would do that is if you planned on taking your showers in the morning. I would also have had to build a insulated cover for that.

I plan to use the shower in the evenings and being in Texas, the water will be plenty hot.

I fitted the glass just to see if it would fit and it fit great.
If I did not tell you, I picked up this piece of glass at a Lowe's sidewalk sell a couple of weeks back. It was priced $68.00
This is how the conversation went,

Me: "I am not paying that for a piece of glass".

Sells guy: "Then make me an offer".
  
Me: "I will give you a five dollar bill for it"

Sells guy: "No way! 10% off is all I can do"

Me: "Why not? You know if you don't sell it you will have to cart it back in and restock it tonight, plus you know nobody is going to pay that much for a piece of glass"

Sells Guy after much thought: "Give me $10.00 for it".

Me: "Meet me in the middle at $7.50"

Sells guy: Deal

16 comments:

  1. You are a legend in finding great deals. A friend of mine when he was remodeling his townhouse had a whole cart of stuff, went to check out. The cashier scanned only one side of the cart.

    She did not bother to look on the other side of paneling. He did not catch it until he was outside and thought about the total he paid. He got around a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff for free.

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  2. Rob, I'm sorry, but I would have had to go back in and pay for it.

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  3. Sorry Rob ...your friend seems to have some serious holes in his moral code. A couple of hundred dollars worth of stuff for free? I agree with Matt ...I would have gone back to pay even if I didn't realize the error until I got all the way home ...even if it was just a couple of DOLLARS worth of stuff I didn't pay for.

    I do agree with YOU about MDR's penchant for finding great deals though. And he doesn't just 'find' them, he MAKES them. He's a great negotiator. Wish we lived closer, I'd pay him a percentage to be my Scout and Deal Maker.

    : )

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  4. Well I have not talked with my friend in over 10 yrs. This is the story he told me. I am sorry for posting this, yes it was wrong. I am not sure if this was true or not. I could fill an entire page of why we are not talking any more.

    I posted before I should have.

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  5. So fafa, I just went through and read all of your blog posts, (Uneventful night for me), and you should do the same. Your first few were tear-jerking.
    Love ya ;)

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  6. It's okay Rob, I do it all the time. Thanks for the comment.
    I hope you are able to reconcile with your friend.

    Matt, I agree. It has happen to me more than once.

    If we lived closer Hossboss I would share my finds with you.
    BTW, I sent YeOldFurt a email the other day. Do you know if he got it?

    BEB, It is comforting to know that my 19 year old daughter that is in college, on a Saturday night is reading her Dad's blog. I am Honored and you are now one of only four that I know of that has done that.
    Being that it will be raining tomorrow, I might do the same.
    Love you too and I will see you Tuesday. Be careful.

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  7. Rob, I hope I didn't make you personally feel bad with my comments. I was kinda shocked with your friend and posted the first thing that came to mind.

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  8. MDR I think you should have a tshirt with Wheeler-Dealer on it. You crack me up. $68 down to $7.50. Wow...

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  9. You did good on that glass, my friend!

    You are indeed a lucky man to have so many friends and a wonderful family!

    The place is really taking shape!

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  10. Dang Dude. I need to learn some wheeling and dealing lessons from you.

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  11. Denise, that would just tip them off that they are fixen to have to make a deal. I got a screen door from the same guy for $10 bucks.

    HermitJim - Thank you for your kind words. I do agree.

    G - It might be that I look like I want to kill everyone in the world as well. (At lest that is what some people say)

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  12. This was one of my favorite things that I stuck in my new book. I think that they will become major needs in a TEOTWAWKI situation.

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  13. I agree Lila, but when I try and explain it that way to the nonbelievers, they get all weird on me so I now just say it is a back up for when the well goes out.

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  14. I'm looking at Solar Water Heating. I think it might be a good initial investment to save up on electricity in the long run. I hope I'm right.

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  15. Nice post keep up with this interesting work. It really is good to know that this topic is being covered also on this web site so thanks for taking time to discuss this! solar water heater system

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