Make a Shop Water Heater out of an old Humidifier

On cold days I really want a warm water source in my shop. I don't need a whole tank full and I don't need it every day. But on cold days it would be nice to wash my hands with warm water, or keep my fingers from freezing when I'm doing wet-sanding or cleaning.

I've used a hot plate, crock-pot, electric kettle and a coffee maker to heat water. They all heat up the water and it's nice to have a pot of warm water to dip things in. But I always found them inconvenient because there is no dispensing mechanism. I had to pour the hot water into another container, maybe  mix in cool water, then dip the objects or my hands into the water. That's too much trouble, I wanted a hose and spigot so I could just spray down the dust and wash my hands easily.

I finally found a solution when someone donated their broken home humidifier that had a water heater built in. I just added an old spray hose to the humidifier, and now I have warm water whenever I need it.

DIY Passive Solar Snow Melter

I had some leftover aluminum cans that I had spray-painted black for my DIY passive solar heater projects. When an early snow storm hit I decoded to do some experiments, more out of boredom that hope for results.

To my surprise, the aluminum cans had a significant melting effect. The first day I just tossed one on the snow without plugging up the vent holes. It worked well enough that I gave the idea some more thought. The next day, I plugged the holes and the results were much better.

The cans melted the snow so well they almost disappeared into the snow, which probably blocked most of the sun and decreased their effectiveness.

Melting an extra inch to 1-1/2" of snow on a 40 degree day seems like enough of a success that I might explore the idea even further.

With just three aluminum cans spray-painted black and plugged up with a napkin, you can melt an extra inch of snow on a 40f day. Might be worth exploring the concept a little further.

I didn't invent the beer-can solar collector, there are lots of tutorials on Instructables. But I haven't found any information about using them to melt snow. So my ideas need to be tested before I write any kind of tutorials.

First, I will need a lot more than three cans to melt much snow. Think hundreds of black aluminum cans.

Second, I need to cover the top so I don't lose so much heat back to the atmosphere.

I need a way to quickly deploy them and then put them back in storage. But enough cans to clear a walkway would take up my entire shop.

So right now, I'm thinking it might be better to duct the heated air from a traditional solar collector box and direct it under the walk or porch or driveway. That seems like a lot of work though.

But what if I knew the snow was coming and could attach a flexible plastic duct, almost like one of those dancing air-filled figures at the car lots but with internal bumps like bubble wrap to insure separation of the membranes and some air circulation.

I'm too tired from shoveling the driveway right now to give it much thought. But I am intrigued.

If you've got any ideas feel free to drop me a comment.

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DIY Solar Heater - It Really Works

I've read about these for years so I finally made one - and it works - 120F heated air within minutes of getting put into the sunlight. It's simple to make, easy to use, super rugged and best of all, it's almost completely free.

Basically, it's stacks of aluminum cans that have been painted black You punch a hole in each can so the air can circulate, then caulk them together into long tubes. Put the tubes into a box with a clear cover and insulation and you've got yourself a free solar heat collector.

Whoa, this thing is heating up quickly. I could feel the warm air rising up from the openings in the top of the cans and the thermometer confirmed it, Not bad for a stack of old aluminum cans.

I did the first few steps, made the tubes and spray painted them matte black, then stuck them in a window to test. I'm impressed enough with the results that I think I will make the box for them. The tubes heated up the air to at least 120 degrees in a few minutes. (Might be higher, but that's as high as my thermometer went.) The cans are just warm to the touch and the air rises gently from the openings in the top. So they're comfortable to the touch with no danger of burning or fire, yay.

The tutorials and associated forums have all kinds of details and suggestions to make these heat an entire house. The best type of glass for maximum light transmission, the correct hole size for best air flow, the best type and thickness of paints for maximum heat gain etc.

But I'm not going to cover an entire wall with these or heat my entire house, so I'm just going to improvise without much concern for maximizing efficiency. I have some speaker cabinets I gutted and some scratched plexiglas.  Perfect for a small experimental version.

I will probably just heat a small storage box with it or maybe create a warm place for the wandering neighborhood felines. I probably won't bother adding a fan or even a auto-closing vent since I'll just be letting some warm air into an otherwise unheated space.







This will be a good excuse to use up these scrap items, finally get them out of my way and make something that's actually useful all at the same time.

Like I said, I've known about these solar collectors for years. But I had always lived in warmer climates where cooling was more of a concern than heating. And buying the lumber and glass made it too expensive for a toy project (spend 20 to save 5).

Now, however, I have access to both cool weather and donations at the Maker Group. Suddenly, I have all kinds of materials at my disposal - too many sometimes, like "I need to clear out this entire room" quantities of scrap materials.

I do have some experiments I want to try. Does putting gravel inside the cans affect heat generation and retention? Do metal screens work just as well - there are tutorials that say they do. What about old floor tiles? I have half a box of broken tiles Can I paint them black and use them as collectors, or maybe use them to store the heat overnight.

Looks like we've got six more weeks of winter, so I've still got time to experiment.

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