Cheap Solar heating

[mraquaponics]

I'm sure I have seen compost heated showers on "youtube"
My previous workplace had a HUGE compost heap (I'm in Horticulture)
The heat was unbelievable. We often had steam coming from the heap and even had some trouble with the insurance company who said it was a fire risk!
I think you would need a pretty big compost heap but its a good idea for sure.
Id love to know how it goes...

[Jens UK]

hey, very cool ideas!
i found this:

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/?p=524

got loads of saw dust and more on the way, i will get into this....

jens

[ian]

Jens:
ecofims is castaway"s company!

[mcfarm]

During WW2 the Russians would park their tanks over compost heaps in winter so they would start in the mornings. Otherwise they would have to light small fires under the sumps. I also had a friend who was a boy soldier in the German army and it was his job to keep the fires under the tanks going at night in Russia. His greatest joy was finding compost heaps in a village and getting the tanks to park over them, it meant he got a nights sleep.

[Castaway]

Hey Mcfarm. Thank you for sharing that tip. Russian tanks keeping warm over compost! What a charming mental image. I'd say the compost the tanks were sitting on would be quite well compressed.
Yes Ecofilms is my site but the idea for compost wheelie bins was originated by Daryl from this forum who kindly gave me permission to use his photos. So it all comes round full circle.

[bill newton]

we heat our outside spa with 150 metres of 19 mm irrigation hose around the roof - it works fantastic in the summer - we dont use the spa in winter as its bloody freezing when you get out???

[Günter]

Thanks for mentioning Jean Pain. One of my favorites since years.

This short video has English subtitles and shows very well what he did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHRvwNJRNag

and then part 2 of that video.

(I even had the same beautiful car when I lived in Europe long ago

For his bio energy plant he uses only wood chips, so no need to collect 40 tons of kitchen scraps.

That video also gives all the numbers, so if somebody knows how much energy he would need the keep the AP system warm he could easily find out, if a bio energy plant like the one shown would be sufficient.

I was never interested in the gas which is a by product. However, now as I keep thinking how to make an AP system independent from the grid, maybe one could use the gas to power the pump?