Solar heated water should be easy to accomplish using gravity or plumbed in and using water pressure during the warm parts of the year.

Freeze ups would not be nice to deal with.

 

If its a regular home heating tank --- strip everything offa it down to the tank itself -- cold water in - heated water out - overheat pop off valve plumbed to outside ----- build it into a 6" thick insulated box with a double thick glass / plastic cover ( old sliding patio door ) paint interior flat black -- heat tape pipes going into and leaving -- triple wrap --- either pre-heat boiler water or use as is --

99 % of the time the heated water in the tank wont freeze at night :thumb:

And --

Interweb --

 

I have heard you can make a good camp stove out of one.

 

Yep, a stove. Got an old copy of a Mother Earth News specialty magazine that covered a series of Energy Topics and lots of DIY projects for each back in the late 70's, and a woodstove made from old water heater tanks was the one that caught my eye.
Came into possesion of an Oxy/Acetyl. set last year, and am going to save at least one of the tanks that I'll end up scrapping this coming spring clean-up in the local neighborhoods.
Always get at least a half dozen or more to scrap during the year, and I will be looking to save one of the larger ones from the scrap heap for a DIY wood stove project for myself.

Won't be installing it as a main source heating device, but instead setting it aside for SHTF with my other long-term preps. Just a matter of buying one of the barrel stove kits that used a 55 gal drum. It has the legs, door assembly, and flue collar. All you need to add after that is a flue damper assembly, all the needed flue pipe, and a cap. Oh sure, I could just go and buy a small box stove from Lowe's, and all the flue pipe and accessories I needed to do the job, but I still like the DIY factor of making one from an old water heater tank. :thumb:

 

First of all, used water heaters have almost no resale value.

Sometimes, just because you have something, doesn't mean you have to find another way (re-purpose) it.

There are a number things you 'could' do with it, Would be easy, using a small pump and a long coll of tubing (plastic) and use it to heat your floors.


Me, I'd just junk it.

 

I'm not too sure I agree with you on the no resale value thing. While it may not have value for its original use, a LOT of DIY / homestead / prepper types would love to get their hands on a used tank because there are so many things you can do with it. I'd say post it on Craigs List for $50-ish, depending on where you live. Betcha somebody will take it off your hands!

Also, one cool use I saw for an old hot water heater was as a culvert or underpass for a chicken moat. Cut both ends off so it's a tube, trench it in and then put dirt back over top of it to allow water / critters to pass under an otherwise-fenced-in area. Don't know about having heavy vehicles parked on it for any length of time, but for just coming and going it might be OK.

 

The ones that I have taken out have a layer of sprayed foam that sticks to both the tank and the exterior. I heard they make nice fish fryers, but I've never seen anyone tear one down and build anything with it. Looks like quite a job to me.

 

I made a smoker out of one for a friend...salvaged the burner and fittings/gas valve for otheruses, used a $2 electric hot plate for the smoke heat.

it's a pain to weld with the coating, but the foam can be scraped off fairly easily.

it's crude and ugly but it works quite well and it was a favor so I didn't make it too pretty...

 

Pre heater to room temp is a good idea, gives you storage too. If you have room keep it as water storage. I've had one on the garden hose supply for years, every time I use the hose, the water runs through the old heater. Storage is constantly refreshed, if I need it I can drain it out through the drain valve. Change that little drain valve, and clean out the sediment before you set it all up. Easier when empty. Works for me...

 

We used to cut them in half and weld a piece of angle iron on each end and use them for livestock feeders.

 

This is what we did.

 

If you have the space, leave it plumb in with breakers off as a settling/storage tank on the supply side to the new gas unit. If you have a big temporary demand for hot water you could turn it on.

With a set of bypass valves around the new unit, you could still have hot water if you had electricity (commercial or generator) and not gas.

 

Cut a 1/4 section out about 3/4's way down and you've got a good emergency/survival urinal, Ive got one in my shed.

 

I've used some wood fired hot showers which made use of old HWH'S.

When I come across a free one such as yours I'm making an outside shower. ..

 

I made still's out of a couple of smaller water heaters. Was easy to find fittings for condenser coil, thermometer on top and worked well. One was gas and the other had internal heating element which burnt the mash and somehow imparted a tequila flavor lol. Coil was directed downward through a 5 gallon bucket of flowing water. Not sure it could get hot enough to distill water only but was easily controlled otherwise.

 

Does anyone know if all tanks are made of the same metal and what metal that is?

I heard it was stainless a long time ago. No idea if it still is, ever was, or if it's universal.

 

The inside is made of Enamel coated Steel, kinda like that expensive cook wear.

 

We collected a few dead water-heaters. We flushed the sand out of them, and used them to form a Thermal-Bank.

Our woodstove heats water; that heated water circulates in a loop with the Thermal-Bank. A second loop circulates the heated water from the Thermal-Bank and through our radiant heated floor.

Water heaters plumbed in series work great for thermal storage.

Now that we are on Solar-Power, we have way too much electricity during day-light. I have thought about replacing the electric heating elements in the water-heaters and putting them on timers. So during day-light 40amps of my surplus power can be used to heat the water in our Thermal-Bank.

 

Survival 1234

You could use the water heater for a per water heater solar heat BBQ pit there's a number of things you could do with it

 

Hmmm...fill it with tannerite, and stand way, way back...

 

Heheheh...I LIKE it!:

 

Waste oil heater. Detailed instructions on Mother Earth News

When we went tankless last summer we sold our 7-year-old unit for $100 pretty quickly. For someone fixing up an older house to flip, or maybe a rent house, it makes sense.

 

I'm curious as to what you think of your tankless system? Is it electric? How did your bill change?

My wife has wanted tankless and I've been dragging my feet. We have a 40 gallon natural gas water heater that is pretty much free to operate. It never runs more than the gas minimum while the central heat is not being used.

I know or am assured that I will have hot water as long as we have water, as I have never lost natural gas service since 1975. I see no need in changing.

 

I was going to say, do like I did, and use it for a target stand. but since it is still usable, you should be able to find some other purpose.

 

I always thought they would make a good rocket heater. They're pretty thick like a woodstove. I actually tore one apart and cut it open with with the intention of making a rocket heater but still haven't gotten around to it...

 

Make it into a hidden gun storage device. Have it hooked up to water lines so it looks like a hot water back up tank.

 

This gets my vote. :thumb:

 

I've always wondered if you could make a still out of one. Has a temperature gauge already built in, so why not?

 

Why, yes! Yes, you can make a still out of them! Fittings are all common sizes, and one can hop the thermostat up to 173. a little less if you close the valves and pressurize it. Keep an eye on it though-It can ruin the slop if you don't watch it closely!

 

You can attach them to your incoming water to your house. Plumbing it to where all incoming water to you house must go through it. You pay to fill it once and now have continuous water storage being refreshed daily.

 

since it's not a leaker make a solar preheater out of it black pain in the box outside. and plumb into your gas heater. or as JohnAmmo said use as a fresh water storage prep area. be sure you research any check valves you may need also if you are using it for solar and you live in a really hot place you might get water is hotter than expected be sure you are plumbed correctly with a T&P valve. We have had a few barbque made out of them but they were leakers so no value as a water storage.

 

Strip the tank down to just the bare essentials, and plumb it inline BEFORE the Hot water tank. It gives you a constantly freshened source of 40 extra gallons of water. It also warms the water to room temperature before going into the actual water heater, thus lowering the heating bill slightly.

 

It would depend on how old the tank is. In the 1980's the previous tanks were all metal, then they started to line them with glass. Look for a manufacture date, if it is before 80 then you can cut them up for a lot if projects, if it is after 80 then call the manufacturer, then it could only be used for liquids.

 

Uses for a used hot water heater......


Umm...why do you need to heat hot water??

Just playin..I'd run with the "leave it plumbed" scenario. With a twist.. put it after new heater with bypass set up. You could have double amount of heated water for daily use (think storage). Or turn on breaker for heavy usage. Bypass (but full) for emergency water supply.