Hot water

[chefchap]

Hi all
So we have a sugar house we built and having a issue figuring out how to
To do hot water to wash our hands and clean dishes we have a hot water heater but the problem is
We have no power to shack but do have a genny only issue is we would have to drain it every night
After boiling so that it wouldn't freeze and our arch doesn't have the ability to make hot water
Wondering if there is anyone out there with our problem that has fixed it
Thank you
Jon

[Sugarmaker]

Add a preheater and hood to the rear pan and catch the condensate from the preheater. Should get a gallon or two per hour.
We get about 30 gph from the steamaway (bigger system) but that might be a big step for you?
Regards,
Chris

[Michael Greer]

I second that. A preheater hood will produce a constant stream of very hot water...enough to do all the rinsing and washing you'd ever want. We piped it directly to the sink, where it keeps a couple dishpans full at all times.

[G&D MapleSurgaring]

Do you use propane?

[maplerookie]

Either the ideas given or put a barrel stove or a pot belly in your sugar house with a big kettle would only need a small fire to keep it hot.

[Merklin Maples]

I use a Camp Chef on demand hot water heater. Runs on a 20# propane cylinder and 2 D bateries. You do need some sort of water preasure for it to work. Could put in a head tank to supply the water for the heater.

[unc23win]

I ordered an on demand heater the other day. Mine will be in my RO heated room. But if you don't have power or heat the head tank idea might be the way to do it provided you can get water and it won't freeze in the lines or tank. I know some who use a propane burner and a pot to heat water to rinse things off and wash hands.

[Waynehere]

We have the same on demand propane heater that works great. Of course I have water piped in from my house, which is a real blessing too.

[Big_Eddy]

You could make a quick water heater from a coil of copper tubing and a 5 gallon pail. Drill a small hole in the bottom of the pail and insert one end of the copper tubing, seal with RTV or silicone. Wrap the coil around your stack about 10 times and then put the other end of the tube into a second hole half way up the side of the pail. Slope the coil so that air bubbles will rise and not get trapped and water can drain out. i.e no point is lower than the lower hole in the pail, and no point is higher than the upper hole. Fill the pail with water and the heat from the stack will create a natural convection flow through the coil and heat the entire pail. Be sure to keep the water level in the pail ABOVE the upper tube or BELOW the lower tube any time the chimney is hot.

Drain before freezing temperatures.

[chefchap]

Thanks all for the advice
Jon

[maple flats]

About 3 yrs ago I bought a little propane on demand instant hot water heater from Sportsman's Guide, since funds were tight I bought the smallest of 3 thinking I'd limp along with that and get a bigger one the next year. That little heater impressed me, it heats about 1.8 GPM from the upper 30's to 120 degrees just fine when I set the dial on high. I have it on a bulk tank so I don't know how much gas it uses, but it was one of my better investments (after the RO. and the evaporator pans). I see no need for bigger. I feed it with permeate water while I'm running the RO, I could run a separate pump but haven't found the need yet. I do need to leave the hot water discharge hose open flow or the RO would burst the hose. On my RO, I just have a Y valve on the RO, I divert the right flow thru the tankless heater when needed and the rest goes to the permeate tank. I paid $107.99 for the heater, but they now run about $10.00 more. I drain the heater every night so the coils don't freeze and split, my heater hangs over the sink and is not in the RO room.