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First of all can I suggest to Robert that he creates a new sub-forum here called something like "Off topic/non Biofuels discussion", for general chat and questions that have nothing to do with biofuels. What do others think?
I'm posting this topic here because I reckon people who are in to biodiesel may also be in to other sustainable living issues, so may be able to point me in the right direction.
I've wanted to convert my water heater to solar ever since moving in to my current house, but have been put off by the high price of professional systems (around $3000 even with the rebate). However looking around the web I've seen some old articles (in the US mainly,
such as this one here) on how to build your own basic passive solar water heater (sometimes called Batch or Breadbox water heaters).
These are basically an old hot water tank, painted black in an insulated box with glass front, and stuck on your roof or at ground level, plumbed in parallel to your existing hot water tank. No pumps, no controllers or special valves to go wrong. And dirt cheap!
Now for anyone who'se built an appleseed reactor it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to build one of these! 
However I haven't heard of anyone in Australia building one. Has anyone seen any discussion of these on the web on Aussie based forums? The main questions I want answered are what would the plumbing regulations allow for in this country? It would be connected directly to town water so I expect would need to have final connection/certification by a registered plumber. But it's possible it would be completely illegal. Also it would be good to hear how effective they are in our climate - I would imagine pretty effective.
I'm posting this topic here because I reckon people who are in to biodiesel may also be in to other sustainable living issues, so may be able to point me in the right direction.
I've wanted to convert my water heater to solar ever since moving in to my current house, but have been put off by the high price of professional systems (around $3000 even with the rebate). However looking around the web I've seen some old articles (in the US mainly,
such as this one here) on how to build your own basic passive solar water heater (sometimes called Batch or Breadbox water heaters).
These are basically an old hot water tank, painted black in an insulated box with glass front, and stuck on your roof or at ground level, plumbed in parallel to your existing hot water tank. No pumps, no controllers or special valves to go wrong. And dirt cheap!
Now for anyone who'se built an appleseed reactor it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to build one of these! However I haven't heard of anyone in Australia building one. Has anyone seen any discussion of these on the web on Aussie based forums? The main questions I want answered are what would the plumbing regulations allow for in this country? It would be connected directly to town water so I expect would need to have final connection/certification by a registered plumber. But it's possible it would be completely illegal. Also it would be good to hear how effective they are in our climate - I would imagine pretty effective.
That's almost as much as a full commercial system, and well over my budget. And it's complicated, requiring a pump and controller.
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