water heater....diesel or gas....any ideas for me?

[Clear Vision]

Hi all,

My name is matthew and I'm a self employed window cleaner and I joined this forum to try and find out information from plumbers/engineers.

I will explain what I do and need.

I use wfp to clean windows (water fed poles)
I have a 650L tank of purified water in my van with a 100psi shurflo pump which pumps through 100m of hose and then up my pole to clean windows.

Thats a cold system I run but there are hot water systems available but they can cost up to 10grand!!!!!

So I would like to turn my setup into a hot water system.

My only power source in the van is 12 v.

Where can I get a 12v/gas water heater to fit into my system.

I would like some kind of boiler that heats the water instantaneous as it passes through.

I cant afford the time to wait for it to heat up a 15L tank. A average house would use 20L min to clean it.

Any help would be appreciated

Matthew
Clear Vision

 

[MattChan]

How about having some kind of bypass arrangement for the vehicle radiator so that you heat your tank of water with the vehicle engine cooling system?

 

[Onetap]

Where can I get a 12v/gas water heater to fit into my system.

Caravan suppliers?

 

[Clear Vision]

How about having some kind of bypass arrangement for the vehicle radiator so that you heat your tank of water with the vehicle engine cooling system?

Good idea but the van is parked up with the engine off for 70% of the day. I clean a few houses then move down the road to the nex job

 

[Clear Vision]

Where can I get a 12v/gas water heater to fit into my system.

Caravan suppliers?

But they only sell the systems that have there own tank and its only 15L and you have to wait 15 mins to heat up.


What about a 12v element?

 

[MattChan]

Leave the engine running ice cream van stylee.

 

[MattChan]

What about a 12v element?

Using a 12V element on 650L of water would need a big array of elements and a lot of power. Just think of an immersion heater in a hot water cylinder which is around 120L in a house, thats 3kW odd which would be around 250A of current you would need from a battery!

A small engine you could leave running dumping heat you tank is another solution

 

[Clear Vision]

What about a 12v element?

Using a 12V element on 650L of water would need a big array of elements and a lot of power. Just think of an immersion heater in a hot water cylinder which is around 120L in a house, thats 3kW odd which would be around 250A of current you would need from a battery!

A small engine you could leave running dumping heat you tank is another solution

I see what you mean.

do you know of any silent diesel generaters?

 

[MattChan]

To raise 670L of water by 40 deg C (from 20deg c to 60deg c) assuming ideal conditions you need:

4.2J of energy per g per deg C

4.2*670*1000*40 = 112.56MJ of energy

1W is 1J per second

So to heat the tank in 1 hour you need a:

112.56MJ/3600s = 31.266kW heater

This assumes the tank is ideally insulated and there are no heat losses!

I think all that maths is right!

Is it deffo a 670L tank? lol

 

[JohnD]

maybe you could insulate the tank and fill it with hot water before you leave home

31kW is equivalent to an above-average size gas boiler in a house, running flat out. Or ten immersion heaters. But if you heated it at home overnight, one immersion heater could do it in ten hours.

 

[MattChan]

maybe you could insulate the tank and fill it with hot water before you leave home

31kW is equivalent to an above-average size gas boiler in a house, running flat out. Or ten immersion heaters. But if you heated it at home overnight, one immersion heater could do it in ten hours.

Kerching on the leccy costs of heating it as well...

A better solution would be heating it on demand, no idea what the best way of doing that in a portable manor is though!

 

[JohnD]

about £3 of electricity. Less if you have economy 7. One paid-for job would lose that.

 

[Clear Vision]

oh I dont know what to do.

I cant fill it with hot as the water has to go through a purification process first. After its purified its stored in 2 1000L ibc tanks in the gaden then pumped to the van every couple of days to fill the van tank up.

A on demand gas water boiler would be the best way.

Surely someone must know a way?

Thanks for your replys so far.

Matthew

 

[Clear Vision]

here is a pic of the diesel heater/boiler unit thats installed in a window cleaning van

 

[Clear Vision]

here is my van