Posted: 4/27/2015 4:36:31 PM EDT
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I was reading the Sandy AAR over in GD and saw the guy was still using his standard in-home systems for hot showers in a SHTF scenario, using a diesel pump on his well for the water tank. While it worked for him, it also seems a bad idea to rely on such a resource-intensive system if you're constrained by fuel and/or water. I figured I'd just mention a very resource-unintensive approach for those who haven't seen it before, though it's admittedly fairly obvious. This is what my in-laws use every day for bathing, and I've used it when over, and it works surprisingly well, and can steam up a room quickly even. Preps: 1x large bucket (~5gal should suffice) 1x metal tea pot or other pure-metal water container (~2qt-3qt should suffice) 1x ~1qt-2qt ladle (small pan or whatever, doesn't matter) Firewood/coal (or other heat source) The system is simple: 1) fill up tea pot with water 2) light fire/etc 3) heat tea pot until near max heat for source (15-30min about) 4) fill up large bucket (you will need to experiment with how much water to balance out heat of teapot, but this is how much you need for bathing ultimately) 5) place steaming hot tea pot water into large bucket water 6) ladle self with water = hot shower It's not as comfortable as a proper hot shower, but it still feels fairly good and gets you clean. The benefits are that it does so using a bare minimum of water (so minimal pumping, purifying, etc required also), and uses a bare minimum of fuel (and if it's firewood it may be very replaceable, but you can also do it with coal on a grill or whatever (2-3 pieces should be more than enough for any task with a small furnace-style coal burner). A typical faucet shower is 20-30gal of water, almost all of which is wasted. A full bathtub is still going to be 30-50gal+. This is by far the least intensive approach at <5gal. You basically use just exactly what you need. And you can do it with $5 of preps. At the very least it's a very cheap backup system to have on hand should your primary fail (loss of fuel for pumping/heating, water rationing, whatever). I'd imagine it's also easy to do this without a fire, but rather placing the bucket alone out with a greenhouse-style solar powered approach. I haven't done that, but with a few more prep materials I imagine it'd be easy to setup to get the water at least warm in non-winter seasons. Also if you lose the metal water container, you can always just drop hot stones from a fire into the bucket, sauna style, though this introduces dirt and ash into the water, which might not be best for bathing with (but it's better than nothing or cold water). |
| A stainless steel milking bucket is very handy for dealing with hot water. It is designed to be carried without spilling and poured easily with additional grab handle near the bottom. While they are expensive new, I have just made it a habit the last 20 years to buy stainless steel items in small antique shops when I see them. |
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Many people would start with the small setup and then work their way up to being able to run the whole house setup. One thing about his generator and whole house setup is he is not far from being able to run a load of laundery perhaps. And for some people, wife and kids, the proper shower vs. the bucket method or pump up sprayer method is going to be a big moral booster. I did not go check the link, not sure if I have read that one. Lots of people have odds and ends for camping, rving, and what ever else. |
more like warm summer day creek bath
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Yes it'll work. But it's too complex.
With this system below , for about $200 you can have a hot shower system. Get an Eccotemp water heater and a 20 lb propane tank. Eccotemp link Add a Flojet 12 volt pump and a car battery, add in some water buckets and you'll have a pressurized hot water system. Flojet link My wife and I use this system for camping with our homemade camper and it works GREAT. |
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Interesting timing... I just got out of the shower.... Down on my creek.
My set up is simple: A Titan outdoor propane shower. $100 online. A 55 gal food grade drum I fill from the creek with a 12volt harbor freight bilge pump, but could easily fill by hand. About $20 Then a harbor frieght 12volt marine pump runs the water from the drum into the hot shower unit. (The 200 gph one) $34 And a 20lb propane tank. $20 refills. Plus a 12 volt deep cycle battery I used to use on a small boat for a trolling motor. I have 3 vehicles I could pull the batteries out of if it came to needing a replacement. The propane tank will give me over 18 hours of hot water. And to be honest the highest setting is so hot I have to turn it down to about half of full heat or its too hot to stand. I treat the water with bleach and it will give me about 10 - 15 good showers before I need to fill it back up. The battery so far has run for several weeks, but is getting below half charge so I will throw it back on the solar charger for a day or so this week. The outdoor shower unit is automatic and with 2 D-cells it will automatically turn on and light as soon as water starts flowing. I have several back up packs of rechargeable D-cells, an extra propane tank, and spare pumps. Best case I figure I have close to 300 - 15 minute hot showers if needed. I flip over a galvanized wash tub to stand in and presto change-O I'm getting clean. In about 2 weeks I plan to build the full wash house and install the system permanently. I will do a few pics for those interested. |
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Quoted:
Interesting timing... I just got out of the shower.... Down on my creek. My set up is simple: A Titan outdoor propane shower. $100 online. A 55 gal food grade drum I fill from the creek with a 12volt harbor freight bilge pump, but could easily fill by hand. About $20 Then a harbor frieght 12volt marine pump runs the water from the drum into the hot shower unit. (The 200 gph one) $34 And a 20lb propane tank. $20 refills. Plus a 12 volt deep cycle battery I used to use on a small boat for a trolling motor. I have 3 vehicles I could pull the batteries out of if it came to needing a replacement. The propane tank will give me over 18 hours of hot water. And to be honest the highest setting is so hot I have to turn it down to about half of full heat or its too hot to stand. I treat the water with bleach and it will give me about 10 - 15 good showers before I need to fill it back up. The battery so far has run for several weeks, but is getting below half charge so I will throw it back on the solar charger for a day or so this week. The outdoor shower unit is automatic and with 2 D-cells it will automatically turn on and light as soon as water starts flowing. I have several back up packs of rechargeable D-cells, an extra propane tank, and spare pumps. Best case I figure I have close to 300 - 15 minute hot showers if needed. I flip over a galvanized wash tub to stand in and presto change-O I'm getting clean. In about 2 weeks I plan to build the full wash house and install the system permanently. I will do a few pics for those interested. Planning a similar set up will be watching for your pics! |
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Solar this, outside that... Works great...until it is January and -20  At that point, hard to beat the efficiency of a sponge bath. My plan (should something long-term ish) happens, is to drill a hole in the ceiling of the shower/floor of the bedroom upstairs. Bucket with hose attached and valve on hose end. Simply put hot water in bucket upstairs, and take shower in the shower. |
a 2mil 33 gal contractor bag laid flat is holding 2 1/2gal in picture... 2x4 under open mouth, over board to keep wind from inflating bag, to keep bag in contact with water... 125' of 7/8" garden hose also holds 2 1/2 gal... in high 90s sunny day in Florida, both reached 120+F in one hour... garden sprayer( no chemicals) is a good pressure source, and is usable in 1 hour...
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Quoted:
I've mentioned this before, but... Your average generator produces a lot of exhaust heat - 100 percent of which is wasted. Figure out a way to channel that heat to a water tank, and you've got a water heater that doesn't use any fuel of its own. There are several types of water heaters we use on gold dredges that work off of the exhaust heat of the motors. The basics are to wrap copper tubing around the exhaust pipe and cover to retain heat. Another style is to use baffles for the water to run through. Then use a pump to push the water through the system. They are used for wetsuit heaters and work very well. Something similar would be fairly easy to construct and there are plans for these readily available. Do a google search for DIY wetsuit heater and you will see a few. The downside is that in creeks your intake can pick up sand or silt and plug the line..... What happens next is that the water superheats and turns to steam and comes boiling out into the wetsuit. Suffice it say that isn't fun. And a few have been seriously injured by it. |
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This works.
Did this for years at hunting camp. Used last nights plastic beer cup to transfer water to body. Usually had more water than I needed. Quoted:
I was reading the Sandy AAR over in GD and saw the guy was still using his standard in-home systems for hot showers in a SHTF scenario, using a diesel pump on his well for the water tank. While it worked for him, it also seems a bad idea to rely on such a resource-intensive system if you're constrained by fuel and/or water. I figured I'd just mention a very resource-unintensive approach for those who haven't seen it before, though it's admittedly fairly obvious. This is what my in-laws use every day for bathing, and I've used it when over, and it works surprisingly well, and can steam up a room quickly even. Preps: 1x large bucket (~5gal should suffice) 1x metal tea pot or other pure-metal water container (~2qt-3qt should suffice) 1x ~1qt-2qt ladle (small pan or whatever, doesn't matter) Firewood/coal (or other heat source) The system is simple: 1) fill up tea pot with water 2) light fire/etc 3) heat tea pot until near max heat for source (15-30min about) 4) fill up large bucket (you will need to experiment with how much water to balance out heat of teapot, but this is how much you need for bathing ultimately) 5) place steaming hot tea pot water into large bucket water 6) ladle self with water = hot shower |
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Got one of their heaters on clearance a few years ago for $60 or so |
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Quoted: a 2mil 33 gal contractor bag laid flat is holding 2 1/2gal in picture... 2x4 under open mouth, over board to keep wind from inflating bag, to keep bag in contact with water... 125' of 7/8" garden hose also holds 2 1/2 gal... in high 90s sunny day in Florida, both reached 120+F in one hour... garden sprayer( no chemicals) is a good pressure source, and is usable in 1 hour... http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz180/LesSnyder/DSC00300.jpg Summertime I've been using two 100' lengths of hose stretched out in the yard to wash the dogs and nearly get through both before running out of warm water. With the right nozzle, those 4 gallons or so go a surprisingly long way. I've been considering building a decent size solar "oven" (black box, glass top, coils of black tubing) that recirculates water through an insulated blackened drum via a small solar driven pump... in theory I could see it maintaining a decent supply of moderately warm if not hot water through a good part of the year. I've got the bits, just short on time. Good for outdoor kid/dog/car washing and shtf backup. |
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You're headed in the right direction OP.
5 gallon bucket 1/2 inch NPT bulkhead in the bottom of the bucket 1/2 in NPT valve 1/2 in NPT barbed fitting length of hose to fit over the barb Fill er up, Hang it high. I get about 8 minutes out of mine running constantly. My shower is outdoors at my off grid cabin hoisted by a rope and pulley to a branch. It could just as easily be inside a tall enough shower enclosure or anywhere with a floor drain for that matter. |
| kallnojoy... I built a solar water heater for Mom and Dad in 75, after getting out of the USAF... 2 4x8' aluminum collectors, 4 2x4 sheets of glass glazing, 220' of 1/2" rigid copper, connected by street "L" and right angle in each collector... metallic back (painted black) insulated fiberglass for collector plate,... 82 gallon hot water tank, magnetic impeller pump, and demand switches and anti siphon valve... 82 gallons of 160F water by noon each day... we figured the payback to be 5 years, but was actually closer to 3 |