Solar Water Heater - The Cover Part 1

This is the second part of my solar water heater project for horse tanks. The other parts are:

• Getting Started
• The Cover- Part 1

To build the heater cover, I used the rough plans and adapted them. I put the base down, and then measured from there, taking into account the height of the tank. I had it just about an inch above the tank, which I realize now is too low. I should have allowed 2” and kept it low to the ground. We have a few ponies and they’re short, but lesson learned for v2.

The first measurements helped me get the sizes.

I started by cutting sides, slanting the front about 10 degrees and attaching a board along the top and bottom. These are bracing and give the cover the structural integrity. I used a 2x4 on top and a 2x6 on the bottom.

I also added an interior board, which will brace against the back. I allowed for the sides to stick out far enough to cover the back OSB, but that’s a mistake. I should have either set them flush, or allowed to cover the 2x6 with the upper and lower boards. It works, but looks funny.

I screwed this much together on the first day, with the rest of my wood buried in snow in the back of the truck. However I had a little more time, so I added some insulation. It was cut to fit with a utility knife. This isn’t the final size, but it gave me an idea of how it would look.

I started with the foil out, but I want to minimize heat reflection, so I turned things around as shown above.

A little paint to see how it took convinced me that I’d need real paint, as well as some other thermal mass.

I could probably have finished most of this in a day, but with other circumstances, this is where I stopped as we left for vacation.