{"id":3073,"date":"2026-07-26T18:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073"},"modified":"2026-07-26T18:05:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:05:03","slug":"building-testing-4-diy-solar-water-heaters-cheap-pipe-vs-copper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073","title":{"rendered":"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NiuYDMNnPCU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This video covers solar water heaters. I&#8217;ll go over some of the science that makes heating water very different from heating air to help , then I&#8217;ll build four different DIY solar water heaters to test and compare so we can see what design makes the most sense to build as a cheap, effective DIY water heater. This video will focus on really simple designs and I\u2019ll do a follow up video with more complex diy water heating designs so we can compare the results to figure out the balance between design complexity and actual heating results.<\/p>\n<p>Send a question to the Greenhill Forge Podcast\u2014 https:\/\/forms.gle\/a7K1oMEqRf3kVBJd7<\/p>\n<p>SOLAR playlist\u2014 https:\/\/youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLXY7A1-0asJYMPwoF5CDsyIbmp78TuHZt&amp;si=nVqcxnpQjF6eHtD5<\/p>\n<p>CONSULTATIONS: https:\/\/greenhillforge.com\/products\/consultation<br \/>\nPROJECT NOTES with clearly labelled diagrams and images with measurements and dimensions in both imperial and metric, plus technical notes: https:\/\/greenhillforge.com\/collections\/project-notes<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe for more videos about alternative energy, carpentry, metalworking, living and working on a rural smallholding, alternative energy, &amp; mad science \u2014 https:\/\/bit.ly\/GreenhillYT <\/p>\n<p>Patreon \u2014 https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/GreenhillForge<br \/>\nServices\/Shop \u2014 https:\/\/greenhillforge.com<br \/>\nInstagram \u2014 https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/greenhillforge<br \/>\nSign up for the newsletter \u2014 https:\/\/greenhillforge.com\/newsletter<br \/>\nBuy me a beer \u2014 https:\/\/buy.stripe.com\/4gMaEX8F83kx8k467q8EM00<\/p>\n<p>In this video and in my shop  \u2014<\/p>\n<p>*Aferiy P310 3600W 3840Wh Portable Power Station<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/www.aferiy.com\/products\/aferiy-p310-portable-power-station-3300w-3840wh?ref=mqzdkebw<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/uk.aferiy.com\/products\/aferiy-p310-portable-power-station-3600w-3840wh?ref=wmmdpjsn<\/p>\n<p>*Prusa 3D Printer<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/www.prusa3d.com\/#a_aid=GreenhillForge<\/p>\n<p>*ESAB Rebel 215 mig\/tig\/stick Welder<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Gm3Jpm<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/tidd.ly\/4jsNsxk<\/p>\n<p>*Milwaukee Metal Band Saw 6232-21<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/amzn.to\/3ROLVWu<\/p>\n<p>*Milwaukee Band Saw Stand<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/amzn.to\/4lQ1Amr<\/p>\n<p>*Welding Gloves<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/43VjXzD<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jaCD30<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Cordless Grinder 4.5\u201d\/115mm DCG412<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4cDrl55<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/42uPC8K<\/p>\n<p>*Thermocouple<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4iostLd<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3RSRYcw<\/p>\n<p>*Type K Thermocouple Probe<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ROOl7w<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jFdgGF<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Drill\/Driver Combo<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/42gXpZ1<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ig85Mh<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Impact Driver DCF887<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4cErAge<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Y1NgNn<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Drill DCD996<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/tidd.ly\/3RgE8k6<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/tidd.ly\/3RgE8k6<\/p>\n<p>*Nocry Safety Glasses<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3GcZ7lr<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Y2CRAT<\/p>\n<p>*Irwin Quick Clamps<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jbBQyS<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ioB4NT<\/p>\n<p>*ESAB Air Mask for welding g50\/EPRX1.1<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/ebay.us\/jur9pC<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Angle Grinder 4.5\u201d\/115mm DWE4206<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3RPnBng<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/44r7nIw<\/p>\n<p>*Bosch Bench Drill Press PBD40<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/amzn.to\/44z0y7M<\/p>\n<p>*Dewalt Metal Chop Saw DW872<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/42eMdvT<br \/>\nUK Amazon: https:\/\/amzn.to\/43X6Hum<br \/>\nUK Ebay: https:\/\/ebay.us\/gYhSF3<\/p>\n<p>*Plasma Cutter Hypertherm Powermax 45xp<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jzy7eb<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/ebay.us\/C7oU6S<\/p>\n<p>*Latex Work Gloves<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/amzn.to\/42OcJfO<\/p>\n<p>*3M Respirator Mask<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/42z1ExO<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/43Y7Fqo<\/p>\n<p>*3M Respirator Mask Filters<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ly94tP<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Y586vg<\/p>\n<p>*Pump<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3G8A82V<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/43vMqKC<\/p>\n<p>*24\u201d Industrial Drum Fan<br \/>\nUS: https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Pk8jJu<br \/>\nUK: https:\/\/amzn.to\/4lG5XAN<\/p>\n<p>If I left something out, please ask in the comments!<\/p>\n<p>#solarwater #diysolar #solarheating <\/p>\n<p>*Links marked with * are affiliate links for products I use, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them. Thanks for your support!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This video covers solar water heaters. I&#8217;ll go over some of the science that makes heating water very different from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper - DIY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This video covers solar water heaters. I&#8217;ll go over some of the science that makes heating water very different from [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DIY\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/\",\"name\":\"DIY\",\"description\":\"All you need to know about DIY\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":360},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073\",\"name\":\"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper - DIY\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper - DIY","og_description":"This video covers solar water heaters. I&#8217;ll go over some of the science that makes heating water very different from [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073","og_site_name":"DIY","article_published_time":"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/","name":"DIY","description":"All you need to know about DIY","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ytb_thumb-157.jpg","width":480,"height":360},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#webpage","url":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073","name":"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper - DIY","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-26T18:05:03+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/?p=3073#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Building &amp; Testing 4 DIY Solar Water Heaters: Cheap Pipe vs Copper"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighteningweightloss.com\/diy\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}