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78highboy150
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2010 02:44am
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Hey guys, well I'm new on here, and I'm moving to Fairbanks Alaska. I'll be getting a 18x24' cabin with a 2nd lvl at 18x20'. There's Electric, and a Oil Furnace for heat.
My Question is this:
There's No Running Water...
My thoughts, and I need suggestions and or help to see if this is doable.
On the Upper lvl I was thinking of placing a 200 or 300 gallon water tank, and matching the same size water tank to my truck. I will need to find a water pump that I can use for getting the water from the truck to the upstairs tank. I will probably try to install a permanent hose from the outside to the inside tank for easy hookup.
So I got a 200 gallon upstairs lets say, and we want to try and do 2 things with this. We want to have access for Hot water showers and hot water to do dishes, as well as normal cold water to the sink. I was thinking of running a hose that is gravity fed to the ground level and installing a electric water heater, but all that I have found have pressurized water fittings, and my hoses will not be pressurized, so I will need a water pump between the tank and the heater right??
Then I will need a hose going from the heater to the inside shower stall, and a hose going to the sink. Do I need a 2nd water pump after the heater?? For cold water I will probably use a 2nd hose coming from the tank upstairs and run it directly to the sink with a valve.
Any thoughts on a good cheap hot water shower system, that we can put inside??
We are moving from Seattle, and wanting to make Alaska our home, the wife and I would like to try and make this cabin somewhat running water. Any thoughts would be great.
Also Prices or Weblinks to good sites would be greatly appreciated.
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lawnjocky
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2010 10:14am
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I don't understand "pressurized". Most waterheaters have three holes in them , one is the cold inlet, another is the hot output and the third is for the pressure temp relief valve. All we are concerned about here is the hot and cold. On the cold side there is simply a tube that goes to the bottom of the tank on the inside. The hot simply exits the top. the cold is run this way to get it closer to the heat source and to discourage mixing of the hot and cold. Some electrics have the inlets on the side some on the top. These should work just fine with a low pressure system. The only concern I would have is siphoning the tank heater tank down if your upstairs tank runs dry. If this happens you could burn out an element or damage the glass lining of the tank. The simplist I can think of would be running a pipe from the hot exit pipe to up above the uptairs tank to. I would u the pipe at the upper end to keep dust from falling in it. Do not cap the end. This will prevent siphoning.
Now if you are talking about a tankless waterheater that is a different story.
Your drawing looks over complicated to me. I don't understand why you would need three pumps. Wall mount heaters are more expensive. If you do use pumps why elevate the tank. If a pump is used you probably need to think about an air tank too. If you are going to use pumps you will need a more expensive anti-siphon device instead of the vent I suggested.
Jocko
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78highboy150
Member
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:51pm
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Hey Jocko,
Thanks for the reply. I'm going into this blind. I have read various things by searching "google", but I just don't know if they would work. My concern with the using the "wall mounted heater", is that it would not have enough water pressure from the tank above to move the water through the heater, and then back out to the shower / sink. So, without a in-line water pump, would there be enough water flow to the sink/shower, just from the upstairs water tank??
As far as the tank running out of water, I was thinking of putting in a sending unit similar to a fuel tank sending unit, with an alarm or gauge that shows when it hits 1/4 full.
The reason I put the water pumps into the equation is that I thought that the gravity fed tank would not make enough pressure to run to the shower and the sink. Does the heater put out an pressure?? In all honesty it does not matter what kind of heater I get, it just needs to be an electric water heater, I don't care if it's standalone or wall mount, just as long as it works well.
I plan on making water runs each week, probably on each Sunday. We are going to live in this cabin Year round, for probably at least 3-4 years before we can save enough to buy our own land, and build our own cabin.
I also have wind power questions, but i'll start another thread for that.
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MikeOnBike
Member
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2010 01:44pm
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You can get R/V style water pumps with the built in pressure switch that run on 110 AC.
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-pumps-water/flojet-pumps.htm
These should be able to provide enough water flow and pressure to drive the 'wall mounted heater'. With the pump you would have more options on where you put your tank.
Keep in mind that 200 gals of water is 1600lbs. Be careful where you put it. If the tank is too tall it may exceed the load specs for your floor.
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lawnjocky
Member
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2010 06:11pm
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At my place I have a 500 gallon tank just up the hill. I have an outdoor shower that is just a little lower than the tank. I purchased a cheapo old fashion style shower head in Mexico. It works great. Not tons of pressure but enough and I am not wasting water by having a fire hose going.
You could do a mock up using some adaptor and garden hose to check the pressure.
Jocko
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 14 May 2012 12:34pm
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I'm in the process of building something similar of what you are doing. I bought 4-55 gal barrels from the local cheese factory and cleaned/washed them out. One is for hauling which is on on 3'x4' small trailer with a 12 volt pump. The other 2 are my storage for shower and sink. I'm just ruining the Grey water from the shower and sink into another 55 gal barrel that I buried and have 2' of gravel on the bottom and 2' of sand on top of it,and run the waste water into it. The 2 storage tanks i ran a 2" pvc pipe from one tank to the other so I have 110 gal cap. Then put a 2" valve on the end. I put a garden hose filter and fitting on the end of the valve(to collect debris before the pump) and then hooked a hose into another 12 volt pump(rv style). After the pump I installed a 5 micron water filter. From that I ran 1/2" pex tubing to the hot water heater,sink, and shower. One of these days I'll draw it up.
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wyatt
Member
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# Posted: 14 May 2012 12:34pm - Edited by: wyatt
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sounds good
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 14 May 2012 06:12pm
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My first thought was as Mike mentioned. That water will weigh 1600+ pounds. Be very careful about where the tank is placed. Most likely the upper level was not built to take a concentrated load like that.
Water pressure from gravity alone is only 0.43 pounds per foot of elevation. Measure the elevation as the vertical distance from the bottom of the tank to the point of use.
One water pump, like a 12 volt DC RV pump is all that is needed. It feeds the tank water to everything.
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Sustainusfarm
Member
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# Posted: 14 May 2012 10:11pm
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Check this video out... I think this Simms it up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5iteadS3uw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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