Prior to when electricity became common place, people were looking for other ways to make life easier. One of these inventions, the solar water heater, came in 1760, and boomed with popularity in the 1900’s for warm areas.
“In 1891, Clarence Kemp released the first ‘Climax’ solar water heater in Baltimore. He placed several water-filled iron elliptical tubes inside the box in series with cold water entering one side and warm water exiting from the other end. Multiple tubes avoided warm and cold-water being in close proximity, thus avoiding adverse heat exchanges.” PassiveHousePlus
These early models did have faults (such as heat lost, and poor resistance to frost, but continued to improve and build with popularity over time.
Eventually, for a complex number of reasons, solar water heaters disappeared and gas and electric took the show.
Today, this tech is making a comeback, though with modern touches.
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There’s also a motherearthnews article showing a simple DIY setup complete with infloor heating!
These kind of thermo-syphon systems are still very common in southern Europe and many developing countries around the world.
We had a solar water heater when I was growing up. It worked great in the summer in NM, for a very short period of time. Mostly we boiled water for dishes and baths (we did not have an indoor bathroom, so a bath was a Wild West style metal tub). But the solar heater was the only way to heat the shower (which too was outside).
