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Greetings. Im new here. I live alone in a Mobile and actually use little hot water...just a 5 minute luke-warm shower each night and run the Dishwasher once a week. (I wash clothes using cold water) . I live in the FLorida Panhandle ...and the incoming water during May thru Sept. is nearly warm enough to shower in without using the water heater, but not quite. I have a Pump House where my pump and Well Tank are in ... and i was considering moving the Well Tank outside of the Pump House in the direct sunlight and painting the entire thing an ultra flat black. In addition, I was thinking of moving my existing 40 gallon electric water heater next to the Well Tank and painting it also. (I would remove the 2 heating elements and just it as a secondary storage tank in series with the other) . I would route the well water thru each tank before the water goes thru the main incoming pipe to the house .(I dont drink water from the cold water faucet ) . I will be installing a tankless electric water heater as a backup.

Questions :

1. Has anyone attempted this before ? What were the results ?
2. Will the Well Tank (with inherent pressure diaphram) withstand hot temps ?
3. I doubt the water would be excessively hot to shower in during the summer ; what would you think ?
4. Any tips, considerations, or cautions ?

Many thanks, Dave.

If your suggesting using the well tank as a solar batch heater don't do it the bladders are not designed for heat and excessive heat will cause stretching and premature failure.

If you split hot and cold sides just after the well tank and through a couple of smaller hot water heater tanks or something similar
prior to the water heater which are painted black and act as a batch heater that would work.

DigitalDreams wrote:If your suggesting using the well tank as a solar batch heater don't do it the bladders are not designed for heat and excessive heat will cause stretching and premature failure.

If you split hot and cold sides just after the well tank and through a couple of smaller hot water heater tanks or something similar
prior to the water heater which are painted black and act as a batch heater that would work.

Ok,, thats what i suspected. Thanks for the info.

Am I missing something here??? Greg

you might want to look at a pool solar heater, but I'm not sure if they are rated for potable water. The pool solar collectors come in small easy to plumb units. If the storage tank hooked up to the heater at the top and bottom of the tank, I believe natual convection should keep it flowing to heat your whole storage tank. the tank may need to be higher than the heater. I'm not 100% sure on that, and haven't done the research or thought it out.

WhenI was a kid, we had a solar water heater, but some sensor on pump when out pretty quick, and replacing it wasn't deamed cost effective by my dad, so it never got much use.
It used an oil as a heat transfer medium and stored the heat in an insulated tank in the basement. the water went from that tank to the electric HW heater.