My original heating system for the Hippie Hot tub was sub par to say the least. With that being said, last weekend I spent a little bit of time upgrading the heating system. The first thing that I did was move the horse trough to an area that we would get more use out of it. The next thing that I did was make four coils out of 500 ft of 1/2 inch black PVC hose and strategically place them on our roof to attract a full spectrum of sunlight. I have one pump for the horse trough pumping water up to the roof to a make shift reservoir tank that I made out of 3 gallon plastic storage bin on the roof.

The water sits in the tank first where it finds another pump that pumps it into the coils. Getting the water to flow through he coils was a little tricky. This is where gravity plays a major roll. I finally figured out, after using a little common sense, that if I pumped the water to the top of the roof, gravity would assist the water through the rest of the coils, taking much of the stress off of the pump. The water then drains off of the roof and back into the hot tub where I Gerry rigged a make shift water fall system. The verdict is in, IT WORKS! Or at least for the most part.

I can get about 20 minutes of hot steaming water off of the roof, which can raise the water temp quite a bit. Midday it takes about 10 minutes to heat back up, then it is good again. I am working out the kinks now so that the water will continue to heat up on a continual flow. I think that if I add another 500 ft of coiled hose I may get the results that I am after. However getting the water to flow through that much hose is another obstacle, even for gravity. I could ad another pump, but that takes more electricity, which takes away for this being a sustainable project. I am open to any ideas or suggestions while I continue to soak in my nice warm tub.