Winter in North Issan

[khunPer]

43 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

I like that, how does it work when cloudy and raining for days on end, does it have a booster switch, I remember having one at a place I owned back in 2001 and vaguely remember it had a booster switch.

 

Might be something for me to look into if the short black-outs persist, usually when its raining and around 9pm at night, so one must remember to get to the 2nd shower for the day early.

You can have them with an electric heater element inside the storage water tank, so when it's cold and raining for a week or longer, you'll still have hot water – and the tank, being a central hot-water tank, will keep it hot/warm even during a black-out. Mine has a 200 liters storage tank. The cost was just over 40k baht 6-years ago. Together with a water storage tank on attic – or a tower with a tank – you can have both water-pressure and hot-water during black-outs.

 

The solar-heater can stand on the ground, just there is (some) sun. The water circulates by itself due to heat, but the system must be under pressure together with the rest of the house's water system. In my case there's very limited ground space, so I have my solar-panel on the roof and the hot-water-tank in the attic underneath, so I need a little pump to circulate the water through the solar panel. With a daylight switch the pump can only run when there's enough light, and stops if it's cloudy dark. Furthermore I use a simple mechanic timer-switch, connected to a solenoid switch, so I only run the pump 15 minutes in 1½ hour, as the water otherwise will be too boiling hot. The reason for using a pump is, that I for visual impression did not wanted the 200 ltr. storage tant on the roof; in other cases it may be a question of construction and weight.

 

You can see the principle from this image (today you can have a more advanced controller panel, it seem):

 

When I designed my Thai house – wise from experience with regular power cuts – I wished to avoid the situation, where you stand in the shower, soaped in, and shampoo in the hair, in the evening after darkness on your way out for a dinner appointment or night-in-the-town; bang, power-cut just that moment, the shampoo runs down in your eyes, and water flow stops, because there's no working water-pump, and no light to find a towel or whatever, to clean your eyes...

Therefore I also designed a separate electric circuit to bathrooms and stairs, running from an UPS with extra back-up-battery capacity, so there's always some light...

 

And by the way, I choose not to live up Isaan, because cold winters was a one of the reasons for me moving to LoS...

[4MyEgo]

7 minutes ago, khunPer said:

You can have them with an electric heater element inside the storage water tank, so when it's cold and raining for a week or longer, you'll still have hot water – and the tank, being a central hot-water tank, will keep it hot/warm even during a black-out. Mine has a 200 liters storage tank. The cost was just over 40k baht 6-years ago. Together with a water storage tank on attic – or a tower with a tank – you can have both water-pressure and hot-water during black-outs.

 

The solar-heater can stand on the ground, just there is (some) sun. The water circulates by itself due to heat, but the system must be under pressure together with the rest of the house's water system. In my case there's very limited ground space, so I have my solar-panel on the roof and the hot-water-tank in the attic underneath, so I need a little pump to circulate the water through the solar panel. With a daylight switch the pump can only run when there's enough light, and stops if it's cloudy dark. Furthermore I use a simple mechanic timer-switch, connected to a solenoid switch, so I only run the pump 15 minutes in 1½ hour, as the water otherwise will be too boiling hot. The reason for using a pump is, that I for visual impression did not wanted the 200 ltr. storage tant on the roof; in other cases it may be a question of construction and weight.

 

You can see the principle from this image (today you can have a more advanced controller panel, it seem):

 

When I designed my Thai house – wise from experience with regular power cuts – I wished to avoid the situation, where you stand in the shower, soaped in, and shampoo in the hair, in the evening after darkness on your way out for a dinner appointment or night-in-the-town; bang, power-cut just that moment, the shampoo runs down in your eyes, and water flow stops, because there's no working water-pump, and no light to find a towel or whatever, to clean your eyes...

Therefore I also designed a separate electric circuit to bathrooms and stairs, running from an UPS with extra back-up-battery capacity, so there's always some light...

 

And by the way, I choose not to live up Isaan, because cold winters was a one of the reasons for me moving to LoS...

 

Very informative information, thank you for that, something to look into the future, and yes I have a generator or electric light just outside the bathroom which comes on as soon as we have a black out so I can feel around to the big bin with water to rinse my hair if I get caught with shampoo in it or soap on body, inconvenient but rare in winter.

 

The cold in Isaan is ok for me as we would have 3 months a year of winter in Sydney with temps down to 8 degree in the evening normally, and is a relief here when compared to summer at 43 degree.

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, SunsetT said:

I spend my winters in NE Thailand; mostly in Nakhon Phanom and Udon Thani returning to the UK for summers. Most of the time I find the Isaan weather very agreeable; Mostly dry,  High Twenties  creeping into low Thirties by day and cooling down very pleasantly in the evenings and overnight. But keep an eye on the weather forecast for China from now until the end of February, as sometimes; mostly December thru January, very cold weather in China can move South into Thailand and makes it feel really cold when if it stays cloudy and you get rain and wind from the N-NE, i.e., from China.  It usually only lasts 2 to 4 days but can remain overcast and 'relatively' chilly for up to a week. I say relatively as it always makes me smile that what would feel like a balmy summer's evening to me in the UK; say 17C, feels  definitely chilly here during an Isaan winter. Of course you notice it more if u r eating and drinking al fresco and it can be really cold riding a motorbike. Conversely riding my bicycle warms me up! I always carry a 2nd layer, zip-on legs for my shorts, socks and a hat during winter for when the evenings get chilly, and during these cold spells from China, I even go out wearing trousers, socks, and shoes, and a jacket; 2 jackets if on the mbike! It also depends on your accommodation. Older Thai property was built to keep the sun out. This combined with ill-fitting windows which will not completely close, concrete walls or tiled walls and floors, and especially wetroom bathrooms can feel literally like u r living in a fridge! It can also depend on which way your room or room faces. E.g., The rooms of the hotel I like to use in Udon face East or West. I usually book a west facing room which stays nice and cool until he sun comes around in the afternoon. But during a cold spell these can remain like a fridge so I book an East facing room which usually  warms up nicely during the moning. I still  choose my Winter rented accommodation facing North or East which remains cooler most of the time knowing I will suffer a bit during a cold spell......but I brought a small caravan halogen heater from the UK  to cope with this. Conversely you can also get mini heat waves, usually in November and February with temps rising to 34-36C which is too damned hot for me! By the way Im 64yrs old. If younger, u shouldn't feel the cold too much.

 

 

64, your still a spring chicken 555

[KonaRain]

42f. at my unheated cabin in Hawaii, high altitude, place.

No complaints at latitude 20 from You Guys. kidding if course , I wanted to say no flip flops, cause I'm older, but their not so good, and can be googled .

I like the UPS idea, dark, soap in eyes..

I know..

My friends started Solar in Hawaii, Water and PV in 1979, and I learned about the brass sandwich panels earlier , which are very efficient, and 98% wet, instead of pipes over a black background..more later.

coiled black hose can work in Morning Sun

photo is just an experiment,I was never able to upload.. Windows phone

thanks and Aloha to You All