If you have ever talked to a wind or solar panel installer and told them you want to heat water with wind power, they will tell you it is the worst way to use your hard earned renewable energy. Normally you want to use solar collectors. This article discusses that method and if you don't have the sunshine required, another article tells you how to get free hot water (no electricty used) from your wind generator system. At eduhosting and WindGenZen, when we find a neat design, we'll pass it on to you.

Want to heat hot water with wind power? There are several ways to do this:

1. Use passive solar heating - paint copper pipes black and put them on a large copper or aluminum sheet. Put this in a box surrounded by 2x4 with a clear plastic top to shield it from the wind. Drive the water through this with a very small pump; this can come from wind power. You can eliminate the pump if you put the tank above the heating element, but you will need to insulate that tank since it will be out in the wind.

   You should insulate your tank no matter what system you use. Here is a solar still that produces distilled water and can heat a hot water tank in the process.

2. Use wind power to drive a battery charger and use that power to drive a 110VAC or 220VAC heating elemenmt. This will give you the fastest hot water of any system and the heating elements are common and inexpensive to replace; hot water heating elements rot and their replacement price is the cost that will repeat, along with brushes for your generators.

3. Use wind power to drive a 12 volt heating element. As Hugh Piggot will tell you, the load from the heating element can be heavy and stall a blade. If you have great wind and a big airfoil this isn't a problem, but if you have a large airfoil, you might want to enjoy all that light and appliance power too...consider the method above.

4. Use the heat from your wind generator to heat your water. It's easier than you might think. Click here to learn how.