Transition Culture

Hi,
I met Dave, who invented and runs spiral sun solar showers at the european rainbow gathering in Yorkshire in summer 2006. I myself develop lotec technology and I too was very impressed by the design and efficiency of the showers. As well as a hot water supply the system also connects into a cold water supply. Hot and cold are both fed into the thermostaticly controled mixer tap that sits below the shower head. I understand that future developments include plans to pump the water by wind power generated elecricity. Bright blessings, Kith

Hi
I would love to know how to get in touch with spiral sun solar showers…as I am very interested in having them at our festival…can anyone help?

Hi Jools,
I have contact information for Spiral Sun. If you post a bit more information on your festival, along with your contact details I will Email Dave so that he can get in touch with you if he wants to.
Kith.

Hi Kith

Cheers for this.

Workhouse Festival is a small eclectic family friendly festival with a capacity for 5,000 people (last year we sold out). It is run by a group of volunteers who have been on the festival scene for years and decided to create one themselves. This year we have booked amongst many others Transglobal Underground, The Baghdaddies, Tarantism…We are not just a music festival, far from it…there is a healing area, chill out zone, dance tent, green crafts, sauna, kids area, cabaret, comedy, acoustic venue and loads of walkabout and the bizarre. Some of our venues are powered by the wind and sun. If you go to the website or to http://www.myspace.com/workhousefestival, there is a video that gives a real feel for the event.
We really want to improve facilities from last year, which is where I reckon solar showers would fit in and I saw them at the big green and was very impressed..
Dave can either message me through the myspace site…or go on to http://www.workhousefestival.co.uk and click on the get involved box that says “bands” and I will receive that mail.
Thanks
Jooles x

Hi Rob and Kith,
this is Dave Wick of spiral Sun Solar Showers. I’d like to thank you both for your commendations and ask if I can use your comments on my website (hopefuly up and running mon/tues next week – spiralson.co.uk -.I’m now in touch with Jooles of the Workhouse festival, thanks again.
I’d also like to take this oppertunity to clarify a couple of technical points you raised. The showers are not fitted with thermostatic controls as the system is designed not to need them as follows. The design of the solar collector array is deliberately not all that efficient (as this permits other useful design features such as using robust light black plastic piping for collectors as well as not needing thermostatic control).The collector pipes inside the tent are effectivley open to the air inside the tent. This means they can never become much hotter than this surrounding air because as their tempreture increases this heat is also radiated out into the tent as well as heating the water inside the pipes. The tent itself is only moderately good at retaining this heat so it continually loses heat to the outside environment and soo keeps the whole system from overheating. This is how come if nobody uses the shower for a while they dont get scalded. The highest tempreture I’ve ever recorded for the hot water is 54*C. This is hot but not scalding. Water tempreture is adjusted to comfortable levels by a simple shower mixer control, where the hot water (from the solar collectors) is mixed with cold water in the useual way.
It may seem odd to non engineers/designers that systems would not always be made as efficient as possible but often the cost or resultant end product (eg.glass vaccume tube solar collectors @ about 98% efficiency are heavy,fragile and expensive as well as requiring sophisticated control systems) means that, depending on what the overall design is intended to achive, a less high efficiency/ high tech approach can be a better overall solution to a specific design requirement. In this case producing relatively cheap, robust solar showers that work well enough in their operational environment to satisfy the need. Kith,I would be interested to know more of what you do at lotec, please email me at davewick7@yahoo.co.uk with contact details if you’d like to get in touch, you too Rob if theres anything more you’d like to know.
Thanks again to both of you
Best wishes
Dave Wick

Copied to Dave with photo`s –

Hi Dave,
Thanks for making contact with Jooles re Workhouse Festival. I hoped it would be a fruitful bit of networking!

I have just taken a look at your web front page and will keep up to date with developments there. You are most welcome to use my comments on your showers in any way you wish.

As to Lotec, it is my one man very part time alternative workshop. My main current project is developing and
making woodburners. I have sold several to friends and friends of friends. I use old LPG cylinders and steel beer pressure barrels. Stove pipe is made from redundent farm irrigation pipe.

Look forward to seeing you at some point in the coming season.
Good luck and best wishes,
Kith.

If you need someone in New England (Massachusetts) as an advocate, count me in! I do not do festivals but I am going to see if I can rig this idea up myself for our family needs because (1) its super nifty (2) we can no longer afford the oil we were using to heat our water (3) we like to do things ourselves (http://humblegarden.com). If you were thinking of selling this I would be happy to help out. (now is the time here .. lots of us in new england use wood stoves for winter heat but oil for our hot water .. no more affordable oil = a need to find this sort of solution) We use well water which comes out of the ground VERY FREAKING COLD so I am highly motivated to find a way!