Make a Solar Heated Shower
No garden activity area is complete without an outdoor solar shower. These can be as simple or elaborate as you want, ranging from a long length of flexible black water hose to an elegant shower cubicle with a drain, perhaps some decking for comfortable toweling, and screening for privacy.
Let’s look at a simple outdoor solar shower in an average backyard, possibly close to a swimming pool or hot tub, both of which could be heated from the shower’s hot water supply.
First and foremost, you must ensure there is good drainage for your shower. In some areas you might be able to have a simple soakaway or take the soiled water to the nearest flower bed. Others might demand a more elaborate system that drains into the main sewer or septic tank. You will be responsible for following whatever regulations apply to your locality.
Here are the other main criteria for the design of your outdoor solar shower:
Privacy. Do you need to avoid being overlooked? If yes, then you need to find a secluded spot away from upstairs windows for your solar heated shower.
Mains Water. If your shower is positioned far away from the mains water supply you will experience a drop in shower pressure. Boost shower flow by including an old water tank or cylinder in the solar heating line, ideally mounted above the shower head height to give a good head of pressure.
Sunlight. The solar collector (hose, cylinder or both) needs good exposure to the sun’s heat. Usually it will only take a few minutes to reheat water for the next shower, but the time taken can be badly affected by shade or poor positioning from direct sunlight.
Usage. How do you intend to use the solar heated shower? After a swim, perhaps? To cool off after a sunbathe? Your shower design will depend very much on how you want to use it.
Litter. Unfortunately a shower pan is a great place for fallen leaves to collect. A simple wooden cover plate is a good idea to place over pan, and placing the shower well away from trees if possible is also sensible.
An outdoor solar shower will be between 9 and 16 square feet in size for comfort, and mounted on decking about a foot above ground level, to allow the fitting of a suitable galvanized tray under the shower drain, to collect soiled water and in turn drain it into the soakaway system.
Consider extending the decking a few feet out from the entrance to the shower, to make toweling easier and to keep feet clean while being dried. Use 4×4 pressure-treated softwood uprights for the corners of the shower cubicle, joined by side panels made from pretty much anything you like – plywood, clapboard, cedar shingles are some materials of choice.
You will find the solar heating system very easy to make. A shower head attached to a length of ½ inch flexible pipe coiled on the roof of the shower and then to the main cold water tap is often sufficient. A more formal arrangement will still involve coils of water pipe mounted in a tray above the shower and exposed to the sun. If you need more hot water you could use an old water tank or hot water cylinder in the solar heating pipe, but this would have to be higher than the shower head to give you enough pressure.
If you live in a hot climate you should consider fitting a mixer system, for ensuring your shower is not too hot for you!
There are many ways to build a solar shower, and we have a highly recommended guide available to help you make one easily and safely. The guide includes good quality plans, schematic diagrams and clear instructions to make the whole process easy and fun.