Is there any plastic material that could withstand MH?

[danmhippo]

The reason I am asking is that I am thinking of installing the solar heater for my pool, which prompt me thinking about if we can recycle the heat from MH light, use it for providing supplemental heat to warm up tank water.

The idea is to plumb the top of canopy with water pipe coils, much like solar panel. The coil must be inside the canopy to capture as much heat as possible. To be able to open the canopy, the plumbing to and from the canopy has to be flexible pipe. For efficient heating, the piping material diameter should not be over 1". Protective measure should be taken to avoid leaks that would short the entire house' electrical panel.

The problem is what material there are that could withstand the intense heat of the MH yet is safe enough for SW?

It just seemed those energy lost is such a waste.

 

[danmhippo]

Obviously this would only work in colder region or during winter months.

However, the same concept would work if i use a bucket of icy water to cool the coil down in the summer months.

Which means I would be needing a dual port temperature controller, one turns on and off of the heating pipe pump, and the other turns on and off of the ice bucket pump.

 

[Anonymous]

Easy to answer your questions.

1, any thermoset plastic can deal with the heat. Check out Bakelite for example.... it is the black plastic you see in the handle of pot and pan.

2, you can use titanium heat exchanger to recoup the heat. An air-to-liquid heat exchanger for hot air, and liq. to liq hx for cooled water. There are plastic hx, but usually it is not as efficient as ti.

Can't you just run some PE tubing (ice maker tubing) over your MH hood or something? They are reasonable strong with modest heat... just make sure your water pump is working to prevent overheating of the tubing, and your MH hood can take some salty shower just in case...