Next time that you step into the shower or tub, give a little gratitude for the luxury of hot running water. The majority of Costa Rican homes do not have hot water. Like central heating, it is considered non-essential. With the influx of gringos, the concept of providing hot showers in tourist accommodations has created a desire by the average Tico to have, at least, one hot water shower in their home. These are known by gringos as a "suicide" shower, an instant hot water access appliance. New construction homes and hotels are plumbed to have hot running water along with cold running water to kitchen, bathrooms and laundry. Our home was constructed with hot water pipes to kitchen and bathrooms (not laundry). At the time of construction, M couldn't decide what type of water heater to install. He wanted a solar hot water heater and choosing the right system is very complicated. After 9 months of research time, he selected this system and had it installed as a 1st anniversary gift.
Now you may be saying, "It is a hot place so you don't really need a hot shower." Maybe...if you just returned from the beach. Not so pleasant after the sun has gone down and you are feeling sticky and don't want to go to bed that way. However, those skin chilling sessions are in the past. We now have luxurious hot water abundantly flowing from the shower head (at least when it is sunny.)
It is a very compact, low profile system designed in Austria. We were attracted to this style where the solar heating tubes and storage tank are all contained inside this rectangle box. Most solar hot water systems look like an aluminum ski slope is installed on the roof. Since the installation location was to be the roof of the garage and our entry door is just across the way, the ski slope style heater would have been an eyesore.(Also that system has a hot water overflow issue.) We have friends who had this same, low profile system at their home and they gave it great reviews. This photo was taken about 9 am in the morning. You may notice that there is a pattern of shade from the trees overhanging the garage.
The next step was to get one of the local tree guys to chop down 2 very large Melina trees. Don't worry, we aren't taking down native trees. Melina is like an invasive weed. A few years ago, this property was a Melina plantation. As a non-native species and fast-growing tree, you can cut down a Melina tree and if you don't remove the stump (a very difficult task), new limbs will sprout up within weeks. We met Diego when a friend recommended that he come to see M for therapy on a sprained ankle. Diego clambered barefoot up this tree with his machete. He trimmed the larger branches by machete and roped up the trunk. After he descended, he donned his work boots and fired up the chain saw. With his work mate holding the guide rope, Diego dropped this 40' tree. It "timbered" towards the thick mass of trees that line the creek. It is now partially upright with its wide trunk sinking into the moist soil. After more than a month, it looks healthy with fresh limbs sprouting from its trunk.
As I mentioned, it is a solar heater and this is the rainy season. We were concerned about the efficiency during the first week. It was consistently raining for 3 days straight and it only produced a lukewarm stream. We switched on the electric back-up heating system during one particularly drizzly day. Since then, there's been a sprinkling of sunny days and just a few hours of direct sunlight delivers delicious hot water. We've discovered that the water heats up with thin cloud cover too. All-in-all, I am ecstatically showering every evening.
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