# Household DC plumbing system



## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Does anyone use DC power for their house water supply? The kind that RV's use. If so, please describe as much as you can and tell me what you think about how it works. 

Thanks!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

I have used for many years a Flowlight 12v pump to pressure the house water system.

It is pricy compared to those "RV" pumps.

I am sure that had I gone with those inexpensive pumps that I would have "used up" several of the others by now.

The "RV" pumps seem to be for intermittent usage . .so have a shorter life.

my $ 0.03 worth


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## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

the RV pump is a small pump that pumps up to pressure and then shuts off when pressure is reached, 
some can pump I think up to 5 gallons a min,

some also use a small pressure tank,

if your water usage is minimal it will work,


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## byexample (Aug 28, 2009)

We're using a 24 volt Shurflo pressure pump for our homestead's pressurized water system. It's a 3.5 gallon pump and it draws about 2.6 amps at 24 volts when running. It's essentially the same pump that RVs use, but it's wired for 24 volts instead. You can get the exact same pump for 12 volts and even 120 volts AC I think.

We also have a very small (2 gallon) pressure tank installed with the pump. That makes a huge difference in the way the water system operates... otherwise it will act more like an RVs pressure system where the pump surges and acts erratic.

I highly recommend the optional heat sync... makes a huge difference. I've operated these pumps in the past without the heat sync and they will eventually over-heat and stop running when used for extended periods of time without the heat sync. With the heat sync we haven't had any over-heating problems.

RV pumps come equipped with a built-in pressure switch... *which is complete crap.* We had our pressure switch go bad in the first 6 months. The dealer gave us another one for free and it too went bad after about 8 months. I by-passed the built-in pressure switch and, instead, installed a Square-D (normal well pump) pressure switch. Wow, what a difference. Costs LESS and gives you a whole new pump. Any "real" pressure switch should do... just make sure it's rated to carry the pump's load.

We've been using our Shurflo pump for 2.5 years now. For 5 months of the year that pump runs continuously 4 to 6 hours a day every other day while irrigating the garden. We've pumped tens of thousands of gallons of water with that pump so far and it's running just fine.

So I've come to the conclusion that the major problem (and source of their poor reputation) with these smaller pumps is their pressure switch and their tendency to start / stop when used without a pressure tank... which causes them to over-heat. 

If you setup a system that has a small pressure tank, a real pressure switch and add the heat sync to the pump I expect you'll do just fine.

Be well!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

If you have a full time off grid system (panels, controllers, batteries) you could do like the others have mentioned. 

Or, if you want to skip the batteries, you could pump water up into a barrel in the attic, and have gravity feed... you wouldn't have as much pressure... but if your power levels are low, you won't have to worry about not having water.

Back when I was off grid, there was a lot of power that was wasted... in the afternoons, on a sunny day, after the batteries were topped off, the controller would shut down more power going to the batteries... and that power was simply wasted. With a gravity flow/pump scenario, you could divert excess power to water pumping, and not used the stored power that could be used for more important things.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

I've been using 12v Shurflo pumps for years. They keep up with a low flow shower head.

I don't use a pressure tank. I just have a section of good grade garden hose about 6' long between the output of the pump and the hard plumbing. Does the same thing as a pressure tank but a lot cheaper. The pump pressures up and shuts down just fine.


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## BackwoodsIdaho (Nov 2, 2004)

We use a 12v Dankoff flowlight pump and a 5 gallon pressure tank. I also recommend the heat sink and the dry run switch. The pumps are very easy to repair since they use a standard pump head (available from the Dankoff or Grainger) and standard brushes. We also use a Shurflo 9600 well pump on 12V power to slow pump a 1500 gallon cistern at 2 gallons per minute. Use a float switch with that to turn the well pump off and on. Our well static level is 100'.


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## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Thank you for all the response!!


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## byexample (Aug 28, 2009)

BackwoodsIdaho said:


> We use a 12v Dankoff flowlight pump and a 5 gallon pressure tank. I also recommend the heat sink and the dry run switch. The pumps are very easy to repair since they use a standard pump head (available from the Dankoff or Grainger) and standard brushes. We also use a Shurflo 9600 well pump on 12V power to slow pump a 1500 gallon cistern at 2 gallons per minute. Use a float switch with that to turn the well pump off and on. Our well static level is 100'.


I couldn't find info on the Shurflo 9600... did you mean 9300?

How long have you been using your Shurflo well pump?

We're currently using a Sun Pumps well pump at the moment... but it only pumps 1.25 gallons from 110 feet down. I've been thinking about upgrading to something that pumps at a faster rate and then keeping the current pump on the shelf as a backup (always have a backup plan).

I'd sure appreciate hearing some more details and your impressions of your Shurflo well pump. Thanks!


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## BackwoodsIdaho (Nov 2, 2004)

Sorry, I did mean a 9300. I have had it in the well since April 2003 with no problems. I like it because it can run dry without harm. I keep a rebuild kit in my tool shed so that when I need to rebuild it I can do so on the spot. It is also light enough to pull by hand and uses food grade tubing for the water flow. 

A slow well with a cistern and slow pump are the way to go in my opinion - cheaper, easy to install by one person and dependable.


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## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Thanks again for the responses. We are using a creek for our water. The homesite is around 200 feet from the creek and around 15 feet up. We will filter the water in the creek and again once its in the house. We want to use DC power for this. What are the recommendations here for doing this? We're also gonna collect and filter rain water.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

You could put a shurflo dc pump a few feet higher than the highest water level, have the inlet in a deep pool in the water, the outlet hooked up to a pipe (or even a water hose)going to the house. Have a barrel to collect the water in.

You could power the shurflo with either a small solar panel (~100$ or so) but you must have sunlight to work. Or, cheaper way, have a 12vdc deep cycle battery. Charge it at the house, carry the battery to the creek, hook up the pump, and you're pumping.

If you're in NY, where, I hear it gets cold in the winter....  you could have your pump and battery on a wagon, and pull it all over to the creek and hook it up every couple of days. This way everything isn't set up all the time, and you don't have to worry about your pump freezing, or your pipes freezing.

Good luck...


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Sparticle said:


> Thanks again for the responses. We are using a creek for our water. The homesite is around 200 feet from the creek and around 15 feet up. We will filter the water in the creek and again once its in the house. We want to use DC power for this. What are the recommendations here for doing this? We're also gonna collect and filter rain water.


If you are planning on using creek water, a couple of tips - you will NOT want to use the water when the creek is high. During those periods, the water can be filthy - both with sediment and with germs. That means you'll want a decent sized cistern or stock tank, and a means of cutting off the flow easily. The tank will allow some sedimentation to occur but the second filter is needed. You'll need to chlorinate or otherwise kill stuff in the water.

You'll also want your system to self-drain so that it isn't damaged in freezing weather. If you use the standard whole house filters that take a 10" filter, be sure to mount them upside down so they drain as well.

I would suggest 3/4" black poly pipe for delivery. It is cheap in 300' rolls at TSC and holds up to freezing.


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