Heat From Trash: Turning an Old Radiator Into a Water Heater From Wasted Energy

Hi! My Name is Josiah and I enjoy tinkering, testing, and learning. That is why I created this easy-to-follow project, called Heat from Trash.

Heat From Trash is an upcycling project that transformed discarded materials into a functional water heating system. The project uses an old radiator, recycled components, and simple electronics. The project captures waste heat from a clothes dryer exhaust and transfers it into water. An Arduino monitors the system’s temperature and water level. This project demonstrates how everyday waste materials can be repurposed into a useful and more energy efficient device.

For the main project, you will need the 1×1 ft radiator, an Arduino Nano, a temperature sensor module, a water-level sensor, an I2C LCD display, a water pump, tubing that fits the pump and radiator, a water container, wires, a glue gun, and a suitable power source.

You will also need a way to hold the radiator in front of the dryer exhaust. The water container should hold about a gallon of water or more.

For the electronics, you will need a breadboard or a soldering iron, jumper wires, and a power source for the Nano and pump. You should also have electrical tape or heat shrink tubing to protect exposed electrical connections.

For This step you will need to Acquire a Radiator and a water container. The radiator I upcycled was about 1ftx1ft and came with some tubing. You will need to start by removing the fan on the front. After that, pump out all of the previous fluid and test it for leaks. Next, attach a tube to the two radiator ends. one of these will go to your pump and the other will go into the water storage container.

For the Programming and Electronics portion of this project, you will need the following materials: Arduino Nano, a water sensor, a temperature sensor, an I2C LCD display, jumper wires, a breadboard, a USBC cable, a water pump, a power supply for the pump, batteries or another power source, and electrical tape.

Written wiring diagram:

WATER SENSOR

+ → NANO 5V

G → NANO GND

S → NANO A0

TEMPERATURE SENSOR

G → NANO GND

+ → NANO 5V

AO → NANO A1

LCD

GND → NANO GND

VCC → NANO 5V

SDA → NANO A4

SCL → NANO A5

I also would like to note that I modified a broken battery pack to use as my power supply. (included in pictures)

This step is decently straightforward. What you need to do is make sure that the electronics work, and assemble everything together.

The goal of this project was to upcycle an old radiator and use it to transfer heat into water. The system uses a pump to circulate the water through the radiator while the Arduino Nano monitors the water and measures its temperature. As shown in the pictures, the system was able to raise the water temperature from 95 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of minutes. This shows that the radiator was able to effectively transfer heat into the water. Heat that would normally be transferred into the air and lost. The Arduino Nano and temperature sensor also allowed the temperature to be monitored during the experiment, making it possible to clearly see the increase in temperature. Overall, the project successfully demonstrated how a discarded radiator can be reused to recover heat and transfer it into water.