Permsteading.com

This looks like it could be an early March project for me.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP8H5IOTwYU&feature=related[/youtube]

Oh well, I will figure it out one of these days!

You're almost there. Just delete everything in your link from and including the "&" to the end, and it should work.

This is what you should have in between the youtube tags...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP8H5IOTwYU

I love this guy and his videos. He's got great info on hot air collectors as well.

It didn't look like he used any glass to cover that heater. That does make it simple and cheap. I wonder if you would increase his results if you put the unit under one of your 8' glass doors. He may have been worried about over heating the pvc, especially if you were not drawing much hot water through the unit. The basic design is simple and cheap to build, both make it an attractive project.

I also have access to a 12 year old! I'm hoping to put my roommates son to work turning an 8' length of CPVC into four dozen chunks of connector. (Luckily enough, he likes sharing my research and projects) Then we can dry fit everything, here in the basement, before transporting to the farm site and gluing things together.

My brother in law is planning to use an old 12V waterpump to bring water from the drainage ditch to a shower/bathing facility, with heat and storage space en route. A few black water hoses, three dozen pieces of pipe and some connectors (lots of which are left over from other projects) will get us started.

That is a great site along with builditsolar.com. I built an air heater using aluminum screen for the heat absorber. When the sun is shining it blows nice hot air at about 150 CFM. I estate about 5500the BTU per Hr.from a 4'x8' panel. Don't use fiberglass screen, it gives off an oder when hot.
Yes he does cover the collector with glazing. If you can find flat lexan from a local green house supplier it will be easier than the wavie stuf he is using.