And that begs a caution for anyone considering a DIY solar water heater: Don't forget to include hoisting it onto the roof, ...

There are a lot of DIY solar water heater designs out there, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one simpler, cheaper, and ...

Essentially, it allows the water heater to get much hotter during times when solar energy is available, and lets it drop to lower values before running the heater on utility electricity during ...

There's a little risk involved with all the plumbing, and if you have a gas water heater, there's gas to worry about -- it's not so much a DIY thing unless you know what you're doing.