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"My Solar hot water Sucks"
mate, it must be hooked up backwards :D:D
sorry!..... I know that through the far north there is a heap of PVC solar systems, one I recall in public area is at WILLIAM CREEK racecourse and its
still going strong after at least 7 years?!
I think the theory is that its made so if it freezes it has "stretch" room and therefore doesnt POP!
Im not up on all that stuff, still a fan of the donkey hot water system...
(some will know what that means!) or an AGA!
cheers
digger
Quote:
with a growing family the solar HWS was a real boon and cost effective over 10 yrs. Now I live in sunny Bris... growing family all grown and living elsewhere ... solar HWS? nup... would take 15 yrs at least to recover the cost...
should explain...I am a fan of SHW in the right circumstances...the 15yrs estimate is due to the fact that there's only 2 of us now and we use bgr all hot water compared with times previous.
I have an electric (off peak = cheaper electricity) HWS tank in the roof.
If/when it packs up I will have to install a solar system. No choice. In South Australia you are now only allowed a gas or a solar system. Electric is no longer allowed :mad:
And of course I don't have gas.
And don't think they only freeze down south.We lived at Waterford,a suburb on the southern outskirts of Brisbane for many years & our solar heart burst after freezing up one very cold August morning.
The comment those days,around 15 yrs ago,was they should have a small heater in the unit to stop it freezing.
I can't speak highly enough of the Solar Hart. We installed ours in 1978 and it is still going strong. We have "frost protectors" installed on ours, which is simply a copper disc in the lower end of the lower end of each panel. These did pop out once, many years ago and it was simply a matter of knocking them flat again and inserting a new O ring.
There was a cold climate kit available for our unit which entailed a pipe heater and thermostat, but we were advised that this was not required in South West Sydney. We get good frosts on a few days each year, covering the roof of our house.
***TOUCH WOOD***
Erich
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bundalene
This system is the old solar hart,
as mentioned earlier they use glycol now as a heat exachanger instead of the old system,
I am not a fan of solar hot water as such, I now have a 440L solar hart system on the roof, it is not as hot as our old electric (it was not that old either) and can't be turned up anymore.
If I had my time again I would not change over to solar until the electric unit has died.
I think (lots of rumours) NSW is going the same way as mentioned SA is: can only have gas or solar
There's always ebay, you'd be surprised how many good low mileage HWS tanks get ripped out and replaced during renovations. I spent ages looking for a good replacement for my LPG instant heater which was a real guts of gas. Finally found a "Quantum" heat pump HWS which produces all of our hot water for about 1/3 of the cost of the bottle gas one. And I found it on ebay for about 1/4 the cost of a new one, like only $800. I had to go over to Seymour in Vic to pick it up though, cost me another $300. But still cheap and counts as solar as far as the SA govt is concerned.Quote:
Originally Posted by miky
Solar hot water Sucks ...not at all it should be pumped it must be put together wrong
You're making me think of Scout camps, from when I was a much younger lad.Quote:
Originally Posted by digger
Is a Donkey a 10 gallon drum, set sideways over a fire, with a funnel on top?
I think we called them Piddling Percy's....
Carrying a couple of dixies?