Thread: Solar hot water Sucks

Not at all good. Sounds like the wrong system for where you live. Some brands have antifreeze in the panels with a heat exchange type unit in the tank for installations in frost areas. I think solar hart is one such, need to get your builder motivated to sort this for you. Good luck.

Back in 1981 I installed a Solar Edwards (2 panels) plus 300L tank on the roof of our then new home in the Tuggeranong Valley in Canberra. We also put pink bats in the ceiling cavity.

Now we discovered two things...the HWS had an electric element in the bottom of the panels such that when the temp got down to -2degC these were activated and stopped it from freezing up....then they failed. So we installed you-beaut expensive Japanese valves in the bottom of the panels which opened and dumped cold water when the temp got to -1degC...so far so good.

Because we had insulated the ceiling cavity, the pipework between the tank and the mains feed...which went up through the roof would freeze as it got no heat from below...so at 5am I would be up the ladder in the roof with a heat gun attempting to unfreeze the pipe and prevent a flood from burst mains...
Being in a frost hollow the temp regularly dropped to -8degC...

The solar Hart with its glycol filled panels and heat exchanger is a much better design for said climates.

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...

Hi, if I was going to use solar HW, I would use it as a pre-heat to any other system (gas, wood, electric etc)
cheers

Hmm, probably why a mate who was in charge of R&D at Dux told me to steer clear of Solar as it regularly hits -7* here on those cold, clear nights.

I have put one of these systems in here

EcoSmart Electric Boosted Solar Hot Water Systems

Hasn't popped yet but I'm a little worried now.

You just need the right sort of solar HWS.

In the early 1980s, we had a Solarhart with antifreeze in the panels and a heat exchanger in the tank. It survived a lot of -4 nights and one -6. At the time, I believe they were not available everywhere, but where being installed in Canberra and surrounds. They must surely be commonly available in cold regions by now.

Our next house had the heat pump style. It worked well and could create hot water even if it was snowing in the middle of the night, as it did a couple of times.

We now have the EcoSmart (a Dux) heat pump and are happy with that.

Originally Posted by Hoges

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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...

Solar - take 15 years to recover the install costs? What is the lifespan of the solar panels? Isn't it around 10 years?

My folks built themselves a granny flat so they could move into it and my niece and her young family could move into the main house. I seem the remember that the council was requiring solar HWS. But don't quote me on it.

We had a solar system on our last house for 20 years and its still there and working We moved to a colder climate just north west of Brisbane and put an Ecosmart unit on the roof and have only had to turn the power on once for 2 hrs so far this year. Why worry about how long it takes to pay it off?, your running costs are zero and I have never seen the power utilities lower their price. People buy new cars and and lose money as soon as they sign on the dotted line, then lose more when they drive it out onto the road. I'll have solar everytime, but buy the one for your area.