Solar Hot Water Heating
Solar hot water heating is the most economical way of supplying your home (or even your workplace)
with steaming hot water, just the way you like it. And what is more, it's cheap to run all the year
round.
When you have a solar hot water heating system installed, large electricity bills or gas bills for heating that
water will be a thing of the past. This is because on sunny days you will be get your household hot water for
free. Your hot water will now be powered by the sun's radiated heat and light.
On cloudy days or during the winter months, you will still be using electricity or gas to warm your hot water, in
most cases. But this will only be only as a boosting function, to raise the temperature of the already-warm water
in your storage tank to the hotter temperature that you set your solar hot-water system to provide you
with.
Solar hot water gets its free heating from large solar hot water panels (or solar tubes*) that are
mounted on the roof. Ideally, they need to be positioned so they face the mid-day sun. So in the northern
hemisphere, like the USA or Europe, the panels should face south. In the southern hemisphere, as in South
America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, they have their solar panels facing north for best results. But
in situations where you can't get the noonday sun, the next best thing is to have your solar panels facing west, so
they get the afternoon and evening sunlight. This works both for solar hot water panels and for solar electricity
panels as well.
*Solar tubing water heaters are a newer design that is more effective at collecting the sun's warmth
from the sides than conventional flat panels. They also do well on cloudy days. Both the old and newer solar water
heater designs do their best when the sun is directly overhead, like at midday.
Remember, there is always some heat hitting your solar hot water panels from the sun's natural light and warmth.
The solar hot water heating system just needs some help on the dull days when you want that water to be steaming
hot. Some folks have the booster function turned off to save money, and still find the solar hot water is warm
enough to for them and their family to take a shower.
So whether you need to use electricity or gas (natural gas or bottled gas) to increase the heat in your hot
water storage tank, it all depends on where you live. It is also affected by the time of year
and how much sunshine you get in the area where your home is located. And naturally it also depends on how warm (or
scalding hot) you like your shower or bath to be 'just right' for you.
Solar hot water heating is recognized by many countries and governments as being very 'Green' and energy efficient.
So much so that they sometimes offer rebates on the installation costs. (These offers are particularly likely when
there is a forthcoming election, and worried politicians are hoping to buy your vote.) You should find out if
there are any being offered where you live. And if it isn't offered by your local government, I'd be asking them,
'Why not?'
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