solar panel water heater

[shaz1967]

Hello fellow members.
I am seriously considering having a solar panel water heater fitted at my property as the price of the bottled gas which heats my water at the moment keeps increasing in price. I am wondering if anybody has recently had such a system fitted & what the cost was? I was thinking of a 150 litre system or maybe 200 litres are there are often 6 of us over so that may be a lot of water consumption can anybody advise please?

[John Burgess]

I have a 300 lt system best trhing I purchased to save money we often have 6+ and plenty of hot warter you must have a back up heater which I think they come with

[shaz1967]

Thanks for your reply John. Could you tell me how much your system cost including installation please? We will be keeping the gas water heater also so maybe that could be our back up ?

[sam]

We looked into this and our supplier said it was not worth it as we are not always there. Once it heats up the water if this is not drawn off then it discharges a large amount of water and refills, until it happens again. So unless you are there permanently think of the pros and cons.

[shaz1967]

Thanks for the reply Sam, when you say it discharges the water that is not drawn off do you mean that it goes down the drain or it is recycled ?

[Algarve Eagle]

For like for like replacement of a Solahart panel with 260 litre tank, we paid 4440 euros including 23% IVA in 2013. The system was 3170 + IVA, labour 250 euros + IVA, and plumbing bits and bobs made up the remainder. However, note that this was for a replacement system; installation from scratch would of course require the necessary pipework to connect up to the house.

We are not there all the time. However, the system contains a temperature limiter and pressure relief valve. When the system is unused, and the water gets to maximum temperature eg in the height of summer, a small amount of water can get released through the pressure relief valve; it certainly isn't major discharge but a steady drip. The owner's manual notes that water in the tank expands by around 2% at maximum temperature. Depending on the level of water in the tank, the pressure relief valve may be triggered.

The system contains the equivalent of what we would call an immersion heater in the UK as back-up, which is timer operated. In our experience, this is only required during the early morning and late evening during winter months.

Hope this helps.

[sam]

Thanks for the reply Sam, when you say it discharges the water that is not drawn off do you mean that it goes down the drain or it is recycled ?

We were advised that it can be discharged to drain or pool, presume you may be able to recycle it someway, but don't know how.

[mcmuller]

We were advised that it can be discharged to drain or pool, presume you may be able to recycle it someway, but don't know how.

better get another plumber - this guy has NO idea on what he's building/selling. AlgarveEagles info is 100% correct, though our system never ran into "pressure relief", even with 93°C of hotwater-temp right now.

[maccasa]

Contact INSUATHERM believe they are in Albuferia and definitely online. Great units made in SS and good price. They will supply fitting etc

[shaz1967]

Contact INSUATHERM believe they are in Albuferia and definitely online. Great units made in SS and good price. They will supply fitting etc

Thanks for that info maccasa, I have been on the internet & I could not find INSUATHERM

[Allenshouse]

Try here: http://www.insuatherm.com/

[Lowthian]

Another option is solar PV & an electric water heater with a device such as solar iBoost. https://www.marlec.co.uk/product/solar- ... cba1185463

[sam]

We were advised that it can be discharged to drain or pool, presume you may be able to recycle it someway, but don't know how.

better get another plumber - this guy has NO idea on what he's building/selling. AlgarveEagles info is 100% correct, though our system never ran into "pressure relief", even with 93°C of hotwater-temp right now.

We are both agreed that it discharges water, it is the amount in question. As our property is not permanently occupied we were advised that this could amount to quite a lot of dischargeded water. Ever had a bucket under a dripping tap? For us it would not be worth it. He advised on the situation if the house was not permanently occupied. Obviously, if you are living there the situation is different.

[Algarve Eagle]

In my view the water discharge issue is exaggerated.

In my earlier post, I commented that there is a pressure relief valve which can trigger a discharge. I would add that we have never arrived mid-summer and found the valve dripping (and on every visit we follow the manufacturer instructions for testing the valve to ensure that it is working) though we are advised by our gardener that it does so occasionally.

Even if you lost 10 litres of water per day (unlikely) for 365 days per year (even more unlikely) giving a total of 3.65 cubic metres per year, then the cost at the maximum rate per cubic metre charged by the camara would be in the region of12 euros per year ......