There are to schools of thought when it comes to a solar hot water heater, depending on where you want the hot water, solar panels may not be needed. However, to supply hot water to your entire house a solar hot water heater must be connected to a sufficient number of solar panels to keep your batteries charged once the hot water usage has ended.

There are two types of systems, passive and active with active systems including pumps and other controls and the passive system does not. Usually in a solar hot water heater will move the water into pipes or other storage system than exposes it to sunlight, heating the water in the pipes. It is then moved to a storage tank, by pumps in an active system, or by gravity in a passive system.

The storage tank in a solar hot water heater has to be well insulated to maintain the water’s heat. Many utilize a two-tank system in which the water is heater through the collectors and then the heated water is moved to a different water heater, electric or gas fired, to heat the water further and for holding until needed.

Due to the preheating, there is less energy used to keep it hot. If the electric hot water heater is hooked to solar panels, the heating cost is negligible.

Do Not Cloud Your Thinking About Backup System

Regardless of how successful your system is, having a backup to your solar hot water heater is going to be needed. Since you will use hot water every day, even on cloudy days, you will want a conventional hot water heating system for the days when the sun is not shining.

Without one, you can plan on a cold shower. Especially in colder climates as even if the sun is shining, the water will cool faster and you will probably run out of hot water before all the soap has been rinsed off.

If you plan on installing a solar hot water heater it is probably in your best interest to have it installed by a qualified contractor who has experience installing them.

Many passive system rely on the water temperature to move the water into the storage tank as hot water rises to the top and cold water sinks to the bottom. An unqualified or inexperienced installer may make mistakes causing you to have a diminished hot water supply.

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