bgraetz
Member
Hi Guys!...
just a quick post to shout out to all the people that are HAPPY with their solar hot water investments/installs, alot of the time what people hear are the bad & horror stories which rarely happen, but are easily remembered!
I think it would help alot of people who are looking to install if they hear the benefits and the good stories!!..
Geno
Member
We put in a solar HWS through Origin about two years ago, it has delivered much lower gas bills and has given no trouble. The install with a couple of minor hickups was fine, although one tradie managed to destroy the front door lock which takes some beating.
Russell Moore
Member
I have had 28 years of near trouble free service from a Beasley flat plate SHWS, it has a stainless steel tank, and is one of those unfashionable roof mounted thermosyphon systems.
And yes we do need to boost it (electric) in winter and on extended cloudy days. All in all, a great investment.
thatmosis
Member
We have a Run On Sun Sydney Tube Solar hot Water system, gravity fed that works really well. I put a small gas hot water system in in case and have only run it once in 12 months. Even the cloudiest day gives us hot water. This was a DIY installation from the diagrams supplied.
sandystone
Member
We hava an apricus 315litre/ 30 tube for a family of 4 . It is great and we only boosted if about 20 times over winter. Normally we leave the booster off. the circulating pump uses about .4 of a kwh/ on a sunny day. Would have gone with a run on sun if I could freight it down for less than $400 and a decent plumber was around to install it,(only because it would run for free)
We are really happy with what we have!
Benny
Member
We have a 25year old flat plate, low pressure system with tank inside the roof. Very low tech construction and I've had to renew the black paint on absorber a few times - no special coatings here ! And it faces NE not N. But it works great, provides 90% of our hot water. I fitted a temp sensor to the top of the tank so when we do need to boost we only do it for 5 mins or so until temp is up to 45 and thats enough for a 3 min shower. I know about the 60deg rule but until we hear of a case of legionaires from a shower we'll risk it.
Thatmosis, when you say gravity fed do you mean thermosiphon as well ? I'm thinking of getting a 10 tube ET panel to retrofit (in series with flat plate) to give us a bit more collection in winter.
jhamill
Member
chromagen split system with electric booster, facing east, in Sydney about 18 months ago. thought for first few days it wasn't working 
but it took some time to warm up to acceptable level for some reason - as I was trying it without boosting. the first thing I did after the installer left was switch off the booster, even though it said in the user guide to leave it on permanently.
Haven't had the booster on since September so very happy with performance. I've also got the booster with a timer switch so that it switches on in middle of night when electricity is cheapest when I do need the booster (which is rare).
olfella
Member
G'day all.
I put in evacuated tube systems at my place & mum's place about 15 months ago. They're 30tube/315 stainless electric boosted aae systems. There's little difference between aae & apricus or hills systems, other than possibly the type of controller used on individual instals, so brand is fairly irrelevent in my view. Mine is close to optimum position N & angle (35), mum's WNW orientation & angled at 40deg, (her roof pitch).
Overwhelmingly happy with both. Both operate with boost switched off for all but the most extended periods of overcast & rain, as we had in mid winter. Today, as the sun goes down, my tank is at 78deg top, 70 deg bottom, & that's with long showering son coming off shift in the middle of the day & doing his best to run it down. Mum tells me hers is currently 76/59. It has been a hell of a good solar day as indicated by my PV system (2.4kW) which has produced a tad over 16kWhrs today too.
I've been over my bills for the last 2 years to compared the power used by my previous 400ltr offpeak Rheem system & this system. With a house of 5 adults until recently, the old 400ltr Rheem used 4,138kWhr on off-peak the previous year. This full year of the ET SHW system has used a total of only 292kWhrs. I think it safe to presume even with the standing controller & circulation pump, our HW power demands have been cut by approximately 90%pa. Mum's is a 2 person household & her boost requirements of both OPSHW & ET systems were approximately half my figures.
When I bought the system & decided on the ET design, it was with the deliberate intent to eliminate electrical current from the system to the maximum extent. As an old engineer, I'm only too well aware that the biggest enemy of metallic systems is electricity & dissimilar metals; stainless, copper, brass, steel, aluminium. If one can largely eliminate electric currents from the system, system life, especially that of the tank ought to be significantly improved. I also think power & gas companies will continue to push up prices & move to parity pricing per energy unit. If you reckon my motives look more to do with the hip pocket than 'green' considerations, you'd not be wrong.
Very pleased to reduce pollution, but also very pleased to reduce the pull on the wallet & so far very satisfied with these solar systems.
bgraetz
Member
Awesome guys, this is perfect and what people need to hear! Thanks all for jumping in.
I just thought i'd give you guys a bit of where i'm from since i started this thread!
I'm a 22 year old, i work in a small family business with my father who supply solar, irrigation, filters, pumps etc. and i am really passionate about Solar and sustainability!
I brought my first house a little over a year ago, and it was a brand new spec home, i was first to live in it, thanks to the new home buyers grant.
I don't have a huge amount of money to spend... but i've been trying to cut down my power usage, and of course the bills ever since i moved in.
I installed a 2kw grid connect system about 4 months ago, changed all my lights over (which were 100W HALOGENS x 5 or 6!!) to energy efficient fluoros, a new shower head etc.
Because it is a new house it already had a water tank & davey rainbank installed to service toilet & laundry.
BUT it also has a heat pump installed. I ran a few energy tests, using a "Watts Clever" energy meter, and because it is on straight power and has a small boosting element in it which seems to kick in almost every time you use hot water. It is costing pretty much the same (if not more) $$ wise as an old off peak electric. My plans in the next year is to install an Apricus 30T 315ltr as there are 3 of us in the house.
It is just taking time because it's a bit more expensive as i wont get the NSW state and FED govt. rebates.
Solar all the way i say!!
BG
(sorry was a bit off topic!)
Gandini
Member
To those who've had SHW for a year or more, how have your systems performed over summer?
A work colleague in north east Victoria has an Apricus system which performs very well but he has told me it loses about 10 litres per day through the PTR valve due to overheating, and a FP owner told me a similar tale earlier this year.
Greg C
Member
We have had a Solarhart collector ground mounted tank system for 20 years. The collectors were second hand so are now close to 40 years old. When first installed it provided 82% of the hot water. From the energy bills we have now it still does. One change we made was to move the booster to the top hole in the tank and run it on continuous tariff. That means we never run out of hot water and with our time of use tariff, if you shower before 7am it is off peak. Brilliant
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