Solar hot water, worth the expense?

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September 11, 2013 at 6:24 am #103236

Mick D
Member

Just noticed water pissing out of our electric hot water system and it is stuffed. So I am up for a new one. Has anyone got an opinion on whether the expense of buying a solar hot water system is worth it , does it drop your power bill enough to cover its initial cost?

Looking at a 302 liter rooftop job to supply water for a family of four.

Any advice or shared experiences would be welcome.

Cheers
Mick

September 11, 2013 at 6:39 am #249599

Greg
Member

It doesn’t seem that long ago you had hot water system issues and replaced it. I can remember Crash commenting on it at the time. What’s the deal? Did you fit a second hand one?
We have gas in the street I am going gas instinct next time I think

Btw we removed the solar from our pace because it keep breaking down when we moved in. Big thing, heavy on the roof. No difference in power bills either / much.

TB

September 11, 2013 at 6:40 am #249600

Alan Heather
Member

Got one on a rental mick there good if the sun is shining but don’t forget they still have a boost we have just a normal one on our place and theres not much difference in power bills between the two places on hot water,theres two people in the rental and theres two of us in our place hope this helps cheers al

September 11, 2013 at 7:53 am #249601

Richard W
Member

Were on the third solar system in 30 years at the dairy. Last one we went with was a plastic one as hail destroyed the last one and a bloody big frost the first one.
Plastic one heats the water to 50 deg on a hot day which was a lot less than the glass ones. Just use the current one to pre-heat the water before it goes into the off-peak electric system.

Managed to get the last 2 with the gov rebates.

We go through about 300 lts of hot water so it pays to have one for us.

Wouldn’t be too keen on them for a household as a cold shower in winter ain’t much fun and using the booster seems to defeat the purpose.

September 11, 2013 at 8:42 am #249602

Harold Withington
Member

Not sure of the mains power ones but I have spent the last 12 months studying stand alone power systems for when I start building on our block,
Geez there is a lot to think about but from my investigations so far any thing German made is considered supreme but a bit pricy.
All depends on how much you want to spend,

The house I’m renting has a solar heart hot water system with a huge tree rite in front of it and our hot water bills are only around the 7 to 8 dollar mark per quater because it only uses power very rarely,
We have a lot of sun here in Central Queensland so that helps out heaps.
Best advice I got from one of the stand alone power mobs was spend 100 bucks on a weather station and see how much sun you are exposed to in your area then you can get a system that is most efficient.

Hope this helps

September 11, 2013 at 8:52 am #249603

scott bocking
Member

I am a fan of tankless gas systems. Endless hot water when you need it and no keeping the tank warm when you don’t .

STM

September 11, 2013 at 9:32 am #249614

Nick Jackson
Member

Mick , if your roof faces north a roof mount is the way to go , I have a family of 4 and north facing roof and I would only boost with mains power for about 3 hours to get a tank full 10-15 times a year max.
The split solar systems have a lot of components , )pumps , sensors , hot logic ) which all wear out.
A gas system is an almost zero waste system but gas prices will increase , solar is always free.
If your in a hail prone area check out some of the curved panels or tubes as they will deflect the hail.

Keep it simple mate ( and don’t let Toes in your house while your out )

Nick

September 11, 2013 at 10:33 am #249620

Mick D
Member

Thanks for the replies! That has help me in my decision. Cheers.

And Nickj, as if I would let Toes in my house unsupervised!!

September 11, 2013 at 10:39 am #249615

Greg
Member

singletrackmind wrote:

I am a fan of tankless gas systems. Endless hot water when you need it and no keeping the tank warm when you don’t .

STM

That’s what I am switching to here in the near future

TB

September 11, 2013 at 11:33 am #249604

Dwayne O
Member

I have an instantaneous Gas system being installed tomorrow
Electric unit shat itself Monday morning real early and it has been bucket & kettle showers here since :pinch: 😆

My first go with tha gas is gonna be looong and hot

At $3000 for the supply & install it better be endless hot water I can tell ya :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

September 11, 2013 at 11:42 am #249642

scott bocking
Member

EAGLE`02 wrote:

I have an instantaneous Gas system being installed tomorrow
Electric unit shat itself Monday morning real early and it has been bucket & kettle showers here since :pinch: 😆

My first go with tha gas is gonna be looong and hot

At $3000 for the supply & install it better be endless hot water I can tell ya :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

It is endless mate. Just ask my wife :laugh:

STM

September 11, 2013 at 11:46 am #249605

Dwayne O
Member

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

You mean YOU never get out of it ???? 😆

September 12, 2013 at 10:19 am #249644

Steve
Member

Did some dealing today Mick ,can get a 400ltr solahart roof system for $1800 installed.
Hope you haven’t got one yet.Have a solar lowline in the back yard,second hand.
or a rinie gas heater floating around as well.

Eags your getting ripped.Mate ill come down and do the install for that price,

September 12, 2013 at 11:03 am #249606

Grant Blacker
Member

With regard to instant hot water systems…..if you have to buy bottled gas, it will work out very expensive. They may only use gas when you need hot water but there is a large amount of heat lost that doesn’t heat water. I had one and ripped it out and had solar installed, 300l on roof, family of 4 inc 2 teenagers. On average I think would save a lot on energy costs, but I live in Qld so the sun shines a bit. If had the chance I would install a 400l though just for a bit extra.

September 13, 2013 at 2:46 am #249693

Alex
Member

I’ve got a 400L electric power sucking machine like the dead one Mick has and was thinking about hooking it up to some solar tubes on the roof (+ thermostats, 10w pump, non return valve etc). Anyone done this before? Might be the go for summer at worst.
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