How efficient is solar water heater?
How much savings can we get from solar water heater? Say in percent (annually). I don’t know how solar companies can guarantee the benefits of investing solar panels.
depends on the sun.
and the storage you have.
and the amount of hot water you use.
and the insulation.
i don’t know either.
clearly they could claim "the average user saves ????", and you couldn’t check.
however, a hot shower is quite a luxury, so it’s probably a good investment.
if you were really interested, you could probably do a reasonable calculation.
you’re not using the furnace, so it’s only cooking and hot water.
you could fill a bucket and time it, and calculate how much water you use.
i’m sure someone at the gas company could tell you how much gas it would take to heat that.
keep in mind, in the winter, when it’s harder to calculate because of the furnace, the water comes into the house colder, and so is more expensive to heat.
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:10 am
depends on the sun.
and the storage you have.
and the amount of hot water you use.
and the insulation.
i don’t know either.
clearly they could claim "the average user saves ????", and you couldn’t check.
however, a hot shower is quite a luxury, so it’s probably a good investment.
if you were really interested, you could probably do a reasonable calculation.
you’re not using the furnace, so it’s only cooking and hot water.
you could fill a bucket and time it, and calculate how much water you use.
i’m sure someone at the gas company could tell you how much gas it would take to heat that.
keep in mind, in the winter, when it’s harder to calculate because of the furnace, the water comes into the house colder, and so is more expensive to heat.
References :
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:37 am
30% of the average home’s electric bill is used to heat water.
Some solar company guarantee the 82% efficiency. For example a 25% drop (.82 x .30 = 25%) in your electric usage for the first 12 months of operation as based on KwH consumption. If the the electric usage does not drop by this percentage, they will pay the difference between your actual drop in use and the promised 25% drop in use for the first year.
References :
http://sunbelt-solar.com
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:53 am
here’s the link that will tell you all the basic things about solar water heaters http://renewableenergyarticles.blogspot.com/2010/03/solar-hot-water-systems-things-to-know.html
References :
http://renewableenergyarticles.blogspot.com/
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:30 am
down here in the Caribbean a 4 x 8 foot solar hot water heater makes water so hot you have to dilute i t with cold to take a shower and saves the heat overnight and into the next day…so many houses here don’t even have electric / gas hot water heaters….which save something on the order of 3,000 kWh a year…..
further north, a solar hot water heater that "pre-heats" the water before it goes to an "insta hot" flash hot water heater ( an electric unit that only uses power when the hot water tap is open) should drop your electric consumption ( for hot water ) by half……
References :
May 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 am
I notice you posted from the Phillipines? If you can afford the initial outlay, I’d say this is a no-brainer.
My brother’s house in Hawaii (large house) saves $1000 a year, I would estimate, by having two solar panels the size of ping-pong tables. If I’m doing the math right, that’s 5000-6000 kWh a year.
References :