Tell me good things about solar panels

A._Badger

crphillips wrote: »

Don't forget that the actual 'hot water' side of your energy bills is tiny.

It's the central heating that costs the money to run and the solar doesn't contribute to this.

Also....if you have electric showers and a dishwasher then the hot water produced by the solar is next to useless....it's just sat there getting cold.....unless you have young kids having a lot of baths but most people use the shower nowadays.

Good point, but aren't all dishwashers cold fill these days?

crphillips

A._Badger wrote:

Good point, but aren't all dishwashers cold fill these days?

Yeah thats my point......if you wash your dishes in a bowl using the hot water from the solar then you'll benefit from the solar rather than a dishwasher that takes cold water and heats it electrically.

To get the maximum out of the solar you'd have to use baths, wash-up by hand, find a washing machine that takes a hot water feed......etc.

Most modern white goods would not take advantage of your tank of hot water upstairs.

I had a customer who was having a new house built and they wanted my to price up for fitting a stove with back boiler to only do the hot water. It turned out though that they had no kids as they we're retired. Neither of them have baths so only use the shower.....which will be electrically heated...........so i asked them......what are you actually going to want hot water for then? They saw my point and scrapped the idea of a back boiler I could have kept quiet too and sold them a nice expensive boiler stove It's not the way we do things though.

Everyone thinks they're going to save a fortune by using solar for hot water when they're actual hot water side of their bill is probably less than £100 per year.

A._Badger

crphillips wrote: »

Yeah thats my point......if you wash your dishes in a bowl using the hot water from the solar then you'll benefit from the solar rather than a dishwasher that takes cold water and heats it electrically.

Everyone thinks they're going to save a fortune by using solar for hot water when they're actual hot water side of their bill is probably less than £100 per year.

Sorry - read that with my brain engaged elsewhere. You're right and a lot of scams are in operation at the moment, trading on the benefits (to the scammers) of high energy prices and (not in the least unrelated) 'Green' religion.

shaven-monkey

Installing a well insulated heat exchanger on your woodburning stove flues would provide "free" heat, or rather gather more heat from fuel you've already burned.

Put the hot water into a storage tank insulated to contain as much heat as possible and have it as a primary source for your hot water supply which switches over to the main when it's drained. Maybe a bit complex to set up as a DIY project unless you're an enthusiastic engineer.