The dynamics behind how the water gets heated is quite straight forward. The sunlight hits the solar thermal collectors which in turn absorb the energy from the sun. This energy is then transferred to the water in the storage tank. The solar loop is responsible for preheating the water before coming into the water heater. This essentially means that very little or no energy is required by the conventional heater to heat up the incoming hot water. It is always useful to have the conventional water heater there as a back up device just in case a drab and gloomy day decides to make an appearance.
There are many advantages of installing a solar water heater. In addition to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the environment, the amount of savings you can make annually will be life changing. It has been reported that installing a solar water heating system can save up to five times the energy used by an electric boiler. Do not undervalue the power of a solar thermal water heater.
December 5th, 2009 at 12:27 AM
“save up to five times the energy used by an electric boiler.”
That’s a saving worth making. Thanks for the information.