dave
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by dave on Apr 22, 2012 13:16:51 GMT -5
Hi all,been a while since i been on here (a year or more) in that time i have thinking about these solar water heating panels but my first question before i start my quest is-my house faces 142 degrees SE (going by my phones compass app) would the rear roof be suitable for positioning these panels? next question-do the benefits outway the costs? last question-approx costs for materials as i will be providing the labour. cheers Dave
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Post by caveman on Apr 22, 2012 14:09:19 GMT -5
Dave, Any roof facing south-ish is worth considering. East and west roofs are 80% as good as dead south. Is the roof pitched? Is there any shading? How are you fixed for pipe runs?
Is it worth it? It is worth it now but in the next few years the idea of burning oil (not to mention using electricity) to heat water will be considered complete madness. Energy costs are only going one way and that is up. If you use hot water in your house this is a no-brainer.
Costs? Have you chosen which type of panel you are going to use? Also are you going to change your tank? conor
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dave
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by dave on Apr 22, 2012 15:12:08 GMT -5
hi conor, the front of the house gets the sun before lunch and the back after lunch but i have a carport built at the side of my garage which is slightly pitched but i reackon it would get the sun all the time but would need to actually check this. I put in a wood burning stove last year to save oil costs over the winter so now looking to save during the summer. My better half and young daughter spend an age in the shower so yes we use hot water lol. Have'nt decided on anything yet,once i find which option provides the "best bang for my buck" thats the one i'll go for. From a quick read on here i likely will change the tank. Thanks for replying so quick and i shall keep on doing some homework. cheers Dave
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Post by caveman on Apr 23, 2012 13:01:28 GMT -5
Dave, It sounds as if that carport side is where the panel should go. If you could post a photo it would help us see what is what. If you used a tube type panel (Our favorite for this climate and other reasons) and there are no obstructions on that wall, the manifold could be attached to the wall and the foot of the frame to the roof of the carport. This way you could select the best angle for the panel. The manifold is the heaviest part of a tube array so the carport would not have to take much of the load. Getting up there to install it might be more trouble than keeping it there. If the manifold was to be fixed to the wall, how would that leave you fixed for pipe work? If it is not practical to bring the pipes into the house right there, consider running them around the outside of the house to a point that makes more sense. The pipes at the ends of the manifold are 22mm but it is almost certain that 15mm or even 10mm will do your job well. We will talk more about that when the positions of the various elements of the system have been chosen. conor
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dave
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by dave on Apr 24, 2012 15:41:40 GMT -5
hey conor, im only in the door and its 21.38 so i will get a pic taken once i get home tomorrow and fire it up as your right,itll be handier to see it rather than me explain it. Dave
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dave
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by dave on Apr 27, 2012 13:10:40 GMT -5
need a quick lesson on posting a picture
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Post by cye on Apr 27, 2012 14:45:12 GMT -5
hi Dave,
good to see you back on the forum and glad you are investigating solar hot water.
Adding a pic:
you must be logged in to add an attachment.
you will be limited to one picture per posting. keep the file size under 1k.
Use the <choose file> button to browse to the file's location on your pc.
highlight the picture file (.jpg , .gif, etc) and click <open>
i have found the system temperamental at times when adding pics. sometimes you need to log out and log back on again to get around its mood swings!
regards
cye
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dave
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by dave on Apr 30, 2013 15:07:26 GMT -5
I,m back...again lol. i now have in my garage a spanking new 20 tube panel!! Got gotta compile a list of the rest of needed items.I got my panel from declan at ecosystems direct,very decent guy. He talked about using a solar coil in my tank rather than a heat exchanger-has anybody used these? www.solarcoil.co.uk/products.html
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Post by cye on May 5, 2013 3:15:42 GMT -5
george row used one in his installation (see link below). i can give you his contact details if you would like to speak to him. he also used exactly the same panel as you have just purchased! ..and he uses the same pump 6w 12v pump too. the retro/immersion coil is the first pic on page 5 veryireland.com/energy/Installing-Solar-Water-Heating/
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Post by cye on May 30, 2013 13:00:33 GMT -5
here's a proposed schema from Dave all comments welcome Attachments:
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Post by cye on May 30, 2013 13:01:41 GMT -5
here's the 2nd part of dave's diagram Attachments:
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Post by leonardermo on May 30, 2013 15:43:48 GMT -5
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Post by cye again on Jun 1, 2013 2:42:06 GMT -5
hi dermot the fitting of the plate heat exchanger is the bit i am unable to advise Dave on. Can you confirm my understanding of how you have installed your's: there are 4 ports on the HX, 2 go to the solar loop, 1 to the cold feed to the tank, and 1 to the vent pipe? Is it plumbed just like the willis solasyphon? www.willis-renewables.com/vented-system.htmand if so, did you connect port 4 of the HX 500mm up the vent pipe or higher? in the willis diagram they have the cold feed from the loft tank on a different connection from the feed to the solasyphon, but i think it makes no difference whether the solasyphon is on the same connection or a different connect, provided it is connected to the bottom of the tank. i've seen the willis immersion heater simply tee'd into the cold feed pipe to the hot tank, so i'm assuming the solasyphon (and likewise plate HX) will work the same way. What do you think? hopefully dave will be along shortly to ask whatever other questions he may have. (i have been remiss in that he drew me those schematics several weeks ago and i only got around to posting up on the forum this week) Dave bought one of the same vac tube panels as both yourself and george row uses, from the ever-helpful eco systems direct (declan macdonald) in fermanagh. thanks
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Post by leonardermo on Jun 1, 2013 7:47:24 GMT -5
Cye,
I've just teed into the horizontal part of the hot output ,maybe an inch or two from where the hot water leaves the cylinder,not the vent pipe itself, I'm afraid it's almost impossible to take a photo now due to it's position, it works fine though. The only issue I see with teeing into the cold feed at the bottom (like I did) is that thermo siphoning will stop when a hot tap is running as the water will be going in the pipe to the cylinder( rather than out) to force hot water out the top.
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Post by cye again on Jun 2, 2013 9:09:32 GMT -5
Dermot, Thanks for that. You are right about teeing into the cold feed, that had not occurred to me. I guess the potential for temporary interruption of the solar heat input (to the tank whilst hot water is being used) is why the willis schematic shows the HEX on a separate connection to the base of the tank. For the benefit of Dave, here's another guy who has used a plate heat exchanger pretty much the same way as Dermot. wookware.org/pics/solar/
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