A Solar Hot Water Heating System Can Save You Money

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Conventional water heaters are an incredibly inefficient way to heat the water we use in our homes everyday. These systems are constantly heating a large reservoir of water around the clock so that it is ready for use when we need it. The gas or electric used to heat this water is expensive and keeping this water hot and available means that the average home is wasting resources and money daily. Another alternative is to install a solar hot water system on your home that uses the free power the sun provides as fuel to heat the water you need for your home.

These solar hot water systems have improved through the years and today offer a simple and inexpensive alternative to conventional hot water heaters. They can easily provide all the hot water you need for your home with a few simple components and can save you thousands of dollars a year in energy costs as a result. Installing one of these solar hot water systems is easy and can usually be done in a few hours by the homeowner. If you are not that handy, there are plenty of solar dealers that will install the equipment for you and allow you to take advantage of this amazing alternative energy solution for your home.


The way these solar hot water systems work is fairly simple and involves very few moving parts. The system starts with a solar collector that is mounted on the roof of the home. This is typically oriented to the south so that it can capture as much of the sun’s heat as possible throughout the day. This solar collector is a weatherproof enclosure that contains a webbing of small pipes inside the enclosure that are exposed to the sun. The hot water plumbing from the home is connected to this collector and when the water is passed through this webbing, it is heated by the sun and returned to the home for use. On most homes a single collector can heat all the water you’ll need for an average solar hot water solution, but on larger homes you may need to install a few of these collectors.

In most solar hot water systems the water that is heated by the sun is returned to the home and stored in a thermal storage tank in the basement, much like a conventional system. The big difference is that the heating of this water happens naturally and won’t require any gas or electric to accomplish. In more sophisticated systems there is an additional circulating pump used that is activated by a temperature sensor in the tank to constantly refresh this hot water. This way you always have the hottest water available when you need it.


If you live in a colder climate, you need a slightly more complex system that uses a second liquid circulating through the system that won’t freeze. This is a closed loop system that never actually comes in contact with your home’s water but simply heats it by passing through pipes in the holding tank with the hotter water. All of these solar hot water systems do a great job of heating the water you need for your home and will give you years of service and lower energy bills as well.

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