Solar Hot Water Heater

The sun can heat your water for free every day regardless of how cold it is where you live. Solar hot water can replace or supplement an existing water heater making your home greener, cheaper on the utilities, and more valuable all in one.

Solar Collectors: the "Heat" in Solar Water Heater

A solar collector is simply anything that store the sun's energy. The types of solar collectors you'll find in a solar water heater all pretty much work the same way. A glass box or tube with water in it and a dark surface are positioned so that they face the sun. The sun hits the dark surface and everything gets really hot - voila: hot water! If you've ever worn a black shirt on a sunny day you've no doubt felt the simple physics at work. So how hot does it get? Really hot. Many systems are installed with an anti-scalding device that mixes the hot water with your normal cold water.

Will a Solar Domestic Hot Water Heater be good in my area?

In a word: yes, but get a quote from a professional. You would be surprised how resilient certain designs can be no matter how cold it is where you live. The issue is sunlight. Insulation materials and a variant of the design that uses a cold-resistant heat-transfer fluid even allow hot water to be made when it's freezing out. If you have sunlight it'll never be an issue of whether it'll work or not, the real question is: how much of my hot water will come from the sun, and how much will come the old fashion way? Find a reputable contractor and ask for quote; you can still save money and do something good for the environment even if only a portion of your total water heating needs are replaced by solar heat (more on this in the Cost section).

Passive Solar Water Heating Systems

Also known as a Batch Solar Water Heater, passive systems use gravity or temperature differences to get water where it needs to go. Water is usually heated somewhere up high (e.g. your roof) and then it flows down into a tank or your water heater to be stored. These systems are generally less effective than their "active" counterparts but are also cheaper and require less maintenance.

Active Solar Water Heating Systems

Active systems, sometimes called Closed Loop Solar Water Systems involve pumping water where it needs to go. Cold water gets pumped into the solar collector portion of the system where it gets hot and then it gets pumped back to a tank or water heater where it waits to be used.

No matter which system you use it is extremely likely that a backup water heater will be part of the equation. Most frequently the "water storage tank" to which the water flows is in fact a backup water heater, just like the water heaters that exist in most houses today. In the event that you use up all your hot water or there is no sunlight it can be heated the old fashion way.

Cost: Materials & Installation

The cost varies as you can imagine, mostly depended on how much water is needed and the type of system required in your area. Without knowing the details of your situation it's hard to say, but a ballpark figure would be $1,000-$3,500 after installation. The passive heat systems are cheaper, and the active systems are more expensive as well as requiring a small (very small) amount of electricity.

Cost: Hot Water

You're going to love this, heating your water costs: zero, nada, nilch, that's right it's free! If you have an active system you'll have a small amount of power consumed by pumping the water around, maybe $20/year. How long it'll take for any system to "pay for itself" is subject to many variables but saving $200-$500 per year is quite conceivable.