Fredbargate

Has anyone got any experience of this system?

http://solar-conect.com/lynx-solar-s...-water-system/

or comments in general?

bil

Solar power, great. Trouble is, it ain't cheap. A system is going to cost anything between 1 & 2 K. Payback will take a few years depending on how much of your hot water spend you can save. If you save 30 a month for ten months of the year, then payback's going to be 3 - 6 years, depending on outlay.

bxpuser24710519

Solar water heating in general.... I have it and yes it is great from approx April to Sept/Oct where I am but I would rather have copious amounts of boiliung water in the winter when I really like bath not summer when a cool shower is needed. Even when there are 4 people there is enough for normal usage. It does get VERY hot can hit a 100, there was a temp guage for it but it got fried in the surge and to date not fitted another. We did have temp control put on the shower to save us burning ourselves. Another thing I noticed a few days ago ....there is another dent in the tank which they reckon is somebody shooting ...probably at the tree rats. I am going to need to talk to the neighbours or the president ! or both.

bil

Look for someone with an air rifle. That's the sort of dumbass thing I'd have done as a teen with my first airgun.

bxpuser24710519

The culprit is one of two neighbours I think, I will point it out to both when I go back. I was past your area yesterday .....did you hear me shout hello

bil

Naah, next time shout louder if you want to be heard.

stevesainty

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...wCollector.htm
This thread got me thinking. I have always thought that there is not enough use of the sun in Spain to heat water. Here is a very simple system that seems to work. It is a bit primitive but could be tarted up with a bit of imagination, perhaps turned into a pergola? to give shade as well as free pool heating. It will almost certainly increase the season for pool usage.
Or am I just being naive?
In the same vein there are some DIY solar water heating projects on the internet but these are probably beyond my amateur DIY skills.

snikpoh

A panel that size really can't have much of an effect. We use a similar system whereby pool water is pumped through roof panels (on the outside kitchen). These panels are about the same surface area as the pool - we certainly extend the season this way and, combined with a summer cover, add up to 7degrees to the pool temp.

However, we have been told that for the size of pool, we should really have at least one more panel making the panels larger than the pool!

tony

HI I have a 160 litre vacuum tube solar water heater fitted to my house, it works very well and saves a large amount of energy.

I have been using the system for 3 years without problems,
(SNIP)

Basicly there are 3 types of vaccum tube compact units ( tank and tubes connected as one unit )

1. direct non pressure gravity feed - requires unit to be mounted above point of use and will only supply hot water at low pressure ( unless an auto pump is fitted )

2. in direct non pressure tank/ high pressure copper coil heat exchanger -
will provide hot water at mains pressure and can be mounted below the point of use.

3. direct high pressure heat pipe unit - will provide high pressure hot water and can be mounted below the point of use.

(SNIP)

High pressure units are very efficent and can heat water to over 120 degrees generating very high pressure , it is very important to maintain the pressure relife valve if you have poor water quality in your area, because if it fails tank damage could ocour.

Regards Tony

Joules

I got in April 10, so far very pleased with it, like you I had to have a temp control put on the shower. I have noticed a drop in temperature from November to April but it has not caused too great of a problem, but early days

tony

If your unit is a vacuum tube type is should privide nearly all of your yearly hot water, as you say over heating is normaly more of a problem than under heating !

Another way you can de tune your solar water heater in the height of summer is to block off some of the vacuum tubes, a simple way to do this is to place electrical insulation tape over a few, this can be easily peeled off in the winter to get back to full performance.

Also it is advisable to cover the collector if you are not going to be using hot water for a long period. ie when you are on holiday in the summer for more than a week, that will reduce the strain on the system.

You could think of the water storage tank as a battery storing energy, when a battery if fully charged it could become damaged by overcharging !

The same applys to the storage tank once it has reached its maximum temp there is no point in supplying more energy as it will only put strain on the safety devices which are only meant for emergency pressure relife rather than daily a daily basis

Tony

Fredbargate

The advertising link above states it is supplied with:-

Mixer valve: as the water can be heated to over 90ºC this valve brings water to the tap at around 50ºC, thus preventing scolding and also saves energy, giving you more hot water than the actual capacity of your tank

This should avert any chance of scolding and delivers the water at roughly the same temperature as my present system

tony

A thermostatic mixer can be fitted to the hot outlet of the solar water heater it mixes cold water with the hot water to a pre set temperature it is very important on a high pressure system as they can reach temperatures of over 100 degrees ( because water boils at a higher temperature under pressure )

tony

Domino

Is that when you get told off by OH for using too much water ??

The UK has a rule of 44c max for all hot water in establishments for elderly and vulnerable, although 60c is normally the min for controlling of legionella.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/79-5.htm

Joules

Thanks for that Tony, very useful information.
Joules