Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Sep 20, 2009 1:26 pm Hi everyone, I'm a newbie here and i'm very glad to have found this site I've been visiting this site and it has been very helpful. We are building our first house and we just want to know which one is better to have, a solar hot water system or a water tank. We can only choose one coz of our budget. We don't really know which is more advantageous between the two and we want to make sure we choose the right one for our first home. The water tank is an upgrade with our builder and in case we choose to have it they will delete the standard Rheem 160 litre Lo Line hot water service and provide Colorbond Aquaplate water tank, pump with flushmiser, leaf strainer and overflow pipe. Connection to 2 no. cisterns, Rheem stellar 330 gas HWS. We would love to hear your opinions on this. Thanks in advance Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 2Sep 20, 2009 1:37 pm Hi and welcome, Our council made us have both but if I had to choose I would go solar heating because the electricity price is going up and up. Then you could put in the tanks (I think it would be a lot easier to do) later on when you could afford it. Maybe see what the cost is of just having the plumbing part done during the build - good luck Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 5Sep 20, 2009 3:53 pm We didn't think for too long before choosing the solar hot water as it takes a while to establish a garden and then you can easily install a water tank later on. Hope this helps you Harribeka http://www.harribeka.blogspot.com Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 6Sep 20, 2009 5:21 pm I would choose the solar hot water system as you could always get the water tank later and they are quite easy to put in yourself. But the hot water system you would need a qualified plumber etc. Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 7Sep 20, 2009 6:29 pm I had an opinion but I thought it might be worth actually talking through the factors to consider. As I understand it the water tank on offer is for the house as well as garden. And you can't necessarily install a water tank easily later on, or at least not one of useful size, or connected to the plumbing. Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 8Sep 20, 2009 6:38 pm Our house comes with a solar HWS and the tank option is an upgrade instead (same as you jetski08). We wanted solar HWS anyway and will be putting in a slimline tank later (depends how much funds are left ) Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 9Sep 21, 2009 11:35 am We actually chose the solar hot water system as our first choice but someone mentioned to us that we also need to have a water tank. So this got us confused and we thought of having both. Unfortunately, when we asked our builder, having the tank as an addition to the solar HWS is a bit pricey. Thank you guys for your opinions, it has helped us a lot Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 10Sep 21, 2009 12:04 pm I chose solar hot water, and am required by council to have a water tank. I'm having this marked as a provision on the plan to be added by owner. Some people don't have time to do the job right the first time, but seem to have plenty of time to fix their mistakes. Build Thread Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 12Sep 21, 2009 8:09 pm You'll find there's no tap for using the tank water on your garden - it's plumbed to the toilets only. So if you were thinking of using it for keeping a nice green lawn or something, you'll need to install a separate tank later anyway. We have both - the tank was a builder's inclusion (pre- the govt solar rebates, which are apparently far more attractive to builders) and we paid extra to add a solar HWS. We're a bit sick of the increasing cost of everything, plus we wanted to reduce our environmental impact at least a little. Flushing perfectly good drinking water down the toilets just seems wrong to me. If you do some basic calculations, you should be able to figure out the comparitive savings for each (Google, and you should find some useful websites). Don't forget to factor in what the average rainfall is like where you're building. Some parts of Melbourne are pretty hard done by in the rain department. The BOM's website should be helpful there.http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/ca_vic_names.shtml Also, what size tank is your builder offering? A 2000L tank empties out pretty fast.... And how many downpipes will they connect to the tank? You don't catch a lot of rainwater from just one. If you want to keep your future garden green, how about getting a grey water diverter installed, at least for the laundry? That can't cost much, and you can add on the necessary tanks, watering systems etc later when your budget allows. I wish we'd done it during our build... Lots of things to consider..... Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 13Sep 22, 2009 9:42 am We've gone for both. While we were still looking for land to build our house on our builder came up with a new inclusions pack that included a solar hot water system. I've always wanted solar hot water and the house had a standard inclusion of a 2000ltr water tank. When I asked for a tap from this to water the garden I found out that this can only be used for the toilet flush system. I didn't really like the idea of a big plastic tank taking up my back yard when all it does is flush the toilets so I have now asked for a 10,000ltr underground water tank hooked up to both the flushing system and available for watering. We are still waiting on the price for this though. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 14Sep 22, 2009 3:37 pm Maybe it will just be Solar Hot Water. We just got the quote back for the water tank and it was over $16,000 that is way more than I expected. We may need to install it ourselves. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 15Sep 22, 2009 9:19 pm Hi everyone, I'm a first home buyer and newbie too. Can someone tell me why the water tank will be necessary in a new home? Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 18Sep 23, 2009 8:39 pm Sorry to confuse you all. I'm living in Victoria and going to build a new home at the end of November. I want to know if a water tank is necessary for a new built home. I knew the water tank is compulsory in some other states. I found that people are eligible to claim a $500 rebate from Victoria government by 2014 if they do so. Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 19Oct 11, 2009 4:03 pm Choosing Solar hot water is dependant on your roof orientation and shading, there have been many people install these systems with an electric booster only to find their water heating costs are higher! This is due to the systems running inefficiently on a shaded roof area...and constantly running the booster. We are in Brisbane and even in sun central cannot get enough sunlight on our roof to justify one of these Solar hot water systems, however the water tank was a really easy decision. It depends on your circumstances, but for us, with no town water, a secondary water tank was almost mandatory. Depending on how much you love your garden, and keeping your car clean, a water tank (even in an urban area) could be the best choice. We have had grade 6 restrictions here, and i am sure you will see them down there, its nice to know you have other water options than town water. Like most expenditure on your home - it really depends on how long you will stay there. If you dont see yourself moving I would be adding a PV array alongside the solar hot water system - and water tank! Re: Solar hot water system or water tanks, which one? 20Oct 11, 2009 5:13 pm marciameng Sorry to confuse you all. I'm living in Victoria and going to build a new home at the end of November. I want to know if a water tank is necessary for a new built home. I knew the water tank is compulsory in some other states. I found that people are eligible to claim a $500 rebate from Victoria government by 2014 if they do so. In Vic, new homes must achieve a 5-star energy rating. There are numerous ways to do this (things like insulation rating, orientation of the home, window sizes and positions, etc), but you must have either a solar HWS or a rainwater tank that's connected to the toilets. Most builders offer a solar HWS as part of their standard inclusions, I assume because the rebate makes it an attractive deal for them - but some may let you choose which you prefer, and you can always have both if you're prepared to pay the extra. If you're building a home, the builder claims the rebates - and supposedly passes them along to you in reduced costs. If you buy an estabilshed home,then you can claim rebates for any water- or energy-saving additions you make, depending on what the governments are offering at the time. So the answer to your question is that a water tank OR a solar HWS is compulsory for your new home, but not both. And you won't get a rebate. Whatever price your builder quotes for these items should already have the applicable rebates deducted from it. I'm not sure, but in some severely drought affected areas, it may be necessary to incorporate other water-saving features into your design. As far as I know, the Melbourne metro area has no such requirements, but I can't speak for country areas. My advice is to include as many energy and water saving features as you can afford. It'll all save you money and effort in the future. Things aren't likely to get any cheaper and it doesn't seem as though water restrictions are likely to be eased any time in the next few years. Sustainability Victoria has more info: http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/2035-5-star-homes.asp or this government website has details in plain English: http://www.makeyourhomegreen.vic.gov.au/www/html/1962-introduction.asp?intLocationID=1960 the sun master is the solar heating to "warm" the water in the tank the S26 is your hot water system which will heat the water (25 degrees?) so with both turned on you… 2 13436 That was always going to be a challenge and a test of patience. Full marks to your mate. Did you discuss the wet area near the trampoline? 16 17353 |