Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 24, 2010 8:40 pm My builder has installed only one solar collector on the roof (facing north) where as all the other houses i see have two collectors (Although mostly east or west facing in my street) Does it have to do with the roof facing or is the builder just increasing his margin by providing only one collector? will it have any impact on my gas bill? Re: HOT WATER HELP!! 2May 24, 2010 8:45 pm hi5 My builder has installed only one solar collector on the roof (facing north) where as all the other houses i see have two collectors (Although mostly east or west facing in my street) Does it have to do with the roof facing or is the builder just increasing his margin by providing only one collector? will it have any impact on my gas bill? You get much more energy generated from being North facing compared to East or West, but not sure if this makes up for only one collector. Whether you should have one or two depends on your contract Re: HOT WATER HELP!! 3May 25, 2010 10:16 am The answer to your question is not simple. First, I was told by a solar electricity rep that putting the collectors at say NW instead of N only changes efficiency by about 15%. Second, one collector sounds like a 200 litre system. The two collector systems are 300 litre. How many people in your house & their hot water usage are the main things that will determine whether your unit will cope. If you have 2 people in the middle of winter who use a normal amount of hot water, you will always need a boost as the sun may not be strong enough to heat the tank to more than say 40 degrees. If you're then relying on gas or electricity to boost, then the smaller single-collector (therefore smaller tank) will require less heating, so you'll save money with the smaller unit your builder installed. So thank him. Re: HOT WATER HELP!! 4May 25, 2010 8:34 pm Thanks Guys! I read my contract and it does say 'Rheem/ Vulcan 160 litre Loline gas boosted 51116002 solar HWS including one roof collector and ground mounted tank' We are only two so I guess it should be enough for now. Does anyone know if I could add extra panels later on and how much it might cost? Re: HOT WATER HELP!! 5May 25, 2010 9:07 pm There may be no benefit to adding an extra solar panel. With northern orientation and a 160L tank, your system is probably quite efficient. We have two panels for ours, but it's a 230L (or something like that) and our roof faces NNE. Re: HOT WATER HELP!! 6May 25, 2010 9:12 pm Too many panels results in wasted water, the rental we are in at the moment wastes nearly 5lt of water out of the overflow in summer because the 2 panels on our roof produces too much hot water and it just goes to waste, so with just the 2 of you, 1 might be sufficient Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread 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 13425 I want to build a decking to the drawn shape outlined in black. The problem is how close can I build to the gas hot water unit? Will I be able to build around it and be… 0 20224 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Hi, I've got a brand new (2nd hand) Bosch Hydropower 16H tankless hot water heater. Since it was installed I have noticed it leaks a lot. I took the cover off and it looks… 0 24147 |