Solar Hot Water Heaters

A solar hot water heater may make sense for all climates. With energy costs climbing, using the sun to heat your domestic hot water can save lots of money and are environmentally friendly, save.

There are two main types of solar hot water heaters - active and passive. The difference between the two systems is simple. Active systems use water circulating pump to circulate between the storage tank of hot water and solar collector where it is heated. Passive systems generally are not moving parts, using water or circulating normal household water pressure or by a process called thermo-East.

We will cover passive systems, firstly because they are the simplest and usually least expensive to install. Very simple passive water heater can be constructed from a plastic milk jug. Just paint it black, or enclose it in black plastic garbage bag and fill it with water. The black color will absorb the sun rays is transferred to water using a process called thermal conductivity.

Passive solar systems for hot water heating, are usually used to preheat water before it goes into a standard hot water. This reduction in costs to operate the water heater drastically as preheated water entering the water warm, not as much energy is needed for heating water.

Passive solar hot water systems can be divided into two types - batch and thermo-siphon. Batch heaters solar heaters can be as simple as a milk jug design outlined in the beginning of this discussion, or more complex. Some use pipes or tubes, which heat water as it moves in stages to a contact.

The other type of passive solar hot water heater is a thermo-siphon. In addition, the solar collector sits at a lower level than the storage tank. The sun heats the water in the collector and it is rising, flowing through pipelines to storage tank. The water continuously circulates in the system. Variant of this use antifreeze in the solar collector, which circulates back through the reservoir in a closed loop. In antifreeze solution in the tank heats the water and returned to the collector is heated again.

Passive solar hot water systems have the disadvantage may not be used in cold climates because the water is exposed to the outdoors. Only the closed thermo-siphon system could be used in freezing weather, as only antifreeze solution in the collector is exposed to weather.

Active solar hot water systems are less complicated by using circulating pumps to move water around. Active system operating at the base of the same as in the passive thermal-siphon hot water heater, but since the pump is used to move water around the system storage tank can be located anywhere that is appropriate to place. There are open and closed systems. In an open system, water is pumped directly from the solar collector. In a closed system, a cycle antifreeze solution is pumped through solar collectors where it is heated, and then through the water storage tank, heating the water. Active closed loop solar heating systems are more expensive to install but can be used in cold climates.

There is that to be a solar water heater to meet your needs. Using solar energy to provide part of the home energy needs is not only environmentally smart, it makes economic sense too.

Paul Wonning is the owner of Plum Creek Marketing a web site which has information about many different topics.

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