How to Choose a Solar Water Heater in South Africa

November 26th, 2009 | Categories: News | Tags: none

Choosing a Solar Water Heating System can be daunting, especially in South Africa. The following post provides a few tips and ideas for how to wisely choose the best solution for your needs. If you are a residential user of hot water, there are three types of collectors, flat plate, evacuated tubes and integrated systems. To learn more about each one see the US Department of Energy’s Solar Water Heater Consumer site. This website breaks the choice process down into the following steps:

1. How they work

2. Selecting a Solar Water Heater

3. Installing and maintaining the System

Once you’ve read the above web page, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is your location’s ambient temperature? If it goes below freezing temperature then go for a closed loop system

2. What is your water quality? If bad quality water then go for closed loop as this offers a separate loop is mixed with glycol.

3. Are you in a high risk hail belt area? If you are then a flat plate system is probably a safe bet to avoid having to replace broken tubes.

4. What aesthetics are you looking for? Flat plate can be integrated into the house roofing and thus reduce the visual impact of your solar water heater.

The following articles offer more good tips and ideas when choosing a solar water heater “Ask the Experts: Which Collectors?” and “The Basics on Solar Water Heater”

Once you’ve read these documents you are now ready to choose your solar water heater. In South Africa, Eskom maintains a list of approved suppliers from which you can choose from. These systems and suppliers had to comply with stringent technical and business criteria so you know that you are getting a good quality product from a decent supplier. Happy shopping!

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How to Choose a Solar Water Heater in South Africa

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