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Solar Power Water Heater - Is It Financially Justifiable |
By:
Adrian Fletcher |
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Solar Power Water Heater - Is It Financially Justifiable
Adrian Fletcher
Solar power water heater systems can help you save money on your monthly power bills (water heating is one of the more expensive uses of electricity or gas) so why not install such a system ? This article will discuss whether it makes financial sense to install a solar water heating system in the home.
Solar power water heater systems are usually used in conjunction with the existing hot water system. They consist of a method of collecting thermal rays from the sun. They use a solar collector that can simply be a water container that has added features to absorb the sun's heat or a length of tubing that also has sun absorbing features added to it.
Water is moved past the flat plate collector or through the tubing. The will heat the water that is then pumped into the home plumbing, water tank or boiler.
So traditional utility supplied energy usage is reduced when it comes to heating water as the water has been already heated by the solar system. This will save on utility bills but will it save enough money to justify the time and expense required to install a solar water system in the first place ?
Before you even think about a solar water heating system check out your existing hot water system. traditional systems have developed and much emphasis has been placed on efficient hot water cylinders or boilers. You can probably save more money by ensuring that this system is efficient and has adequate lagging. This goes for the whole house too. Make sure energy is not being lost because the house has poor insulation.
After this, it comes down to five considerations, that you may have already established when you made the existing hot water system as efficient as possible. These are :
The annual amount of hot water used by your family - Take an average over a few months or record a whole year if you have the time. If you are taking an average remember that usage may increase in colder seasons and factor this into the total.
When will the heated water be used - The solar water system will work better when the sun is hottest, generally midday.
What the current heating system is and it's compatibility with the solar system.
How much the solar water system will cost - this depends on the size of the system which depends on your usage of hot water. With this said, the future should see solar systems drop in price as people become more interested in then.
The cost of the energy that your current hot water system uses - this will undoubtedly rise in the future as most of these fuels are finite. The price to find, extract and transport the raw materials will increase and this will be past onto the consumer.
So it seems to make economic sense to install a solar water system in the future or even planning for the future but it is impossible to quantify the savings. What about the present though ? If you research solar power heat systems you will be given figures on the likely amount of energy that they can save. By factoring this into your annual energy usage you will arrive at the amount that can be saved on your monthly bills.
Get more information on http://www.solarpowerappliances.com/Solar_Water_Heating.html solar power water heater systems and information on http://www.solarpowerappliances.com/Solar_Garden_Light.html solar pathway lighting at solarpowerappliances.com.
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Article Source: http://www.PopularArticles.com/article151275.html |
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