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Solar heating is deffinately worth it. A correctly installed system can provide about 75% of your hot water requirements. Year round and 100% during summer months. When hooked up to underfloor heating these systems can provide free heating for your house aswell.
I have installed quite a few Solarhart systems and think that they are good value for money and very efficient even on cloudy days.
Cheers Joel
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hi i would never advise that solar was any good for under floor htg
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How long do the roof panels last? Based on my experience, not the 15 years they're required to. Based on the poor durability of many of the one's I've seen and the high capital cost I'd say any solar advantage is only covering the actual install cost considering the relatively short life of them.
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Hi there,
to do underfloor heating with solar is most definitely possible, depending on your wallet. Everything has to be calculated and modeled. If you are looking for an installer or if you are doing it yourself, make sure you do it right. I have seen where the Germans went wrong 25 years ago with underfloor heating and that's where NZ is right now. Please do not touch it if you don't know 100% of what you are doing >:(. Too many plumbers think it is just putting some pipes in the floor but that's not the case ???, otherwise there would not be a separate trade overseas. We at Warmtec have a 100% Money Back Guarantee on all our underfloor heating system installs. We calculate everything and model everything from the heatloss to the pipe spacing to the annual running costs. If you need any calculations done, feel free to contact us.
thanks
the team of Warmtec.
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Hi there,
to do underfloor heating with solar is most definitely possible, depending on your wallet. Everything has to be calculated and modeled. If you are looking for an installer or if you are doing it yourself, make sure you do it right. I have seen where the Germans went wrong 25 years ago with underfloor heating and that's where NZ is right now. Please do not touch it if you don't know 100% of what you are doing >:(. Too many plumbers think it is just putting some pipes in the floor but that's not the case ???, otherwise there would not be a separate trade overseas. We at Warmtec have a 100% Money Back Guarantee on all our underfloor heating system installs. We calculate everything and model everything from the heatloss to the pipe spacing to the annual running costs. If you need any calculations done, feel free to contact us.
thanks
the team of Warmtec.
I totally disagree re your comments that underfloor heating and solar are possible , can i suggest to you to not even encourage the consumers to go solar with under floor , as you well know its not a worthy combination that offers a respectable payback , even the best evacuated tube system in the world cannot offer the efficiency that is required to heat a large volume of water to a minimum of 30-35 degrees to provide 60-70watts of energy per sqm of foolr area...Do the maths , how many liters is required and how bigger system is needed , this subject should not be even discussed unless it expalins the pitfalls only...I see lots of people out there spending outrageous amounts of money on a solar/underfloor combo to only achieve minimal results for there investmentHi there,
to do underfloor heating with solar is most definitely possible, depending on your wallet. Everything has to be calculated and modeled. If you are looking for an installer or if you are doing it yourself, make sure you do it right. I have seen where the Germans went wrong 25 years ago with underfloor heating and that's where NZ is right now. Please do not touch it if you don't know 100% of what you are doing >:(. Too many plumbers think it is just putting some pipes in the floor but that's not the case ???, otherwise there would not be a separate trade overseas. We at Warmtec have a 100% Money Back Guarantee on all our underfloor heating system installs. We calculate everything and model everything from the heatloss to the pipe spacing to the annual running costs. If you need any calculations done, feel free to contact us.
thanks
the team of Warmtec.
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The last comment was provided by Alpha Energy.....solar heating and underfloor heating combos..DO NOT GO THERE
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It is actually a really hard one the biggest issue I think would be the cost outlay. The panels in this situation would work purely as a buffer to your underfloor heating in the winter time you would need at least 3 good quality panels and a high efficency gas boiler to top it up when needed. it pretty much boils down to if you want to spend a lot of money for little return go crazy you will get it to work (lets not forget the water temp in underfloor heating pipe is only 35 degrees) but your biggest demand for the heating will be outside your main solar gain hours therefore having to use your booster to keep the system going. You would be much better off getting the client to fit a high effecincy condensing gas boiler with the option of a buffer tank and run both there hot water and heating through that.
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I think that is what warmtec were getting at with this statement:
Hi there,
to do underfloor heating with solar is most definitely possible, depending on your wallet. Everything has to be calculated and modeled.
capital cost vs running cost vs performance vs convenience
you are right 02b007 - at this point in time the most COST EFFECTIVE way is as you suggested - using NG, lpg not so much
there is one clear winner when it comes to life cycle costing
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Solar panels are definitely worth it, no more Electric bill, no need to worry if the power goes out in town yours. the eliminated emission of carbon dioxide and the improvement of the quality of your indoor air, you will see that the use of solar energy is definitely worth. thanks for sharing the informative post.
Regards,
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Umm I think you need some sun for these to work - leaves Wellington out of the equation then.
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hi guys, this report this morning...
This report labours the obvious but surely any saving is good, the saving in the summer months offset the extra cost in the winter!! i wonder what the point is do they want to stop funding or something,cheers
Solar water heaters not so effective
NewstalkZB | 08:14am Thu 26 Jul 2012
Solar water heaters are not all they're cracked up to be, when it comes to saving power during peak times.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has just released her report into solar water heating and renewable energy.
Dr Jan Wright says cold dark days in winter are when people have their heaters and lights running and fossil fuel plants are cranked up to meet peak demand.
She says unfortunately solar water heaters are least effective, on exactly those days when electricity is needed the most.
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Well ours certainly wasn't worth it! But then it was installed incorrectly. And dangerously. So let's be fair about it - I'm a bit prejudiced!.
However, I wonder how this figure of 75% is arrived at? Can anyone tell me how this was measured? Because the joke of the whole thing is that when you have it installed, you are removed from the ripple system and no longer have a meter which tells you how much power you are using to boost your solar to an acceptable level. And although the controller will tell you how much it has generated, that's a very different thing from what it has saved you. I'd love to know how much mine has wasted by variously chucking (metred) water out on the roof, pumping all night to a cold controller, and just using its own pump - all day without ever going off. And all night too sometimes. (ah well, I did say I was prejudiced!)
And the other joke is that just when your solar is operating at peak performance, all you want is a cold shower. :D
If I could go back in time, I definitely would not have it. And if I can get rid of this one, I doubt if I'll be having another.