Solar Hot Water Heaters For Personal And Commercial Use
Although most people don't think about it very often, it is certainly possible for you to cut down on your monthly utility bills like using solar hot water heaters. When you really stop to think about it, a standard water heaters like propane water heaters is going to use electricity or gas all month long, simply to keep a full tank of water in reserve at any given time. There are several different options which can help you to reduce the amount of power that you are using on a monthly basis, but certainly using the power of the sun is one that you should consider. Selecting the best solar hot water heaters for your own personal use, however, does take some research.
There are two basic types of hot water heaters that are powered by the sun. The first of these makes use of solar photovolactic cells, which convert the light from the sun into usable energy. Having a small array of these cells on your property can easily give you enough usable energy in order to power a hot water heater consistently, even giving you enough in reserve to power it through the night. You might even have enough electricity left over after powering the hot water heater to take a little bit of load off of the electric company as well. Regardless, it is something that can certainly cut down on your monthly electric bill.
If you heat water for the pool, there are solar hot water heaters that are available in order to take care of this as well. Typically, it will run through a series of small heatpipes that are under a dark colored area, either on the roof or in an area that is lit by the sun on a regular basis. The amount of heat that is built up underneath this darker layer is phenomenal, and it can heat the water very quickly. The difficulty with using this type of the solar hot water heater is that you are not going to have any hot water available during the night or whenever the sun is not out during the day. It can also easily be damaged by inclement weather, such as high wind and hail. Even so, it's a viable solution that is excellent for heating the pool water and temporary heating of house water. The best would be to rely on something like indoor propane camping heaters for those darker times.
Regardless of whether you are heating water for the pool or for use in the home, you are going to want to make sure that you choose the best heater that is available. If you choose a heater that does not have enough storage capacity, you will tend to run out of hot water on a regular basis. You also want to check the various components of the hot water heater, such as the heatpipe and make sure that you have ready access to it at all times.
Solar hot water heaters are gaining in popularity, especially since the prices of electricity are going up in many areas. If you have never considered looking into one of these yourself, you would be surprised with exactly how easy it is to install the heatpipe and the rest of the unit at your home. Come hail or high water, it is one of the best things that you can do to cut down on your monthly utility bills.
