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Solar Water Heater
This is one of the Queen’s personal favorites. In fact, it should be a no brainer for almost every household. While doing research for this, the Queen found herself standing dumbfounded in a Lowe’s home improvement store, staring up at the electric water heaters. Could it really be that one electric water heater used almost 5,000 kilowatt hours per year? Wasn’t that five MEGAwatt hours? Wasn’t that the same as almost 200 therms worth of natural gas? In short, wasn’t that an AWFUL LOT of money just for hot water? Or was her royal mind failing her? Indeed, her royal mind was sharp as ever, and the numbers were correct.
Using electricity to make heat is one of the least efficient uses of a power dollar imaginable. Electricity 101 says making heat requires lots of current going through a resistant wire. Which means lots of electrons and lots of kilowatt hours. Again, when electricity is only a nickel per KWH, who cares? Alas, electricity is not so cheap anymore. You know what, neither is natural gas or propane! It is so easy to heat water with a little help from Mother Nature. A realization which should bring us to a “come to truth” moment. WHAT ARE WE DOING!?!? Paying for hot water when we can get it for free?
So, let’s say you were out camping, and you really wanted to bath in some hot water. You could make your own crude water heater. How would you do it? You’d put water in something like a black pot, or a black rubber bag to soak up the sun’s rays during the day. By evening, you’d have some soothing warm water courtesy of our gal Mother Nature.
The solar water heaters now on the market use the same basic principle of extracting heat from the sun but have been refined to the pinnacle of efficiency. All the components work together to extract every bit of heat from the sun (a hot day is not required, merely sun) and transfer it to water… your water.
Here are some startling numbers. According to most recent census data, there are 107 million households in the US. Of those, 41 million use electricity to heat their water and 58 million use natural gas. Millions of households throwing their money away! Giving it to the power or gas company because they don’t realize that our gal Mother Nature would be glad to do most of the job for them.
Here is why the Queen views solar water heaters as the number one no brainer.
We all know the Queen – though of very high status ;-) ranks well below our gal Mother Nature. We should all try to curry favor with Mother Nature, and here’s an excellent way to do so.
Earlier, the Queen mentioned changing the way we think. Most of us tend to think short term. The electric water heater only costs $400, the solar one is $4000. Why in the world would you go with the latter? It’s ten times more money! True, but if we could look slightly farther than the ends of our royal noses, an amazing trend becomes clear.
Obvious questions about solar water heaters concern climate. We know a solar water heater will work in Florida or Arizona, but how about Nebraska? The answer is, it will work anywhere there is sun. Which is almost everywhere. It should come as no surprise that different climates require different systems and that levels of efficiency will vary. For instance, in the south part of Florida a typical system is simple, with the water flowing up to the collector and back down to the tank - period. In Nebraska, where freezing nights are ever so slightly more common than in Florida, a typical system would be a drainback with a heat exchanger. If you perceive the brilliance of this system as the Queen can, fill out the possibilities link and get started!
Here is a basic schematic showing how an open loop/ direct pumped system works. For more info on various types of solar water heaters, go to www.fsec.ucf.edu or order the book “The Queen of Green Tells All!”
Solar water heater prices vary widely based on location and system type. The range is approximately $4000 - $10,000 – but that is merely a starting point - with costs going DOWN from there when incentives are factored in. As an example, a recently installed system in FL cost $5000 to start, but only $2800 after incentives. Speaking of incentives, they are available on the federal and state level and from power companies; but they do change frequently. How to find what is on offer at the moment? Go to www.dsireusa.org and click on your state. And don’t forget to check with your power company! Own a Laundromat? You need to call the Queen! Systems operate for decades. The Queen just checked out a 20 year old system. The client was getting ready to replace the collector, but all it needed was a scrubbing to clean off some mold and scum (nice!) and it was good to go – probably for another 15 years.
“Yes, but what if I move in a few years. Will I get my money back?” Good news – Check out the second question in the the Q&A section - You’ll like what you read.
Ever wonder about tankless water heaters? Here’s the skinny:
The skinny on tankless water heaters
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How about both? Can you use a tankless with a solar? Yes, and it’s a pretty brilliant system, because the tankless will rarely turn on since the water going through it will already be heated by the sun. Here’s a general idea of how a solar water heat could be integrated with a natural gas tankless water heater.
Wondering if you have sun? Take a glance here. Anything outside the green spots will be pretty good for a solar water heater.
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