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Eco Living: A Guide to Solar Water Heaters
Install solar water heaters to reduce your electricity bills and the carbon footprint of your home
Pooja Khanna Tyagi
15 October 2018
Houzz India Contributor. An Architect , Interior Designer, Valuer, a Marathon Runner, and love Writing Poetry and Creative Stories on Building Design. Have been practicing since the year 2000 with specialization in the field of Corporate Interiors with projects extensively published in journals of national repute. Recently honoured with the reputed A3 Foundation award for Journalism for the year 2016 an for architectural poetry in the year 2018. Currently practicing and residing in Delhi and Noida.
Website: www.khannaenterprise.com, Email: poojakhanna224@gmail.com, M:9891993392
Houzz India Contributor. An Architect , Interior Designer, Valuer, a Marathon Runner,... More
Solar water heaters are becoming popular because they are one of the most eco-friendly ways to heat up water for the bathrooms and kitchen of your home. These water heaters make use of solar energy instead of the conventional electricity to heat water, hence they help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint of the home. Solar water heaters are highly suitable for independent homes because such houses have a private open-to-sky terrace, which is a must for the installation of solar water heaters. However, in apartment complexes, a single system of adequate capacity can be installed on the common terrace so that it can supply hot water to a group of apartments simultaneously.
Here is a guide to all you need to know about solar water heaters.
Here is a guide to all you need to know about solar water heaters.
What is a solar water heater?
The chief component of a solar water heater is the solar collector, usually installed on the terrace or roof of the building to capture solar energy (here, the heat from the sun) and use it for heating water. The heat is transferred with the help of a circulating pump to an insulated water tank that stores hot water. The heated water is then supplied to the bathroom, kitchen or other parts of the home through one of two systems:
The chief component of a solar water heater is the solar collector, usually installed on the terrace or roof of the building to capture solar energy (here, the heat from the sun) and use it for heating water. The heat is transferred with the help of a circulating pump to an insulated water tank that stores hot water. The heated water is then supplied to the bathroom, kitchen or other parts of the home through one of two systems:
- An active system uses circulation pumps, valves and controllers to circulate water and deliver hot water to different parts of the house.
- A passive system does not use pumps; it heats and moves the water to different parts of the home through the process of convection.
What are the types of solar water heaters available?
There are mainly two types of solar water heaters:
There are mainly two types of solar water heaters:
- Flat Plate Collector (FPC) based solar water heaters comprise an insulated outer metallic box covered with a glass sheet on the top. Inside the box is a blackened metallic absorber that absorbs solar radiation and transfers the heat to the water flowing through tubing that is built into it.
- Evacuated Tube Collectors (ETC) based solar water heaters are made of a double-layered tube of borosilicate glass – it is like two concentric tubes, with a vacuum between the outer; there is a vacuum between both the layers of glass to provide insulation. The outer surface of the glass of the inner tube is covered with a special coating that absorbs solar radiation and transfers heat to the water that flows through the inner tube of glass. The vacuum prevents the heat from the hot water from being radiated out again.
What are the pros and cons of solar water heaters?
Pros:
Read more:
Smart Living: All About Solar Panels
Eco-Home: A Guide to Rainwater Harvesting
Tell us:
Have you used solar water heaters in your home? What’s your experience or opinion about the practicality of using these heaters? Share in Comments below.
Pros:
- Solar water heaters save on electricity bills because they use renewable solar energy to heat water.
- Another plus of installing solar water heaters is that one does not need to install individual geysers in the bathrooms for the supply of hot water. Make sure that the solar panel is of a suitable size so that it can efficiently cater to the hot water requirements of the home.
- Solar water heaters require sufficient roof space; the rooftop of the building should not be in shade.
- The initial cost of installation of solar water heaters is very high. Note that the cost of the solar water heater increases with increase in size.
- Scaling may occur in solar water heaters because of the presence of suspended minerals in domestic water, which may build up as calcium deposits in the heating system.
- In multistorey buildings, the size of the centralised solar water heating system would depend on the number of dwelling units. One drawback with installing these heaters is that there is limited space on the terrace of apartment buildings. As the requirement for hot water increases, the number of solar panels and the space occupied by them will also increase, until there might not be enough space for all the solar water heaters required. However, we have not reached there yet, and it is still a great way to go. Who knows, new technology might cut down the space required, soon!
Read more:
Smart Living: All About Solar Panels
Eco-Home: A Guide to Rainwater Harvesting
Tell us:
Have you used solar water heaters in your home? What’s your experience or opinion about the practicality of using these heaters? Share in Comments below.
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