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Solar Powered
Jun. 17th, 2010 05:45 pmIt all started because our hot water system is leaking.
Well, I say our hot water system, but in fact it's only one of the three that the previous occupants/renovators of the house felt was appropriate. It's good in some ways, because it means that with the tank right outside whatever tap's being turned on, hot water appears practically instantaneously. It's bad in others because... well, there's three aging hot water services, each of which chew electricity and break down and require repairs.
So, one of our hot water systems is leaking. And rather than spend a couple of hundred dollars getting a plumber out (twice, because he'll never have the right parts the first time) to tut-tut on the shoddy workmanship of the previous guy and stop the steady leak of water, greenhouse gasses, and money down the drain, we thought we might look into getting a solar hot water system installed. Queensland's great for solar hot water. Plenty of sun, plenty of hot weather. Not too much difference between the length of the days, so it's not like you only get hot water in summer, either. I grew up with solar hot water, which always kept us plentifully supplied, despite being installed at least twenty-five years ago. While we're at it, we thought we might look into getting PV cells (solar electricity) installed as well.
( Investigations proceed... )
So... We've made the decision. We've ordered the system. We've signed all the papers. We've paid the deposit. Solar hot water will arrive on our roof in around a week. 5.4KW (the biggest system these guys have ever installed) of PV panels will take more like ten weeks.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Well, I say our hot water system, but in fact it's only one of the three that the previous occupants/renovators of the house felt was appropriate. It's good in some ways, because it means that with the tank right outside whatever tap's being turned on, hot water appears practically instantaneously. It's bad in others because... well, there's three aging hot water services, each of which chew electricity and break down and require repairs.
So, one of our hot water systems is leaking. And rather than spend a couple of hundred dollars getting a plumber out (twice, because he'll never have the right parts the first time) to tut-tut on the shoddy workmanship of the previous guy and stop the steady leak of water, greenhouse gasses, and money down the drain, we thought we might look into getting a solar hot water system installed. Queensland's great for solar hot water. Plenty of sun, plenty of hot weather. Not too much difference between the length of the days, so it's not like you only get hot water in summer, either. I grew up with solar hot water, which always kept us plentifully supplied, despite being installed at least twenty-five years ago. While we're at it, we thought we might look into getting PV cells (solar electricity) installed as well.
( Investigations proceed... )
So... We've made the decision. We've ordered the system. We've signed all the papers. We've paid the deposit. Solar hot water will arrive on our roof in around a week. 5.4KW (the biggest system these guys have ever installed) of PV panels will take more like ten weeks.
I'll let you know how it goes.
