How Solar Hot Water Heating Works

October 9, 2009 | By admin In Solar heating |

Solar hot water heating systems basically they use solar power to heat up water that can be used for anything you need hot water for in most cases showers or baths. They help save households a lot of money in energy bills since anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of a typical household’s energy bill comes from having to heat up water for hot showers and baths. Luckily, solar hot water home heating systems are relatively easy to install.

What Are The Guidelines For Solar Hot Water Heating?

Basically, the same systems that are used for other types of heating – like solar space heating – are the same as the systems used for solar hot water heating. It’s just that solar home heating systems tend to be a little bit smaller because they’re not used to heat as large a space as space heating systems do.

Solar hot water heating have five main components in them that they have to have to be able to function correctly. These components have to be installed in the house. The first component is, of course, the actual solar energy collector. It’s what actually collects the energy that lets the solar hot water heating actually work. It also needs a circulation system so that it can move some type of fluid – whether it’s just water or a special anti-freeze solution – between the collectors and to a storage tank. And of course you need the actual storage to tank where the energy used in a solar hot water heating system is stored when it’s not in use. You also need a backup home heating system as well as a control system to regulate the overall operation of the solar hot water heating system.

Types Of Heating Systems

There are two types of solar hot water heating systems – direct systems and indirect systems. In direct systems, water that’s going to be heated and used is actually circulated directly into the collectors from the storage tank. A controller then activates the pump when the temperature in a collector is higher than that of the storage tank. Water then gets pumped through the collectors when it reaches 38 degrees. Indirect systems use anti-freeze fluids to heat the water so it never actually enters certain parts of the “direct” system.

It’s widely believed that indirect solar hot water heating systems are more reliable for long-term use so it may be wise to choose that type!