Solar heating, anyone know much about it????

[anogg3]

Has anyone had any experience of solar heating in thier house???? Does it actually do a lot or just a money making scheme for the people who make it? Just thought i might have a go at making a system to heat my garage and if it works maybe one for house also.. If anyone knows much about it any info would be great... Thanks Andy

[James Bass]

I don't know much about it, but I have heard that in parts of the UK there's a trial whereby you get it all for nothing. I can't remember the website, but I have seen it advertised on the TV. I looked on their site, and surprise surprise, the North East ain't covered...left out again.

[Norse]

usualy they just supplement the heating you already got and used to take about 10 or so years to earn money back but that was a few years ago so im not sure how the tech has changed but basically.....Solar panel to make electricity that then charges a battery that is used for the immersion heater (hot water)

[Frontycustoms]

Used on houses for heating the water tank. Pipes run through the solar panels, water get hot n is stored in tank for use, thats about it. (that i know anyway)

[robbie]

i dont know much about it but it must be farly good a my council have put it into quite a lot of houses that that have renavated

[Frenchfarmer]

Two types of system both are indirect as they are mostly used to heat the hot water tank.
One, which is most common, uses an antifreeze mix.
The second is a more ecological, pure water, drain down system ie. when it gets too cold the water is drained to a tank indoors and when it gets warmer a pump refills it.
Both systems usually need a pump as the panels are normally on the roof and if there's a power cut the liquid might boil so a safety valve should be fitted sowewhere.
If you have a place to put the panels on the ground or better still can dig a v shaped bit for them to go in then you can just run to a radiator and let gravity do it for you. You would need a header tank though.
An interesting one I saw the other day was a 2 metre piece of large bore plastic pipe cut in half and lined with stick on mirror and a black painted cast pipe running the lenght of it at the focal point.
This has to be lying down East to West and may need to be angled depending how far North you live but would let you do a gravity system if you have the E to W space to put it. ( Great for above ground swimming pools or hot tubs.)
YouTube has quite a lot of self build solar system videos.
I'll see if I can find the plastic tube one.
Anything you do make will need lots of insulation around it and double glazing on the front.
A good way to start is to find a double glazing company and see what they are chucking out in the skip round the back.

[Frenchfarmer]

If you just want a hot air system this is very cheap and can be screwed to a south facing wall.
You could even have a solar electric panel on the roof to drive the fan.
One this size even on a cold winter day would have drifty's shed too hot to work in.
But you need some sunshine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZvAAqzXIw

Edited as I forgot to post the link.

[Frenchfarmer]

An after thought.
If you had a large well insulated tank to store the hot water in you could turn on the radiator in the evening or when there was not enough sun.
I don't think you would have enough space to put the amount of panels you would need to heat a whole house though.

[drinksoptional]

thought the underground heating was the thing as the solar to expensive, the newhouses they built near me on a lovely field that had trees n nature has them fitted to the roofs of these new house bit late to care about the enviroment after they dug it up but hey thats progress and the bustards want to build more on another bit taken away the view of dychmont hill and the castle

[Drift]

A friend of my Mums, who where in the next cottage down on the hillside she used to live on in Wales, while rebuilding the cottage and staying in a caravan they linked up hundreds of 2l coke bottles and snaked them across the hillside behind the cottage from a stream and down to a water butt which was attached to an outdoor shower and tap.

It was amazing how hot it got even on a dull day

Kept them in hot and warm water for 6 or 7 months of the year while the built the essentials like a roof

[Frenchfarmer]

OOPS!
Forgot to post the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZvAAqzXIw

[Rich]

kerrys parents are that tight they paint coke bottles black fill them with water and leave them on the window ledge until they are hot enough to wash up with

[James Bass]

[anogg3]

[andysd1]

we don't wash a dish in the house, we have a dog,
sorry


there is a housing estate that i work on, and all the house's are run on solar energy, the roof and half way down the 3 walls are covered in the panel's, they still have electric and gas as a back up, spoke to one of the residents a while ago, he had been there over a year and not touched his electric or gas,

[king of the kitchen]

the main ingredient is SUN you might have good results in the summer but winter,,????
there are loads of solar heating systems down here,,because we have plenty of SUN ,,,but its only for heating domestic water,we dont need heating,,, good luck,,,,

[aircon]

just started looking into this as an add on to the biusness ,solar water heating is not worth it!! only produces 25% of water you need and the pay back takes years.air source heat pumps which will produce all your heating needs + your hot water is best,wait until the 20th oct as the government will clarify on what incentives they will give if you have it installed.but if its anything like the the pay back on solar electricity its a liceance to print money.what ever you do ,do not sign up to the free installations of solar which are being offered as you may save a couple of hundred quid a year on your fuel bill but you sign over to these companies the right to claim back thousands of pounds from the government.beg burrow or steal the money and pay for it your self.rough install cost for a full installation of solar power £10,000 for a large 4 bed ,you can then claim approx £1000 per annum off the government for up to 25 years (do the math you wont get that interest in the bank) the national grid is predicting black outs within the next 5 years and cant cope .for every kw used in your house the grid has to produce 3kw ,2kw are wasted heating birds feet on the cables,thats why the goverment are giving these incentives.I would strongly advise any one who has no gas to look at the air source heat pumps as over oil its a no brainer (no oil tank,no mess,no theft,50% more efficient,government incentives,costs the same to install!!!!) this is not a sales picth as in the south and dont travel, just some informed advise.

[drinksoptional]

A house near has a propellar attatched to his house yet has no wings guessing it for electric i wonder how much it cost an how effective it is he on a good spot aswell always a breeze. I was thinking going up to one of those wind farms with a hack saw an a tow rope .


Wonder what the planning permission is for them small turbines

[Frenchfarmer]

No more than 2metres above the roof I think.
If you want to build your own then look up vertical windmills.
No need to steer them and the generator is at the bottom.

http://www.quietrevolution.com/index.htm

Much nicer looking too.

[westo123]

We have it and rainwater harvester system as well and I would agree, it ain't really worth it. Still a bit too expensive.
One thing though it doesn't have to be sunny, modern systems work on radiation more than actual sunlight.
OK if you want to be self sufficient and go the whole hog.