Solar Thermal systems are a highly efficient technology consisting of a collector fixed to the roof and pipework connected to a hot water cylinder via a pump station. They will give you the majority of your hot water needs for 8 months of the year, the rest of the year we connect your existing system to the cylinder so you are never without hot water. Swimming pool heating is another great application for solar thermal as seen in the picture to the left.
They can be used with a system boiler or combination boiler with the additional of a combi valve that diverts hot water straight to your taps at a set temperature or if the water is to cold will divert through the boiler to give it a boost.
Description
Solar Thermal Systems (Hot Water)
In simple terms the solar collector on your roof collects the suns radiation and transfers this heat to a closed loop connected to the hot water store. From here the hot water collected goes to your taps via your existing system.
The system will work well for around 8 months of the year and during this period the majority of your hot water needs will be met.
For the other 4 months, and on particularly dull or raining days, your boiler will kick in to top the temperature up. It is therefore important not to switch the boiler off, although from May to September you will probably get away with this! Remember the boiler wont come in if the thermostat in the hot water cylinder tells the boiler it is already hot enough.
Typical savings are anywhere between £60-£200 per year depending on your household usage and the fuel type displaced. If for example, you are living alone and on gas it will be at the lower end, if you currently use an electric immersion and have 4 people living at the house it will be at the higher end.
SYSTEM BOILERS v COMBI’s
Depending on whether you have a combination boiler or a system boiler we will either fit a new hot water cylinder or replace the existing one. If you have a system boiler we will replace the existing hot water cylinder with a new one that has two coils or loops. The loop at the top is still connected to the boiler and the one at the bottom is connected to the solar system. If you have combi boiler we will fit an entirely new cylinder rather than replaced one, this is what we call a solar direct cylinder. The solar collector circuit is dedicated to this cylinder and the outlet of this cylinder goes to your boiler via a combination valve, which either directs the water straight to your taps, if its hot enough, or sends the water through your boiler if its not up to temperature.