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Support for solar hot water in Warwick
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 20th May 2009 at 10:18 am
Doubling the number of solar hot water systems installed homes in Warwick District is the aim of a great new project to support homeowners. The Solar 300 Challenge was launched last week by Action 21, a social enterprise which helps people live more sustainably. Their aim is to encourage more p…
Posted in: General, Solar heat & hot water
Can I have a solar thermal system if I have a combi-boiler?
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 1st July 2009 at 9:55 am
There are two ways of installing a solar thermal system with a combination boiler. In both cases you will need a new hot water cylinder. This can often be the biggest problem as in most cases where a combi-boiler is installed, there is no room for a cylinder The design of the system will depend …
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
YouGen Energy Expert wins installer of the year
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 23rd November 2009 at 9:13 am
Congratulations to everyone at SunGift Solar which has won Installer of the Year in RegenSW's Green Energy Awards. Company founder Gabriel Wandrausch is one of YouGen's volunteer Energy Experts, contributing articles on solar hot water to the YouGen blog. SunGift Solar, which started as a solar t…
Posted in: General, Solar electricity, Solar heat & hot water
What is the best solar hot water panel for a small space?
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 31st July 2009 at 8:47 am
Question from YouGen user: I have a 7 year old Solartwin panel on my roof which I believe is performing poorly and is not metered. The company say that the harder water is likely to be too much for the panel and that it needs an indirect panel. Thus I feel I need to replace it. It is a landscape sha…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Avoiding the solar cowboys
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 28th April 2010 at 10:01 am
Only one of 14 solar thermal salespeople proved worthy of recommendation in Which?'s recent investigation into solar panel companies. This is devastating news both for the industry and, more importantly, for people wanting to switch to solar hot water systems. Ten of the companies misled research…
Posted in: Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water
Renewable heat incentive: important, but with dangers
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 17th June 2010 at 1:03 pm
The uptake of renewable heat technologies has really dropped off with the renewable heat incentive (RHI) still looming, but no confirmation of the final tariffs or criteria, and the recent removal of the LCBP grants. No doubt things will pick up once the RHI details have been announced there.…
Posted in: Biomass, Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water
How to avoid bugs in your solar hot water
Posted by Paul Hutchens on 21st June 2010 at 9:07 am
The plumbing, heating and solar industry is paranoid about legionella and bacterial infections in hot water systems. This is right and proper as the consequences of legionella infection can be fatal in vulnerable people - but it is actually very rare and I am told there are no recorded cases linked …
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Six tips to save you from solar panel cowboys
Posted by Paul Hutchens on 28th June 2010 at 9:07 am
Solar hot water is intrinsically an ethical industry. We all want to save the planet don't we? So we need to ensure that unscrupulous companies do not thrive and give us all a bad name! When there is a chance of making a buck or two it will always attract the greedy and less scrupulous businesses…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Solar hot water: It's the best thing I ever did
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 31st August 2010 at 9:53 am
Solar thermal panels are a no-brainer for John Wood of East Devon, as he explains in this video: …
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Solar hot water panels: 7 things to check before you install
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 1st October 2010 at 9:18 am
This video blog highlights 7 things to check before you install a solar hot water system. 1. The most important thing is to have a suitable roof for the collectors (panels). South-facing is idea, but anywhere between south east and south west is ok.&n…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Solar thermal panels: flat plate or evacuated tube?
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 8th October 2010 at 9:08 am
Which type of solar water heating system works best. Watch this video to weigh up the pros and cons of flat panel versus evacuated tubes. The main difference comes down to the efficiency. With evacuated tubes, the vacuum provides almost perfect insulation. A fl…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Do I need a new cylinder for solar hot water?
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 27th January 2011 at 3:13 pm
This video blog explains how to size a cylinder for solar thermal, and whether you need to install a new one. …
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Interest in renewable heat is high - but price expectations are not realistic
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 6th April 2011 at 11:25 am
If their boiler broke down tomorrow, 85 per cent of people would consider a renewable alternative, according to our new survey by YouGen. However, the amount they are prepared to pay falls short of what most renewable heat systems actually cost. We ran the survey following the recent announcement…
Posted in: General
DIY solar panel installation: a case study
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 25th June 2010 at 3:22 pm
Thank you to fuelexplorer for this article: I did my own solar thermal panel installation, on the slate roof of an old Victorian house, with not the most accessible roof in the world! Am I pleased with the result? Yes. Could I have designed the system better? Yes. I did quite …
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Can solar panels improve the efficiency of your ground source heat pump?
Posted by John Barker-Brown on 3rd October 2011 at 5:05 am
There is a growing interest in using solar panels to deposit heat within the ground during the summer periods and then using a ground source heat pump to extract this deposited heat during the winter. These systems are commonly called inter-seasonal storage systems and can usually be classed as:- …
Posted in: Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water
Is my solar thermal system safe while I'm away on holiday?
Posted by Gabriel Wondrausch on 10th October 2011 at 9:37 am
Q: I’m going away for two months. Is there anything I should do to my solar thermal system while the house is empty? A: It’s always important to look at the relevant part in your solar thermal user manual, but the most important advice is to leave your system turned on. It has been des…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
User control is vital for best performing solar water heating
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 18th October 2011 at 3:23 am
The way householders use their solar thermal system is critical to getting the best results from solar water heating systems, according to new research. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) is calling on installers to give better advice to users on how to control their solar water heating: in terms of volu…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Five key ways to get the best from your solar hot water system
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 19th October 2011 at 1:17 am
Solar hot water systems work best when the user takes control of them, yet only 36 per cent of the householders taking part in the Energy Saving Trust's solar hot water field trial said that their installer gave them information on how they might make best use of their system. When they di…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
'World's first RHI' launch over-shadowed by FITs debacle
Posted by Stewart Boyle on 7th December 2011 at 10:08 am
The long-awaited Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) officially ‘opened for business’ on 28th November. With £864 million available for the cashback scheme to support biomass boilers, solar water heating systems, heat pumps and bio-methane projects, it should have been a day of great celebration…
Posted in: General
Can I use a compressor to boost my solar hot water?
Posted by Paul Hutchens on 22nd March 2012 at 12:44 pm
Q. I’ve been looking at different websites about solar hot water and you all basically say the same thing, “a supplementary heat source will be needed at some point”. Has anyone thought of using a small compressor in between the collector(s) and the hot water tank to heat the transfer fluid to…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Renewable Heat Premium Payments scheme is extended; RHI delayed
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 27th March 2012 at 10:35 am
The domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI) remains elusive, as the government announced a second phase of the renewable heat premium payments (RHPP) scheme yesterday. The domestic RHI, which will reward people who switch to renewable sources of heat with regular payments for and anticipated 20 y…
Posted in: Biomass, Heat pumps, Solar heat & hot water
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