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Solar Water Heaters


aljons

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Use the search function for the many comments made on this forum regarding this topic.

Many have installed solar hot water heaters, and all seem happy, with service from several installers.

We got ours in 2011 from E2Energias and love it.

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E2Energias did our also and very satisfied. pm me if you want info

e2 did ours as well but they no longer do hot water - too busy doing electric. The closest you'll get to local is Go Solar's company unless you have a good plumber who can install one on his own. A good plumber is essential regardless who's system you use.

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e2 did ours as well but they no longer do hot water - too busy doing electric. The closest you'll get to local is Go Solar's company unless you have a good plumber who can install one on his own. A good plumber is essential regardless who's system you use.

Esun does hot water heaters also, next to Dominos pizza

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Might I ask how much money can be saved with a solar water heater for a single person? I live alone, I wash my clothes using the cold cycle, and I turn off the heater after my morning shower. This leaves me with enough hot water for dishes the rest of the day. So, my gas usage for heating water is pretty low. I don't think a solar is worth considering in my position.

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"as do many others"? Interesting. I probably add to my tank every three or four months ($500 pesos at a time, or about 25%). But I do a lot of cooking, and of course weekly laundry with the dryer. A good friend has an on-demand or pass-through water heater, does far less cooking, uses a clothesline much more than the dryer, and also fills the tank every three or four months.

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Esun does hot water heaters also, next to Dominos pizza

Thanks for the info. They don't show solar water on their website so I assumed they no longer do them.

ComputerGuy, we used to be on the 3 to 4 months cycle. There are 2 of us and we cook a lot too including our gas grill is hooked up to our big tank plus we use a dishwasher at least once a week and both shower everyday. Solar water does get hotter on it's own. We had our gas tank filled before Christmas to 80% and today it reads 51% so to me we've used roughly 29% of a full tank in a little over 7 months so I'd say we have about another 7 months of gas left. After we installed solar water the guy we used for gas would come ring our bell to see if we needed gas because we hadn't called for so long. I finally explained and showed him our collector. I could see he was disappointed.

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eSun does not do water heaters.

oldshoe: fascinating. So it would seem that merely taking a shower uses so much gas, compared to what one uses for cooking, that showers are far-and-away the biggest expense? That is mind-boggling. I should test my balance after a shower and then after a big dinner.

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I cannot remember the last time we turned on our del paso gas heater, since installing the solar hot water heater three years ago. We do use the gas dryer and there are two kitchens which cook with gas. We also have a ceramic gas heater that we use in the living room in wintertime. Still, we have half a 300L tank left from a fill-up in January. It appears that it will last until next January.

Yes, gas hot water heaters do use a lot of gas when they are operating, and even when just on pilot there is gas being used 24/7/365.

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we had to fill our tank every 6 to 8 weeks. I cook a lot and always had large gathering for the holiday or whenever. So filling once a year is such a savings and we also have solar for electricity, 24 pesos I can handle that. The rate of return is great. Wish we had done this earlier. With so much sunshine here, every contractor should automatically install this.

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Stopped into E2 two days ago - they do not do Water heating - referred me to a spot in Guad.

Thanks for all replies - will check out the remaining Go Solar! (and plumber) and Power Sun.

No contacts given - not in LCS phone book. Any help? Again, my thanks.

A-

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So how much does it cost to buy and install a solar hot water system?

I am putting $1,000pesos of gas into our tank every 6 weeks and our pilot light on our in-demand hot water heater goes out every night and has to be relit every morning.

It is time to see if solar is the way to go.

maw

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Thanks Irish Gal & Ginger, you are both super too!

Maw, in your situation, you would likely see a payback of 18 to 24 months. There are different types and sizes of systems, and different houses have differing installation needs; most folks do reduce their gas consumption by 85 to 90%, and fall in the under 2 year payback range.

Pretty good ROI.....and the systems last a long time.

Hope that helps, let me know, & any questions or needs.

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We're looking SO forward to our solar hot water installation from Go Solar! We had to resurface some of the roof where it will go (better now than later) and next week the tree hanging over the roof will be trimmed back. Then we're good to go! Once that's done, we plan on continuing with a total solar system.

Our house is not large and we don't have a pool, but our electric bills have tripled in the last year. My husband can't wait to buy some of the energy-hog appliances that I won't let him have because of the electrical expense.

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Most hardware store sell systems and most plumbers can fit them we found this was 30-40% cheaper than the dedicated solar stores. Have had no problem in the 3 years since we installed one, except for very hot water. Spend the money you save on a thermostatic tap in your shower.

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