|
Is my home suitable? Which system do I choose?
There are six main factors to consider when thinking about installing a solar
system. Your installer will be able to guide you through these, but this page
is here to provide more detail if would like to know more before making the
first step towards installation.
Call us with any queries:
- Your House. You
need at least three square metres of unshaded, southeast to southwest facing
roof space? - Larger households will need 4 square metres. Also, roofs
four stories or higher usually incur additional installation costs because
of the added complication of installation.
- What sort of water heating do you currently
have? If you have a combi boiler you
need to have a hot water tank installed. Have you got space? There are
often some further additional costs associated with installation with
a combi boiler and installation will not always be possible or advisable
- the installer will need to check this with you.
- Flat Plate or Evacuated tube systems? Flat
plate systems are cheaper, but are less efficient. Evacuated tube systems
are slightly more efficient but are more expensive. For this reason we
recommend flat plate systems unless you have space restrictions (eg a small
unshaded roof space)
- Which manufacturer? we
have chosen a range of systems all from accredited manufacturers to suit
most situations - so for our scheme we recommend you choose the system
with the specifications best suited to your needs.
- Vented or unvented system? Some
solar hot water systems work at mains pressure (unvented systems), others
(vented) have cold water storage (eg in the attic). Vented systems are
less expensive, but if you already have a mains pressure heating system
such as a combi boiler you will need an unvented system.
- Drainback or pressurised system? The
heat transfer fluid (water) in drainback systems drains back to avoid the
danger of freezing. The heat transfer fluid in pressurised systems contains
an anti freezing additive instead. With our scheme we recommend pressurised
systems where available: they are cheaper (at the moment through our scheme)
and take up less space.
|