How about a nice, warm bath? Maybe a hot shower?
During this cold weather, nice, hot water is much appreciated! Who enjoys washing their hands in freezing cold water? Or waiting quite a while for the shower to warm up? The cold weather makes our water take longer to warm up, which means your water heater is working harder to warm your water.
How do solar water heaters work?
The short answer:
With solar water heaters, the water is heated up by the sun and stored in a holding tank and moved to your water heater as you use hot water. Since the water is already heated, your water heater doesn’t have to work as hard, saving you money.
For all the technical consumers, here’s the more detailed answer:
- A closed loop system uses a propylene glycol liquid to protect against freezing and hard water. The sun warms the liquid in the solar collector on the roof.
- The liquid is pumped down to the solar tank. The heat from the liquid heats the water in the tank.
- As you use hot water, the warmed up water in the solar tank flows into your water heater.
- The solar station compares the temperature of the liquid on the roof with the temperature in the solar water tank. It continues to transfer liquid until your desired temperature is reached.
- The water is ready to use.
Thinking about adding a solar water heater to your home? Give us a call today for your free estimate at 916.853.2700.