You Solar Heating Answare And Reviews

Question: Anyone in the uk who has solar panels, or solar heating?

(Posted by: goatsucker on 2009-01-24 05:13:42)

Is it worth bothering with? how much money do you save per month? How much does i cost to have fitted? Thanks

Posted by: fox on 2009-01-24, 14:02:17

Depending on where you are in the UK your local council may be giving grants for this. Mine advertised about 3 years ago and this time last year they were installed. The system I have is for hot water only. Having lived abroad and had solar hot water I thought things would be similar but they're not.The system here works on the light not heat of the sun. When you have used all the available hot water and cant wait most of the day for another batch, you then have to heat the cylinder by conventional means. I have a tank in the garage which gives about a bath and a half (full bath) but like all hot water tanks as you draw hot water, cold water flows in to replace it. The system is supposed to be one of the best only taking 23 mins to heat a tank from cold. Bearing in mind that I am used to the benefits of a combi I was not best pleased with this. However all I paid was £500. I thought it was worth it as everyone is jumping on the 'green' bandwagon and would be a good selling point and a plus for completing a HIP as well. Haven't really noticed much price wise re my gas bills because everything's gone up so much. Will sit down and look at units used this summer though. I figure even if I have the pipework disconnected, its mine and is a good investment for selling the house considering what I paid. If I didn't have the grant I'd say don't bother.

Posted by: great_warrior2007 on 2009-01-24, 05:18:44

I got my fitted afew years ago it cost £15000. It is good cos i dont use that much electricity and it suits my purpose and dont have to worry about energy companies ripping me off. peace of mind,

Posted by: Ed W on 2009-01-24, 07:13:16

Does the sun ever shine in the UK?

Posted by: cliffrees2002 on 2009-01-24, 09:09:21

I think "great wa " almost answers your question with the £15,000 installation. To get a very rough idea total up your annual fuel bills, take 25% of this for the cost of your water heating, halve this figure to find the contribution the solar panels will make and divide this into £15,000 to work how many decades it will take to recover your investment assuming in the meantime no repairs are required to the installation.