PV Gap

Andrew Said:

help please, water heating.?

We Answered:

I put one on my roof just before last winter (I live in New England). During the winter months, it worked pretty good. Warm water was circulating through the pipes nicely. During the spring, it really kicked in and by the summer, the pipes were to hot to touch. During the summer, my furnace almost never kicked on. The furnace came on a few times during stretches of 3-4 days with no sun.

So far, I have been able to calculate that I have at least saved about a 1/2 tank of heating oil. Considering we had a very rainy New England spring and summer, I am betting that on a better year I will see greater results.

The water coming out of your pipes from either a well or water company usually comes in pretty cold. The solar panel is breaking the thermal resistance needed to heat water. Think of a kettle of water. It takes a while to go from cold to hot, but from warm to hot the time to boil is drastically reduced.
So by experience, I can tell you that they work really well.
For me, one panel is servicing two people for showers, laundry and dish washing no problem.
Go for it! Install one!