[nicandem]

Well, its now been 6 weeks since the Solar Thermal went in......
Old tank gone, and we haven't had to turn on immersion since it went in....
well worth it,
I know we have had glorious weather for last 2-3 weeks but even before that it was hot enough to shower/bath/wash up etc.


and it wasn't that pricey

[LouiseG]

Can we have more details please. 

[Greenerlife]

I've had solar thermal for a few years now, and its great.  my biggest issue happened week before last, when it got so hot that the tank in the loft exploded!  (you probably don't need to worry about this as the newer ones have slightly diffferent mechanisms to cope!). Brown muck (anti freeze) came through the loft and all down the side of the stairwell and over the carpet!  Good job it is all being replaced anyway in the next few weeks.  My new bathroom which is being fitted will have an overrun heated towelrail for when it gets too hot!  My next job is to prune the climbers that have got past the bathroom window and onto the solar tubes!....

[henchard]

Mine has been installed since earlier this year and like you we have been having unlimited hot water at present. Boiler hasn't been on for best part of a month.

Made all the sweeter by a  grant off the government to install it and the potential (if they ever get the scheme agreed) for a Renewable Heat Incentive payment each year for 7 years (yet to be decided). Payment could be around £70 - £100 a year or so.

see

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Choosing-a-renewable-technology/Solar-water-heating

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generating-energy/Getting-money-back/Renewable-Heat-Premium-Payment-Phase-2

[FiB]

Be interested in 'not that pricey' details - when we looked at it it was looking like £1500, and we calculated we could have  10 plus years of immersion for that... not good enough a pay back for us.  If only we were on mains gas we could get it on the green deal, but LPG suppliers play the 'not a utility' card.  We may try through elect suppliers but as our leccy bill is only £30/month I'm not sure they would deem the saving sufficient to take off us...(and the bloody assessment is £90)

[shygirl]

I've had solar thermal for a few years now, and its great.  my biggest issue happened week before last, when it got so hot that the tank in the loft exploded!  (you probably don't need to worry about this as the newer ones have slightly diffferent mechanisms to cope!). Brown muck (anti freeze) came through the loft and all down the side of the stairwell and over the carpet!  Good job it is all being replaced anyway in the next few weeks.  My new bathroom which is being fitted will have an overrun heated towelrail for when it gets too hot!  My next job is to prune the climbers that have got past the bathroom window and onto the solar tubes!....

blimey.
did it boil over? i remember when a lady died after a tank boiled over in the loft above her bed. the thermostat had gone in her water system (wasnt solar tho) what a way to die!

[Greenerlife]

I've had solar thermal for a few years now, and its great.  my biggest issue happened week before last, when it got so hot that the tank in the loft exploded!  (you probably don't need to worry about this as the newer ones have slightly diffferent mechanisms to cope!). Brown muck (anti freeze) came through the loft and all down the side of the stairwell and over the carpet!  Good job it is all being replaced anyway in the next few weeks.  My new bathroom which is being fitted will have an overrun heated towelrail for when it gets too hot!  My next job is to prune the climbers that have got past the bathroom window and onto the solar tubes!....

blimey.
did it boil over? i remember when a lady died after a tank boiled over in the loft above her bed. the thermostat had gone in her water system (wasnt solar tho) what a way to die!

Apparently the ani freeze in the tank has non-corrosive stuff in it.  unfortunately, whilst this corrosive stuff is great when it's cold, when it gets hot, it loses its non corrosiveness!  the metal tank blew a hole in it!

[henchard]

Be interested in 'not that pricey' details - when we looked at it it was looking like £1500,

You're probably correct. However, in our case we were replumbing the whole house and had to have a new tank so fitted a solar one with a dual coil at the time - hence I can't give you our costs (it was part of a bigger job).

Like you I doubt that it will pay for itself in 'real terms' (which is why we didn't go down the heat pump route as well). Because our rebuilding involved a large glaze area (in excess of Building Regs) we had to do a SAP calculation to prove overall that the energy performance of the dwelling was OK. Solar thermal helped meed this requirement in our case and got us through that particular official hoop.

As for exploding tanks etc. The pipework is filled with Glycol and there should be a pressure relief valve that vents into a container to capture it if the pressure builds in an extreme event.