Hi has anyone fitted solar panels for water heating?
Is it a con or is it worthwhile in a normal domestic situation?

Try here:

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if you have a few grand to throw around yes.....along with a photo voltaic systemyou can generate your own and sell elastictrickery back to the grid at around 40 English pence a unit

or if ur skint..there are always rent a roof schemes where you get the panels for free.....the installer maintains the system....you have free/cheap elastictrickery and the installer gets the feed in tariff for the next 20 / 25 yrs

fuck me ..Ive actually managed to give a serious reply to a post..................to the bar me thinks

Use search -already a thread on this.

not a 100% but i think from the 3 dec 2011 the rate for buy back goes down form 42p to about 25p so better get your skates on. i am free for install give you good price

I'm in plumbing and heating, and personally. I think it isn't worth a light.

If it was simple and cheap and the gear lasted a long time, it would be worth it, but as the snake oil salesmen who run the industry have control, none of these factors work..... it's the equivalent of a Ferrari on the drive.

You only get a saving of around £200 a year on hot water for an outlay of £10,000, and when something goes wrong, they scrap the lot and reccomend their "Newer better system" usually long before the "Payback" of the old system.

Myself, I've put in a wood burner, much more cost effective, if you can source cheap wood, which I can.

thanks for replies...but its not the generating of electricity I'm concerned with...it's just the thinghy that heats up water with daylight, photo cell something.

Originally Posted by ordinaryforces

Hi has anyone fitted solar panels for water heating?
Is it a con or is it worthwhile in a normal domestic situation?

We had one fitted last year and we didn't need to heat the water all summer, which was surprising up here in the frozen north....... couple of years back there was a scheme called the Fife initiative and we got thething fitted for about £1500,(sneaky bastards didn't go over the top advertising it ,I came across it by accident,but it finished at the end of last year) but it needed a different cystern(£200)to save major refitting of the airing cupboard. Not yet done a proper comparison with last year, as the power and gas prices have shot up, but like I said , all summer no gas for heating so has to be cheaper..... the full cost without grants is ,I think , around £5k. get in touch with energy saving trust(google)
On a sunny winter day the collector shows about 70 degrees , the tank heats up to about 20C. work out yourself if its going to save you by warming the water from 20 to 65 degrees ( cutoff temp) or from about 6 degrees to 65 (water straight from the pipes)

if you want any more info PM me, glad to help if needed