# I want to go solar, need some advice!



## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/hackleman65.html

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=12850


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## pyper (Jul 1, 2009)

You can find tables that will tell you how many BTU's fall on your location in each month. You can probably find them online, but you can also find them in library books.

If you're heating water in tubes, then you need to have two safety features. You need a pressure relief valve, in case they get too hot, and you need a way to drain the water if it's going to freeze. If you're putting panels on the roof and heating water in the basement, then you need a pump, and control circuitry.

I was interested in solar for a while, but decided a wood burning stove was probably cheaper and more reliable.

One solar use that really makes sense for a lot of people is a "batch" solar water heater. If only they weren't ugly...


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## YerDugliness (Jun 2, 2008)

Thanks for the links and suggestions, guys! All the information you have provided so far has been read and I find it very interesting.

I've already investigated a batch solar heater made from the tank of a gas-fired water heater. It might become the "preheater" for my electric whole-house HWOD unit during the winter, I think I can manage to "freezeproof" it with a little ingenuity. That removes one task from the rooftop solar system under consideration.....good news, no?

The home under consideration will have some heating assist from a very small wood-burning stove and also from a passive solar heat source, a "solarium" on the south side of the house that will not be adversely affected by the elm tree. It is my hopes that the solar panel can be engineered to provide enough "assist" as necessary so that the home can be kept "freeze-free" during my winter absences, that's all I really care about at this point. Current plans for the underfloor radiant system involve using a small 240V electric HWOD unit to heat the water, I could foresee that the HWOD unit could be energized/de-energized by some sort of thermostat and relay. That way the HWOD would function in flow-through mode until its assistance is needed, then it would kick in to ensure that gloomy days do not leave the home unheated--the only issue I foresee with that is that I would really like to be able to turn the electricity off at the meter box panel when I leave. Perhaps a large enough water storage tank in the basement mechanical room is the key to allowing for that. The home is located in extreme SW Kansas, which the government's charts describe as one of the best areas to use solar.

More ideas/comments/suggestions, please!

Dugly


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