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Products and Services |
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Cost Savings |
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Getting Started |
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| Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks |
Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks are an affordable way to provide to hot water storage and solar heating capacity to your Solar Hot Water System in one component, with minimal system alteration and plumbing work. Each SunMaxx Solar Hot Water
Storage Tank features:
- Outer Finish: Stainless Steel or Painted Steel
- Tank Material: Stainless Steel
- Internal Copper Coil Heat Exchangers: 1 in 40/50 Gallon Tanks, 2 in 80 Gallon Tanks
- Increased Efficiency and R-Value versus Brazed Plate External Heat Exchangers
Pros & Cons:
- Designed to Provide Solar Heating and Hot Water Storage in one component
- Built in Heat Exchangers
- Designed to be used with SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Systems
Used for System Types:
- Where the Solar Storage Tank will be a pre-heat tank for the existing Hot Water Tank/Heater
- New Construction/Installation where no hot water tank/heater exists
- Where the existing hot water tank/heater will be completely removed and replaced |
| Solar Hot Water Heat Exchangers |
Brazed Plate Solar Hot Water Heat Exchangers are an even more affordable to utilize SunMaxx Solar Collectors and Systems
in your current domestic hot water system. The key advantage is that these heat exchangers utilize your existing hot water storage tank/heater, eliminating the need to purchase a pricey solar hot water storage tank.
Heat Exchangers Features:
- Copper and Steel Construction
- Easy, Quick Plug n’ Play Installation
- Available in 10, 20 and 30 plate models
Pros & Cons:
- Use your exisitng hot water tank/heater in your Solar Hot Water System
- Lower cost investment than a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank
- Easily integrates into any Domestic Solar Hot Water System
Used for System Types:
- Where the existing hot water tank/heater will be used - pre-heats potable water before it enters the tank |
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| What is Domestic Solar Hot Water |
Domestic Hot Water is the water that you use everyday around the home for a number of different applications. Every time you take a shower, wash your hands, clean a load of laundry, do the dishes, etc, you are using Domestic Hot Water.
Your SunMaxx Solar Collectors can be used to provide 50-75%, or more, of your Domestic Hot Water needs, reducing your dependence on oil, natural gas or electric for hot water heating, and cutting your energy bills dramatically in the process. In fact, the average American household spends more than 20% of their annual total energy bills on just Domestic Hot Water.
And, the average American uses 20 gallons of hot water per day. This accounts for showers, laundry, house cleaning, washingyour hands, meal preparation, etc. However, some people will use more hot water, and some will use less, but 20 gallons perperson per day is a fair average, and is used by the Federal Government in their estimations.
Therefore, if you have a 4 person household, you would
typically use around 80 Gallons of hot water each day,
and a 6 family home would use 120 Gallons. With today’s
rising fuel and rising energy costs, it is not hard to
see why your domestic hot water eats up such a large
chunk of your energy bills.
Typically, a Solar Hot Water System will include the following
major components:
- Solar Collectors (Evacuated Tube or Flat Plate)
- Solar Hot Water Storage Tank
- or Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger
- Automatic DIfferential Temperature Controller
- AC/DC/PV Powered Circulator Pump(s)
- Expansion Tank/Vessel
- Key Plumbing Components |
You can heat your hot water with Solar Panels!! |
Luckily, every SunMaxx Solar Collector can be used for domestic hot water, we even carry a large selection of Pre-Packaged Solar Hot Water Kits, which feature all of the major components needed to design and install your new Solar Hot Water System.
SunMaxx also carries a line of Thermosyphon Solar Hot Water Kits, which are designed as a simple on-demand hot water system for domestic hot water, which require no pumps or controllers to operate in their simplest form. |
| Domestic Solar Hot Water Buyer’s Guide |
You can use the following step-by-step process, you will be able to choose the right solar collectors, components, and prepackagedsolar hot water kit to meet your needs, your location and your budget. You can then refer to the following pages, which give a more extensive break down of the different steps in the process.
Step 1. Select the Right SunMaxx Solar Collector
There are two main types of Solar Collectors from SunMaxx - Flat Plate Solar Collectors and Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors, and determining which one is best suited for your Solar Hot Water System is as simple as looking at a map and picking the solar collector best suited to work in your location and climate.
Flat Plate Solar Collectors are designed for use in warmer climates where freezing temperatures are not a major concern. This typically means the South East, South West, and most areas along the west coast of the United States.
Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are designed to provide incredible performance in colder, freezing climates, where a
Flat Plate Solar Collectors would begin to lose its efficiency, and may become damaged by freezing. While
Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are more expensive than Flat Plates, in these colder climates, they have a higher
return on investment and shorter payback period.
Step 2. Choose a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank or Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger
Your Domestic Solar Hot Water System can be designed and installed in a number of different ways. If you plan to keep your existing hot water storage tank/heater, you can use a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank as a pre-heat tank in series with your current tank, or you can use a brazed plate heat exchanger to pre-heat your potable water before it enters the existing hot water tank.
If, however, there is no existing hot water tank/heater, or you plan to completely replace it, you can use just a solar hot water storage tank, which has internal heat exchangers for the solar heating and a place for a backup electric heating element, to make for the solar heating at night, or during extended periods of cloudy weather.
Whichever option you choose, you should choose a storage tank that will hold enough water for your family to use in a
normal day. Typically, the average person uses 20 gallons of hot water per day. Which means that a family of 4 - 6 will need a storage tank that has a capacity of 80 gallons.
You can undershoot the size of the storage tank a little bit, becuase as hot water is used, it will be replaced with cold water which will then be heated within the tank, maintaining the proper level of hot water on hand when it is needed.
Step 3. Select Your Pre-Packaged Domestic Solar Hot Water Kit
To make purchasing a Solar Hot Water System even easier, SunMaxx offers a number of pre-packaged domestic solar hot water kits, sized for households from 2-6 people. There are two main types of pre-packaged domestic solar hot water kits:
- Pre-Packaged Kits with Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks
- Includes models built with SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors
- Includes models built with SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar Collectors
- Pre-Packaged Kits with Solar Hot Water Heat Exchangers
- Includes models built with SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors
- Includes models built with SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar Collectors |
| Choosing the right solar collector |
Choosing between Flat Plate Solar Collectors and Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors should be based on more than price. In fact, in Northern, cold climates where long winters and freezing temperatures are common, an Evacuated Tube Solar Collector will actually deliver a higher return on your investment and a shorter payback period than the lower-cost Flat Plate Solar Collectors.
Use the map below, and the comparison chart at the bottom of this page to help you decide whether you need SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar Collectors or SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors. This is one of the most important steps in selecting a Domestic Solar Hot Water System.
| Specification |
SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Collector |
SunMaxx Flat Plate Collector |
| Climate |
Cold/Any |
Warm Only |
| Price |
Typically Higher |
Typically Lower |
| Freeze Protection |
Highest Rated |
Low Quality Protection |
| Return On Investment |
High in Any Climate |
High in Warm Climates Only |
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| Solar Storage Tank or Heat Exchanger |
| Whether you should use a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank or a Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger depends on a few factors. This is also an important factor in choosing your Solar Hot Water System because a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank will cost hundreds of dollars more than a heat exchanger. However, in many applications, it is more efficient and cost-effective to purchase a Solar Hot Water Storage Tank because your return on investment tends to be higher and your payback period tends to be shorter, though your initial investment will be higher. |
| Choosing Your Pre-Packaged Kit |
SunMaxx offers Pre-Packaged Domestic Solar Hot Water Kits for homes of 2-6 people, and these kits are available with Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks and with Brazed Plate Solar Hot Water Heat Exchangers. Each type of kit is built with SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors, or SunMaxx Flat Plate Solar Collectors.
Now that you have followed the steps in sizing your Domestic Solar Hot Water System, you can choose the kit that is right for you from the list of SunMaxx Pre-Packaged Domestic Solar Hot Water Kits below. Simply find the kit that includes the right capacity to meet your needs, includes the right solar collectors for your location/climate and the storage tank or heat exchanger that you need.
If you have more than 6 people in your home, or know that you use more hot water than the average home with your number of residents, a SunMaxx Technician, Dealer or your Installer can size a system to include additional SunMaxx Solar Collectors to provide more heating capacity to meet your higher daily needs. |
| SunMaxx Thermosyphon Kits |
Another great option for domestic solar hot water is a Thermosyphon Solar Hot Water Kit. These kits, in their simplest form, require no circulator pumps and controllers. They simply operate as an on-demand solar hot water heater. You connect your mains water to the cold in connection of the Thernosyphon kit. As it passes through the solar collector, the potable water is heated before it enters you home.
When the water enters the house, you have two main options for how your hot water system will connect directly to your hot water fixtures (shower head, sink faucets, etc) or can be stored in a storage tank to provide a constant store of hot water to be used as needed.
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