Solar Panels/Tubes

Keep the solar panels/tubes for heating hot water alone. Using them for anything else is a complete waste of time and needless capital expense. Anyone pushing solar panels to satisfy space heating or underfloor heating requirements is living in cuckoo land.
 
Even if panels were used for space heating in we'll say October/beginning Noverber and end February/March/April (when they could at least contribute to space heating). Then use other means for November Jan Feb when panel have no real imput
 
As I've said in so many previous posts new house builders are spending away glutinous amounts of money on heating systems that will never pay for themselves nor the environment for that matter. Keep the systems simple and by all means get as much benefit from the sun, re solar panels/ tubes. (when it is out!!) It is absolute madness having to supplement heating needs when solar is non existent and you have to satisfy your heating needs with another heat source.
 
villa_1 we've been advised that an air-water heat pump is they best solution for us. We have existing plumbing in place hooked up to rads in each room and spend a lot of time at home so find that currently we have to turn the (oil burner) heating on a lot to keep the house warm. There is some improvement needed in insulation which we're planning to tackle but do you have any views on air-water heat pumps as a means of heating the house (and water)?
 
Air to water heat pumps are fine once the outside air temps don't fall to freezing or near it. But look what happened this year, prolonged cold snap. This led to the efficiencies of these heat pumps (COP) to drop drastically leading to increased electic bills. Maximise on your insulation levels, install a condensing oil/gas boiler for space heating and supplement this with solar panels/tubes for domestic hot water.
 
Thanks villa_1, is good to hear different views as our architect is quite firm in his belief that the air-water heat pump is a better alternative so I think we need to discuss this with him a bit more before making any decision.
 
Just something to look out for, for potential solar system purchasers - if you do choose solar, try and dodge the glass lined storage tanks. they are appealing due to their cost (about 1/2 the price of stainless steel) but only last a couple years - especially in areas where water is more agressive (e.g. Galway). Personally, as someone working in the industry for a number of years, im not convinced the payback period for solar justifies the initial spend.
it will be hard to beat a condensing heat/hot water combi boiler or condensing boiler c/w high output pressurised cylinder combo.

Might be worth a mention -a brand new product nearly available - Domestic Micro Combined Heat & Power unit (CHP) from the Baxi group. it produces enough free electricity to power a house. Too early to comment, but may prove to be the next generation fad!
 
spc13 said:
Personally, as someone working in the industry for a number of years, im not convinced the payback period for solar justifies the initial spend.it will be hard to beat a condensing heat/hot water combi boiler or condensing boiler c/w high output pressurised cylinder combo.

Might be worth a mention -a brand new product nearly available - Domestic Micro Combined Heat & Power unit (CHP) from the Baxi group. it produces enough free electricity to power a house. Too early to comment, but may prove to be the next generation fad!
Click to expand...

As far as I know, that CHP unit will only be available on Bord Gais, not on propane, for another year. It produces 1kw of power while running. If you only run your boiler for 3 to 4 hours a day, that's going to be 4kwhrs per day?

Q
 
I am told (by someone that I know in the industrial CHP business) that this company http://www.cerespower.com/ are about to launch both an NG and LPG unit in the Irish market. The economics of the LPG unit would appear to be questionable, given the price we pay for the gas here, compared to NG.

4kWh is more than I use in a day
 
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