Solar system/Oil fired hot water

Hi,

I've recently moved into a new house in which was fitted a new solar water heating system. It worked great for the summer and any sunny days during the winter it works fine however on the days we dont get sun it obviously doesnt heat the water. The tank and associated works is in the hot press room upstairs and has a maze of pipes and valves with it.

Lately we have had the central heating system on to heat the water and tried using the electric immersion switch aswell however the water doesnt appear to be heating up. Im wondering do I need to change a setting on the solar control panel or open a valve to allow the oil fired system to heat the tank.

Hmm. You should possibly talk to your installer. I would imagine that the oil fired system has a motorised valve which is controlled by a timer, or may simply be knocked off. This valve would be connected to the pipework coming from the top coil of your cylinder.

The immersion should work regardless, but if the solar is being allowed to heat up the water to 85 degrees or so (which is often the case) then the thermostat on this may have permanetly tripped out and needs to be reset. Q

thanks Quentin, yes the solar is set at a maximun of 76 degrees I think.

You can reset this easily enough, but be sure to knock off the mains at the fuse before opening the cover on the immersion