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Paulh_Boats
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« on: February 01, 2008, 07:03:53 PM » |
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30-tubes/120L, retro-coil, south east facing, Gloucestershire
Partial sun, boiler off
Top of tank:
morning low 40s
18:45 49.3C
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« Last Edit: March 06, 2010, 10:08:46 AM by Paulh_Boats »
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2008, 02:13:46 PM » |
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30-tubes/120L, retro-coil, south east facing, Gloucestershire
Good sun, boiler off, no water used
Top of tank:
morning 43.5C
11:00 47C
13:56 62C (middle of tank 56C)
Wow! 62C in February!
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« Last Edit: February 06, 2008, 02:30:11 PM by Paulh_Boats »
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2008, 05:08:10 PM » |
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Unseasonably warm again in Gloucestershire today - top of our tank went from 28C to 52C! (30 tubes/120L).
One washing machine load in the morning, after a late afternoon shower 49.5C
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Ivan
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« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2008, 10:28:58 PM » |
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Hi Paul,
Have you been solar-dependent for hot water over the last few days?
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2008, 11:50:23 PM » |
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Ivan,
Pretty much. The boiler has been off for weeks and we have a 1 hour button on the controller that we press to boost the temperature, although I have cranked the thermostat down to about 45C so that any sun can top it up a bit. The last 4 or 5 days have not needed any gas.
I have been very impressed how well the system has worked January and February.
cheers
Paul
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2008, 09:07:17 PM » |
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Sunny but hazy in Gloucestershire, 30 tubes SE, 120L, .
Overnight temp -1C
Top of tank measured just below retro-coil
Middle of tank measured....well in the middle.
Early morning shower, but no water drawn during day
After shower: top approx low 40s
At 19:00 top 58C and middle 54C
The top usually peaks 6C-8C above middle at 3pm, so I'm guessing the top peak was 60C
Yesterday the peak was 52C.
These figures can, and should, be improved with heavy duty insulation as clearly a lucky spell of good weather in February can produce more hot water than we might need in one day. Reducing heat loss overnight would boost the peak temperature the next day.
The tank has 12mm insulation plus a glass fibre jacket, plus very thick pipe insulation, plus a shelf of clothes above. Ideally I would box in the tank with even more insulation and try to store energy beyond 24 hours.
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2008, 10:09:48 PM » |
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Another sunny in Gloucestershire, 30 tubes SE, 120L, no water drawn during day
Overnight temp -1C
Top of tank measured just below retro-coil
Middle of tank measured.... in the middle.
Early morning: top 49C
At 18:30 top 68C middle 64C
Yesterday the top peak was 60C
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Ivan
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« Reply #7 on: February 14, 2008, 01:40:47 AM » |
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you make me jealous!
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O MidKnight
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« Reply #8 on: February 14, 2008, 10:22:24 AM » |
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Ah but what quantity of water is Paul heating? How far down does the retro coil reach Paul?
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Solar heating - makes you feel good when you open the hot tap and when you look at your heating bill
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #9 on: February 14, 2008, 11:43:01 AM » |
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O MidKnight,
Well the retro coil from memory was about 60cm long. As you can see from the stats the middle of the tank ends up about 6C below the main Resol sensor (which is 1 cm below the immersion socket).
It heats from top down with a lot of stratification, so maybe 2/3rd of the tank is heated? Don't know really except that last Sunday it was enough for a couple of quick showers and one washing machine cycle.
But a bath full will use up most of the heat - if we were heavy users it might not work so well...but it has been said that being green is 20% technology and 80% lifestyle!
In the summer the stratification can be a problem as the top gets too hot. I thinking of a small pump to circulate hot back into the cold feed that is triggered by the Resol heat dump relay, to equalise the temperature.
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O MidKnight
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« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2008, 12:17:27 PM » |
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Paul - Yes I agree. Use the solar water as soon as it gets hot enough. Someone home all day will benefit more from solar water heating. The small pump - has anyone tried before? If 12v etc perhaps a small PV panel might be enough to do this. It would stop and start automatically if needed to. I expect this has been suggested before - but just in case.
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Solar heating - makes you feel good when you open the hot tap and when you look at your heating bill
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2008, 09:14:55 PM » |
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30 tubes, 120L + retro coil, SE facing, roof mounted.
Yesterday the sun was strong
Top of the tank went from 43C to 67C
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O MidKnight
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« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2008, 04:27:32 PM » |
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This system only gets the sun after 0930 hours in the summer and 1230 hours in the winter
1200 x 450mm non solar dedicated twin coil cylinder (slightly more capacity and slightly less efficient heat exchange). Panels facing due south and have a total flow and return pipe work of approximately 54 metres in 10mm copper tube. 20 vacuum tubes and some old flat plate panels situated on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
19/02 good sun
Start of solar gain temperature 22C Sensor 450mm from the bottom of cylinder
1 litres water drawn approx between start of solar gain and end of solar gain
End of solar gain temperature 41C
Sensor 200mm from top of cylinder start 42C finish 55C
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Solar heating - makes you feel good when you open the hot tap and when you look at your heating bill
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O MidKnight
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« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2008, 08:16:06 AM » |
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This system only gets the sun after 0930 hours in the summer and 1230 hours in the winter
1200 x 450mm non solar dedicated twin coil cylinder (slightly more capacity and slightly less efficient heat exchange). Panels facing due south and have a total flow and return pipe work of approximately 54 metres in 10mm copper tube. 20 vacuum tubes and some old flat plate panels situated on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
25/02 some sun
Start of solar gain temperature 19C Sensor 450mm from the bottom of cylinder
1 litres water drawn approx between start of solar gain and end of solar gain
End of solar gain temperature 29C
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Solar heating - makes you feel good when you open the hot tap and when you look at your heating bill
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Paulh_Boats
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« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2008, 08:13:25 PM » |
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30 tubes, 120L + retro coil, SE facing, roof mounted.
Top of the tank went from 40C (8am) to 60C (8pm). Probably a few degrees higher at 3pm.
Also 308W of PV produced about 1kWh, peaked at 203W.
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« Last Edit: February 26, 2008, 08:15:51 PM by Paulh_Boats »
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