Written by If one takes the family car out of the equation, water heating is the largest single source of an average home’s greenhouse gas emissions.It accounts for between 25% and 35% of home energy use, making it a huge power guzzler.
What most people don’t realise is how inexpensive a solar hot water system is to install and to run.Fact is, within 2 years of installation, a solar hot water system will generally start paying for itself, so the savings start in earnest.
Up to 90% of an average household’s hot water requirements can be saved by installing a solar hot water system.It can also save up to 3.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions from an average household per year. Factors such as geographic location, the direction the roof faces and the quality of the system all affect the solar system’s performance and efficiency, but the fact is, the bulk of the energy for domestic hot water requirements can come from the sun.Conventional gas or electricity sources can make up any shortfall.
The cost of electricity is growing and there is greater emphasis on finding renewable energy sources.The case for solar power becomes even more convincing when one considers what electricity generation is costing us, and the environment.
Solar hot water has been the subject of massive technological development in recent times.Systems can be used in any weather conditions from harsh desert heat to below freezing, and come in either a roof mounted or ground mounted option.
Solar hot water can be installed anywhere, new buildings and old.It is a relatively simple process to replace an electric hot water system, and many governments around the world are encouraging and incentivising householders to do so.
For example, generous rebates from the Australian government are encouraging eligible property owners, landlords and tenants to replace electricity driven hot water systems with solar hot water.The Australian Government is currently offering a 600 rebate per eligible installation of solar hot water to help people reduce greenhouse gas emissions.It has been calculated that the average family can save up to 0 a year on their energy bill by making the change to solar hot water.
Since government introduced rebates, there has been a huge increase in demand for solar hot water systems, according to Perth solar energy company, Solar MyWorld.The company says people are making lifestyle adjustments to meet growing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, and they have seen a consequent increase in demand.
The Australian Government study ‘Energy Use in the Australian Residential Sector 1986-2020′, put the projected increase in residential sector energy consumption at 56% from 1990 – 2020.However, water heating was the only major energy use that was predicted to decline, mainly as a result of government and state energy programmes.in 2002, water heating energy use reached a peak at 92.4 petajoules (PJ) and is expected to decline slowly to 8.5PJ by 2020.
Switching to solar hot water is one of the simplest, most effective changes that people can make to their lifestyle. There are no downsides.It is both cost-effective and low maintenance and on top of that, is kind to the environment too.A good quality solar energy system that has been installed by properly qualified installers should last up to 25 years.That’s a hot option!
This article approved by the Editor of LevelAdvice.com and Showroom411.com
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