[PLUG-TALK] Solar hot water?

[Dick Steffens]

On 2/7/19 9:01 AM, Galen Seitz wrote:
> On 2/6/19 9:50 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
>> My experience is from the '80s in Massachusetts. We had a two panel, 
>> drain back system with a gas, on demand heater for backup. The panels 
>> were empty unless they were warm enough to heat water. Water was 
>> pumped from a 600 gallon tank in the basement up through a closet and 
>> then through the roof. We saw it work during February. I don't have 
>> any figures to relate, but we felt like it worked well. Some later 
>> buyer must not have liked it, because the panels are gone from the 
>> roof in the current Google Earth image.
>>
>
> Since we're poking fun this morning, were you running a spa, or is 
> there some other reason you needed a *600* gallon tank?

Upon reflection, I recall now that it was only 300 gallons. The way it 
heated the water for use in the house was that there was a coil in that 
tank, through which the water for the hot water plumbing passed. When it 
was warm enough in the collector, a pump would run, sending water from 
that tank up to the panels. When there wasn't enough sunlight, the pump 
would shut off and the water would drain back into the tank. That 
avoided the need for anti-freeze.

I'm not sure why I thought it was 600 gallons. :-)

-- 
Regards,

Dick Steffens