Domestic Hot Water from Solar Thermal Installations

There’s an energy source as old as creation itself. It’s the very reason for our existence, and it will still be around long after our reserves of oil, gas and coal have run out.

It travels millions of miles to reach us yet it requires no carbon offsetting; sometimes we see it, sometimes we don’t. But even when it’s obscured from view, it’s still hard at work, just as it has been for billions of years.

That energy source is the Sun, and now, thanks to a radical new British development in solar collector technology, its heat can be used more effectively and efficiently than ever before to provide solar heating and hot water for our homes and businesses.

Heatwave solar collectors are virtually maintenance free. Heatwave offers FREE, eco-friendly heating and hot water, cutting your energy costs and helps to protect our fragile environment for future generations to come.

What Savings Can I Expect From Using Solar?

The UK Government Departments for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform estimates you can reduce the cost of heating your water by up to 70%

So What Does That Mean in £'s?

Every household is different, but a typical family can use as much as 7500 kWh of energy in heating and storing hot water every year. In today’s money that energy will cost around £400 in gas and as much as £900 using electricity.

Of course energy prices are constantly rising, in fact the long-term trend is a 14% year on year increase. This means that on average, the cost of energy doubles every five years. If this trend continues the cost of heating and storing water, in our example, would be around £8000 for gas (£17000 for electricity), over the next ten years.

This means that that over the long term a Heatwave Solar System will save you as much as £5500 (gas) and £12000 (electricity).

What Does That Mean for the Environment?

Our example above, using 7500 kWh of energy on water per year, will produce 1500kg of CO₂ (gas) or 2400kg of CO₂ (electric) every year.

Based on a Heatwave Solar System saving 70% of that energy, the savings over 20 years would be a massive 21000kg of CO₂ (gas) or 33000kg of CO₂ (electricity).

Are there grants available?

You will need to obtain a quote from your solar installer before applying for a local government grant. Grants are available; the amounts depends on your local council but can vary from a few hundred pounds to full funding or interest free loans. From April 2011, a new government incentive will come in to force, the Renewable Heat Initative. This scheme will provide annual payments to the home owner for using solar to heat their water.

To find a local solar thermal installer near you go to our location map.