Solar Thermal Installation

[MarkS]

Hi There, am thinking of getting a Solar Thermal system installed to provide hot water for showers and heating in the winter months. Has anybody had a system installed/can recommend a plumber in PP or Pollensa who can do this?
Many thanks

[Rockape]

Good luck with that! Sounds like a great idea, but I think you'll find the financial reality quite different. PV panels are electric and hot water tends to be used by (roof)panels that have water water pumped through them. Its quite a specialist installation....not for your average plumber.

I don't recall seeing either in Mallorca.

[bobley]

There are plenty of solar thermal installations up here in town. I've got a space waiting for one but I need a new bathroom first. I've got both back home and the installation is very simple. It's a panel, a pipe, and a control centre which has pump inside. You can even buy then on eBay. I'll keep my eyes peeled today as there a are a few "installations" vans in town at the moment. Sorry I've not tried to buy one here yet.

[bobley]

Solar thermal will only boost your hot water. In the height of summer it might cover most of your needs but poss a quarter of the energy in winter. You can get an air source heat pump to back it up. They produce 3x as much heat compared to the electricity they use so the hot water cost for the year would be a quarter of your current bill.

For central heating you'll need an air source heat pump But these work best with underfloor heating which would be weird in Spain - maybe consider it on a new build project. An air con unit can usually heat so if you can put up with the fan noise then I'd stick with that. It would be better to look at insulation. My house is terrible - solid walls, thin windows, badly fitting doors. There's loads to upgrade... but I'll need to ventilate the house when I'm not here... It's self ventilating just now!

[Rockape]

If you go to Turkey, they have their hot water tanks on the roof painted black! Probably quite effective, if not very aesthetic!

[Deanscroft]

With any solar or heat-pump powered water heating system the main problem is the risk of breeding the Legionella bacteria in the stored water. Legionella will breed in water stored between 20c and 50c. To prevent this a good system must include a means of boosting the water temperature to above 50c to kill the bacteria. This is usually done here by an instantaneous gas water heater (electricity supplies here are to small to do this). It is then necessary to mix the water back down below 45c before delivery at the tap as anything above is to hot to put your hands into.

[bobley]

A heat pump can push to 55deg once in every 10 cycles (I think, I turned mine off, it annoyed me) and then you kick in the immersion heater. I guess in Mallorca the power draw limits your tank volume a bit. Any way to pre heat the incoming water will be a help though. I dont know what my tank is set to now. The old boy in here before me had it really low!

[Rockape]

Anti scald devices are regulation now in Commercial premises in the UK and probably new build domestic ones. If you were going to the trouble of installing a new system, then fitting AS devises to each basin would be a simple add on.

[bobley]

With a new system, especially with an uncontrolled heat source, you put the anti scold on the outlet from the tank. My airing cupboard looks like a nuclear power station. There's a lot to be said for an old school gravity fed system with a header tank... I miss it.