I have - 2 sinks - 1 bathtub - 1 shower cabin - washing machine - wash basin - dishwasher ---- i come home at the time or after sunset. All members of our house (4) use shower and bathtub at night before sleep and early in the morning before work/school. Approximately we use 4-600liters of hot water (depends on bath usage, amount of clothes, if there are guests, etc etc...). So we would need 600l water tank to fulfill our needs. And just to mention, our input water from city during the winter is around 37F or 3C which mixes with hot water and cools it rapidly

Only works in southern Europe

@@digo8167 In southern Europe solar systems work excellently! However last decade solar collectors has improved enormously. Can work even under cloudy weather! Politics are more important than the weather. A photovoltaic system in Belgium (North) pay off the same time like Greece (South)!

@@digo8167 Nonsense. We live in central British Columbia, Canada, and we've had solar hot water for the last six years. it works down to about minus 25-30C. Below that, hoar frost buildup impairs its performance. It was a no-brainer and many of our friends are thinking about doing the same.

I live in northern europe in cloudy Ireland & it still works very well. We get free water for about 6-7 months of the year@@digo8167 Our tank is 300Litres but its often heated to a very high temperature > 70C so we get a lot more than 300 L of hot water out of it if it is mixed with water coming in at 10C. @beastlysun

The answer is simple: When you buy gas or electricity to heat the water the state gets the taxes on them, every year. With solar on your roof they would get less taxes....

​@@thesolderman861The money does does evaporate, they are put somewhere else in the economy.

The fossil fuel industry does not want to lose profits. They release propaganda regularly among other tactics to malign all solar and renewable forms of energy so they can stay in business. This wont work forever but it will be a while until consumers choose renewables en masse because they are cheaper. Affordability is always the key factor.

More likely the energy companies and rich class political donations and sponsorship dries up, when strategic self sufficient solar and renewable systems are advocated for the public. Private monopoly needs the public dependent on thier energy for thier profits and public enslavement.

wonder what that does to insurance? they will find any reason to jack up insurance now

Solarhart solar hot water, thermosiphon

Thank goodness. I thought I was the only one.

Nice!

What do you mean more steps?

PV solar, more flexible but less efficient, I had a home with a solar water heater problem was when it needed to be replaced all the companies that used to install had all switched to PV only.

@@ian54589 yes, PV is _much_ less efficient at heating water - even gluing a water tank on the back of a PV panel will heat water better than the panel ever would using its electricity & a properly-designed water heater is obviously better still.

@@MatanMazursky a PV panel will collect at most a fifth of the energy that hits it & a heat pump will magnify the electricity 3x to 5x - more steps than letting the sun heat the water directly (& a lot more expensive).

😂

I priced it up a few years ago. PV was easily the way to go. I could get a 6kW array plus an electric water heater for the cost of a solar water heater. That means I now have hot water for the same price, plus cheap electricity for other uses, plus a cheap water heater replacement when it fails. I think the only time solar water makes financial sense is replacing an existing unit. That means install is much cheaper as the plumbing is already there. Very very few are buying solar heater new.

You make a really critically important point: people want the _ability_ to live in excess. They don't want to have to limit their consumption, regardless of how much it may benefit them. I think if people understood how little it takes to minimize consumption and how much they will benefit from that, it could make a big difference. A lot of people use "think of the environment!" as a motivator but that just doesn't work on most people, unfortunately.

Most dishwashers draw water from the hot water pipe, but heat it further anyway. Yes, hotter I put will help, but I’m not sure how much. (We once had a dishwasher that had only a cold input and then heated the water internally. Took forever.)

@@shawnbrennan7526 Dishwashers actually _need_ the water to be extra hot because they don't use abrasion, so, they have to compensate by intensifying the heat.

@@Toastmaster_5000 Correct. My point is that most dishwaters will do that heating internally no matter what input temperature you have in the pipes.

You got a good price on that Solar PV system.

The lifespan of a solar water heater is 7-10 years. That's in Israel where everyone uses one.

If you have a hot water cylinder heated with electricity the solar panels can give you 'free' hot water for much of the year. We're stuck with a gas combi boiler unfortunately.

Yes, heat pumps plus renewable energy is the solution most of the market will go to. But that solar water heater can feed the heat pump and reduce electricity demand and potentially the size of the heat pump. Whether it will make more financial sense to fill your roof with photovoltaic or also use part of it for a solar water heater, I don’t know. And a solar water heater from the limited experience I had doesn’t need more maintenance than radiator-based heating systems that dominate the market in Europe.

Yes, with installation and maintenance costs in the US, even if you live in a hot area you'll probably never break even with solar-thermal hot water unless you live in an area with very high energy costs.

@@jmodified I cannot see a path to net zero carbon emissions that doesn’t involve making fossil fuels significantly more expensive. Yes, in principle you could use a purely carrot-based approach of subsidising renewable energy to such an extent that it becomes cheaper than fossil fuel-based technologies in every application. Either way, solar thermal (or renewable electricity + heat pump) will be cheaper than using fossil fuel, be it via higher costs for the latter or subsidies for the former.

There's more to it than that. Many of the forces you speak off are fossil fuel companies who produce their oil, coal and gas in the US. The US is more or less self-sufficient in energy production thanks to fracking. Some would argue that going for solar would be going backwards in terms of self-sufficiency as other countries would contribute in its production. Not that I'm against solar or heat pumps. I just think the self-sufficiency angle is weak.

My mother in law has a solar heater on her roof here in Jamaica. She had to install a special drain to run water from the pressure release valve to the ground so that the extremely hot water water from the valve doesn’t burn anyone walking underneath…

Well in general you have backup electrical or gas heating, so no you wouldn't see a difference.

@@ianchandley sounds like a bad install lol

@@dailyrider2975 You'd have to turn on the backup as they're not automatic generally speaking. They're very efficient even on cloudy days.

Solar water heater we have is electrical, so it just turns on when it gets cold enough. Really old, so no programming to stop it from turning on either. We also have solar electric, so gets heated by sun one way or the other.@@jockspringer9457

HOA's legally cannot stop you putting solar on your roof.

maybe ,but would you want to go to battle with some crazy Karen everyday . People that run HOAs are usually control freak nut cases .😂

@@JohnPilling25 Correct - however they can dictate that it is not allowed to be visible from certain vantages. The red tape and dealing with Karen and her best friend Rita on the HOA committee is also enough deterrent.

A heat pump takes the ambient heat and puts it into the water which is at least 200% efficient, sometimes as high as 400%+ efficient (COP 4). You can get far more heat per square meter of roof space by running a heat pump and a solar PV panel than using solar thermal, especially in cold climates. For resistive heating, you're correct but not with a heat pump.

@@imzjustplayin There is no world in which PV is more efficient than solar water heating, simply because of the huge discrepancy in initial energy capture. You'd have to fill that gap with magic.

SUggest learning basic physics. Heat pumps to be allowed to be installed MUST have a COP(COefficient of performance) over 3. Which means for 1 watt input you get 3 Watt output even in unfavorable conditions as proscribed by code. So yes, PV(20%) + Heat pump is MORE efficient than Solar Thermal(75%). You might do the simple math and say 60% >> 75% except the big problem that one uses about 5% of power in Hot water but 95% in electricity... and any Solar Thermal quickly tops itself off in a sunny location and collects no more power while PV keeps collecting. So, unless you can incorporate Solar Thermal into household heat, it is ultimately a waste of money + cost of making it not FREEZE. Exception is very cloudy places such as NE USA/Maine/Eastern Canada, Pacific Northwest if we are talking about North America @@Eagle3302PL

@@Eagle3302PL Thats just not true. PV is 15-20% efficient that translates to 60-80% thermal heat through from a heat pump. Compared to 65-80% from solar hot water. Except solar hot water is always oversized to account for less ssunny days. So you might heat your water in 2h and waste the next 8h of energy. PV also heats water in 2h then lest you use the other 8h of electricity somewhere else.

@@Eagle3302PL You are wrong. HP takes the heat from around it and applies it to the local area. Meaning you recycle the same heat without having to heat more air up.

Hello!

Total cost is around 700-1000 euros

@@distilled-earth Γεια σου

Τι λέει 😎

does it ever go below 0°C there?

@@csehszlovakze couple of days a year for most people :P Solar is also electric. Days that you don't have good weather, you just turn it on for 10 minutes and you are ready.

They aren't generally self-contained, they're usually a rooftop panel & an indoor tank with pumps & control gear. A rooftop panel feeding a shower or tap is very possible (a friend of mine has this in the garden) but it's generally not very useful & can suffer with calcification/limescale depending on your water supply.

Why done we just mandate everyone takes a cold shower? Save the planet. Imagine the amount of co2 neede to be produced to increase production of sola Waterheaters almost as bad as electric cars.well not as bad as we won’t have to enslave 100000s of kids to work in Lithium mines again but still pretty bad. Why do you support child slavery is beyond me

Crazy right??

They cost 800.- as a set in Europe (imported from China), I'm sure this is also available in the US. Just don't ask the companies who also install them, since they can add whatever they want.

Make a video on it

My dear friend, solar heaters need maintenance. If you conduct maintenance annually or every two years, your solar heater will probably last twice than what you mention. By maintenance, I mean hiring qualified technicians to conduct it which includes cleaning the water tank and piping with running water and replacing missing parts (tubing, insulation etc.). Also, it is possible that your initial equipment misses some parts (like expansion tank) that will protect it from leaks or fractures from overpressure. If you ask someone to come and perform maintenance, ask them if your equipment needs to have any additional parts installed or replaced with suitable ones. Greetings from your Greek neighbours

Hey, we in India with much worser maintenance issues don't suffer from this problem. Our solar water heaters work for more than 10 years and there is no stress on the structure!

Fossil fuels are good, stop being a weaksauce liberal LGBT.

My response wouldn't post so I'll just use a southern Bless your heart.

Yeah…lmao

I've been told that solar thermal hot water requires a lot of maintenance. What's your experience ?

@@grahamstevenson1740 been installed for 11 years with zero maintenance. Never had to repressurise and have never changed the glycol. I washed the panels off once. Still working well , made over 100 kWh in a single day.

@@andrewstafford-jones4291 So there's no shortage of cowboys dealing out dodgy advice ? Thanks.

@@grahamstevenson1740 Not sure as I don't have a reason to talk to them. I know they recommend changing the glycol/water mix every year but that's just uneconomic. It would cost a lot to change my glycol, I think it used 8x25litre to fill it.

@@andrewstafford-jones4291 Good to know, 100 kWh in a single day though?

Nearly all the pics of Israel were of high density buildings. It's not impossible. It's just not beneficial for land owners to absorb costs. They simple don't care about anything besides money in their pockets. You could argue that's how investments work, but housing is a captive market and is heavily prone to exploitation. If we are forced to pay high rents then they should be forced to supply the market with high quality goods.

I'm not entirely sure what drives the huge price gap. I think

“I think” That’s nice. I try to too

That's the piece I'm confused about too

@elfrjz what the problem with electric stoves

@elfrjz i guess gas is cheap there cause here lng is very expensive while electricity is relatively way cheaper

Most certainly because of the initial cost. The cost of solar water heaters are within reach while pv panel system could be 30x or 40x more.

I spent all the previous winter in Turkey, and it happens that the solar water heater was leaking at that time, so i could've watched as it was repaired. These heaters are incredibely low-tech, 2 barrels, 1-2 boxes covered with class and a (probably) copper wire inside, and a pvc pipe connecting them. They cost about 250-300$ at any market in Turkey, and if you don't know how to connect tehm they'll do it for 50-100$. Solar panel that would generate any sufficient amount of electricity would cost way more, so it won't make any sense to install. And btw, most houses in rural areas don't have an AC, they can't afford it. Even in a "rich" touris city they have AC mostly in a rent places for tourists.

I was under the imperial system until about the early 70s which is when we started changing over to metric. Conversion between the two system is a pain in the arse but not a problem. The problem arises when the US system rears its ugly head. Mostly because I don't know it. Make whole hearted change and it is a simple as falling off a log. Only problem is visualising the new units, not one problem with measurements,

or import from places that already have the economies of scale

I looked at a glycol system (Canada). $7k+ before installation, probably 10 or more after. I would never spend that much on hot water, certainly not within its lifetime.

@@alanj9978 I don't think you're *wrong* by any means but I think you might be surprised. I know hot water accounts, on average, for about 15%-20% of home energy use. That's admittedly about $30-$40 a month according to BC Hydro's average used estimates (greetings fellow Canuck!). If one is able to make practical use of the heat obtained via a central heat exchanger getting an average up to $60-$80 a month. Guess it really depends. If it's able to supplement in-home heating than its a 7-10 year pay back. Otherwise it would be closer to 15-20 year pay back but should out last that by a significant margin.

@@Cheebzsta It's more like 30 years at $40 per month vs. 10 years at $80 per month, assuming you would otherwise use that $7,000 for very cautious investments (5.5% or so). But how much more than $7000 would integrating the system with a central heat exchanger cost? If it's an extra $4,000 that puts you back out to 20 years, if it doubles to $14,000, you're back to 30 years.

Plus you don't have route water to the roof and can use the electricity for other things. Much better solution.

@@drewp4 Both of you are right. Just one comment. Thermal solar panel efficiency is 90%. Photovoltaics solar panels efficiency is less than 20%.

@@ajarivas72 True, as it is, but the actual panel area of a set of evacuated water tubes isn't as dense as a flat silicone sheet, so the amount of BTUs per sq meter of roof area is almost identical. And if you use PV, -no pumps, valves, drain down tanks and such. The net result is PV to a heat pump water heater is about twice as efficient as water solar panels. But hey, either is better than a fossil fuel WH!

@@nicklappos The panel area density of an evacuated tube solar water heater is identical to a PV panel, just add a mirror 🪞 below the tubes on the roof and the heat is reflected to the tubes from the bottom. My evacuated tubes solar water heater mirror 🪞 enhanced recibes 5 times as much Sun ☀️ as a normal evacuated tubes solar water heater. I reflect Sun from the bottom, sides, front, behind and top. It gets suns from all directions from sunrise to sunset. Cloudy days no problem.

@@nicklappos I have several wind generators, so I can energize the electric (resistance) boilers when there is plenty of wind 💨. I use the electric boilers as dump loads for the solar and wind systems. Side effects: very hot water galore.

Some factors to take into consideration: a) The maintenance cost and lifetime of the heat pump. Heat pumps are mechanical devices and depending on usage domestic heat pumps can require replacement within 8-10 years. They need servicing at least annually, even if only cleaning of the external radiator. b) A resistive heating element may give a much shorter return on investment than a heat pump depending on the situation. You'd need to "crunch the numbers" to be sure. c) Solar panels work really well when the sun is out, but produce virtually no power when there's excessive cloud. In some countries/localities there will be a fair proportion of "miserable" days with either very little or no power generated from solar panels. That's no doubt less of an issue for areas like parts of Australia and other similar climes. d) An on demand" gas water heater is very efficient as it only heats water when it senses water flow in the hot water lines. Accordingly it has a low running cost, even if gas prices are a bit higher. The capital and installation costs aren't high and additionally that system does not require a hot-water storage tank as it heats water flowing through, and only when there is actual demand.. e) As I understand it, in many countries, solar water heaters and installation used to be very expensive but prices dropped within 10 years and the systems became more sophisticated and efficient. In some climates frost protection is required, but modern systems take care of that by using a heat exchanger between the hot water system and the panel fluid (which contains a frost-free liquid). I all depends on the exact situation.

@@ericapperley7411 a) I will see in some years after warranty. I have friends with heat pumps running for 10-15 years and no issues. Furthermore, the pump component itself, which used to wear down with older (like 2 decades plus) heat pumps is only a small fraction of the cost and can be replaced. Modern ones don't wear much, theyr're digitally controlled with smooth start and run out. Parts are available and I doubt Samsung will go out of business either. Servicing is not "at least once a year" - for al-in-one units it's not usually required to service it during the life time of the product, unless remote diagnostics show a problem. For a split system (like I have), servicing once a year during the 5 or 6 (forgot) year warranty and I have a fixed price, I thing it's something over €30. Some companies charge double, it's up to you as a customer to accept or change to another authorized maintainer. The heat pump costed me less than €8000 complete with installation, 11 KW, both heating and hot water, WiFi, everything included. ROI would be 1.3 years (!) due to peak in the gas prices, if I got a subsidiary for changing from gas (which I did not qualify for due to my age of gas heater, although it's ironically at it's expected life span), so now it will be little over 4 years (estimated - my calculation, not a marketing trick of a seller, but it includes substraction for a cost of a new gas boiler, which I'd have to put down if continued with gas, roughly €2200). Mind also, that having solar system helps the heat pump ROI too. b) AFAIK, resistive heating is usually among the most expensive heating options, unless you are passive or very close to passive (or in favourable climate). Especially it's not a good option for houses with large heat acumulation capacity (which I have and I am very glad I do). c) Not true that solar panels don't produce electricity with cloudy weather; they can produce much less though, that's true. Typically the output does not fall under 1/3 from spring to autumn, and in extreme winter conditions it can fall to about 15%. But the solar field is the least expensive part of the system and is typically dimensioned to cancel some of the difference, so in my case it's around 50% of required output during December, which is the worst part of the year here. d) On-demand gas heater is a product that can be very feasible in certain scenarios, but it is not (AFAIK) by a wide margin for a typical house with typical family usage profile. e) I don't think the systems are particularly expensive here. I think the part I'd have to pay would be around €2200 (complete, including installation) and the investment would be the double (half would be paind back to my account by environmental programm). Still, with the system being that cheap, the ROI came up to 19 years - beyond the life expentancy of the system! Simply because it does so little as for the effect on the overall house bills. I considered it seriously 3 times over period of 10 years and found marketing of those products is far away from the reality. That is my take on your points. But I'm not an expert, just interested in the topics.

Cost of all that?

@@LoremIpsum1970 The whole six bedroom house and large garage was built for £235,000 . We did most of the installation work ourselves, and got good prices for what we bought in. The Solar Thermal array was less than £1000 in all, the PV was £10000, but it attracts a decent FIT which has paid for it. The ASHP units were less than £1000 each and are fitted in the loft, No outside noise, and full protection from the weather , whilst being part of the Ventilation system .

PVT is much less effective than a dedicated water heater but hey, if you've got the acreage of PV you may as well capture some of the 4 fifths of the sunshine that isn't making electricity.

I don't totally understand why, but PV + thermal has been tried over and over around the world for decades but it just never takes off. I don't know if it's people just panicking about water near high voltage or that there's rarely exact matching between the need for heat and the need for electricity, but it never takes off...

@@cbarnes2160 Because of poor efficiency. You are better off having a solar water heater and pv panels separately.

I think the real next step is PV+teg. TEGs can generate electricity even at night.

@@cbarnes2160PV is basically maintenance free so adding a liquid loop greatly increases complexity and adds maintenance. The extra cost is usually better invested in just buying additional pv panels and get more electricity.

Thanks for watching and the kind words!

Yes! We are all hoping for another idiot, I'm sorry, I meant to say Carter, so we can save a few bucks on "clean" energy solutions. If it weren't for the Government, most people would be happy and " clean" energy would have taken over a long time ago. The ignorance of some knows no bounds!

No administration is against solar it’s just some like taking money from other people to pay for it and one believes you should use your own money to buy yourself one.

They instal those even on sloped roof (suport brackest are modyifyed),i dont think they are ugly

@@Adam-bw4lw Yeah. most the world uses these water heaters.. they are fine

I even managed to feed my chloteswasher and dishwasher from it by using a termostatic mixing valve

100%…too ugly and 3rd Worldly. Who GAF what they do in pooholes?

And their policies too!

It was an Israeli invention first!

Glad you thought so!

@@distilled-earth would love to see more maps like in johnny harris videos.. like id love to see a map based on percentage of population using solar water heaters 😁😁

Soon hopefully!

Do your part: share it with everyone!

yup! i usually do, just didn't have the time on this one

@@distilled-earth understandable, thanks for the great work as always.

Too busy grooming his beard@@distilled-earth

What city? In Monterrey very few people use solar water heaters, fewer than 1% as in the USA.

@@ajarivas72 Aqui es SMA, mucho tambien en Qro hasta la CDMX. Its a pity you don't usem over there, we really do have the right climate.

@@elpix Al mío le puse espejos 🪞 por todos lados. Recibe calor solar desde el amanecer hasta el atardecer. El techo está literalmente tapizado de espejos 🪞 y de todos lados rebota la luz e incide en el boiler solar. Todos los días sube la temperatura del agua a 99 °C.

Thank you!!

Yeah I see them dead everywhere

Maybe the integrated panel with the hot water tank, both on the roof, is good for cheap solutions in hot or warm climates without freezing temperatures. And some panels for 12V PV. But when you can spend more money, it's better to go with your solution. And I also don't live in a hot climate, so no cheap roof solar water for me. I tend to a PV only solution on the roof and do the rest in-house, without water pipes running to the roof and back...

@@richard--s - I have no water pipes on the roof, just a heat pump on top of a conventional electric hot water heater. If and when I add a PV array, the electricity from that will be what drives the heat pump, for the most part.

@@jasonbroom7147 yes, that's a flexible way to use the sun. With good efficiency over the heat pump.

Heat pump water heater + Solar PV makes far more sense both from a simplicity standpoint, and an economic standpoint. Solar PV is always delivering useful electricity while a solar water heater contraption isn't always delivering a useful amount of heat (especially in cold climates). So if there is excessive capacity due to the warm ambient temperature, the solar PV can be used for other purposes. Warm water isn't hot water so in the winter time, Solar Thermal isn't sufficient while Solar PV + the heat pump guarantees a certain amount of heat will be delivered by the heat pump due to the thermostat choosing the cutoff point. Solar thermal had its time but its time has passed and Solar PV is the way to go from now on.

@@imzjustplayin - Some very good points, but I will mention that in many parts of our viewing area, solar and heat pumps simply can't keep up during periods of actual winter. I have solar panels and a heat pump hot water heater, but it has conventional electric heating elements for a reason.

Thanks!

This is a very weird story. Just because you got tricked somehow does make the tech fraud. Millions are using those. I installed two myself and know they work.

I can relate to that... from northern Alberta, Canada, where for half of the year the temperature can *remain* below freezing 24-7.

The vacuum tube variants also don't get clogged with minerals, which can be a an issue in many places.

Washing machines use cold water then heat it

heating water with gas when you have solar panels on the roof is a little backwards however. Heat pumps in combination with regenerative energy source means complete idependence of fossile fuels and long term will be cheaper.

@@maxmeier532 well not really, heating water instantly takes about 22kW, a storage system requires 3 times the energy. So instant gas for here is the most efficient and cost effective way. I use heat pumps for heating or cooling the house.

That was a typo (face palm)!