Great Green Idea: Green Products: Water Heated By the Sun! Use a Tankless Solar Water Heater to Reduce Your Energy Usage

Water Heated By the Sun! Use a Tankless Solar Water Heater to Reduce Your Energy Usage

Aside from traditional home heating and cooling, water heating is the biggest energy user in a standard household. Water heaters keep water heated all time, for on demand availability. And just think of the number of things we use hot water for - cooking, cleaning, bathing - it is easy to see how this usually unnoticed system is of vital importance to one wanting to reduce their energy usage.

While the initial investment in a tankless solar water heater is higher on the outset, these water heaters pay for themselves in very quick time. When you want to make changes to your home, with environmental sustainability in mind, it makes sense to start with your biggest energy users and work from there. Cutting these out of the equation makes going green a lot easier.

There are a lot of concerns and misunderstandings about tankless solar water heaters, such as how long it takes to heat water on demand, and the ability to use hot water when the sun isn't shining. Here, we will go over the basics of how they work and touch on all the advantages to owning such a system. It is time to take matters into our own hands and do what we can to protect our environment for ourselves, and future generations. Making small steps like purchasing a tankless solar water heater puts you on the path towards sustainability.

The basic way that any tankless water heater works is by producing what is referred to as "instantaneous" heat. There are, obviously, no tanks, and thus water is not held and constantly heated, waiting to be used. This is a highly wasteful, energy intensive process. Rather, with a tankless heater, as soon as the tap is opened (like when you turn on the water to take a shower), a turbine is tripped that begins to spin to power a heat exchanger coil where your water is heated. Basically, these systems do not keep hot water available at all times, they heat water only when it is needed. When you are done using the water, the heater goes into a "hibernate" or stand-by mode, ready for when you need to use it again.

These systems are designed in a number of ways such as either a centrally located system or with point of use sensors located where the water to be heated is located. Depending on your choice, the time it takes to heat your water will vary. For the point of use systems, the heating is almost instant.

When you are talking about solar tankless water heaters, the electricity used to generate the power to heat the coil is produced by incredibly powerful collectors placed on your roof. These collectors are often many times more efficient than traditional photovoltaic cells. With these collectors, heat from the sun is collected and heat is retained to heat water which powers a turbine which in turn powers your system.

While these systems are fairly costly, you will recoup those costs in just a few years with the energy savings a tankless solar water heating system allows. Many state and local governments, and even certain federal programs may offer incentives such as tax credits that will help further offset the cost of installing the system. When the state of the environment is of utmost concern, a logical place to look is at the aspects of our lives that use the most energy. By replacing your aging water heater with a tankless solar option, you are not only saving your money by using a more efficient system, you are also doing your part to help reduce the burden we place on the planet.