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solar coils

  • 27-03-2012 10:41pm
    #1
    roy rodgers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,492 ✭✭✭


    I was doing a bit of research because of the good weather a few people have been asking about solar and the cost of it.
    The most expensive part of the job is having to change the cylinder but I came across this solar coil and basically you take out the immersion and replace it with this solar coil. It looks like a solution to get costs down one getting solar installed.
    Has anyone installed one or does anyone think thet would be any good??

    http://www.solarcoil.co.uk/index.html


Comments

  • #2
    freddyuk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,113 ✭✭✭freddyuk


    The cost of the "retrofit" coil is quite high and the benefit from solar input is going to be compromised by using this device ( although it is a great idea). The cost of replacing the cylinder may be a little more but the full benefits of "free" solar water heating will then be available for many years. So unless you have absolutely no other option I would suggest investing in a dedicated twin coil cylinder which can be matched to the solar collector based on your actual usage and storage capacity. A solar cylinder will be larger than your current cylinder so that you can store the free energy as it will not be "on call" like your boiler. The boiler will heat the top of the cylinder quickly if required but the solar will heat from the bottom of the cylinder all the time there is energy available which is free.Your boiler will therefore not be required to come on as often and if it does it will be heating water already influenced by the solar input.


  • #3
    shane0007
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,677 ✭✭✭shane0007


    For this to work, the minimum surface area of the coil must be 0.25m2 per 1m2 of collector surface area. You can get away with 0.2m2 per 1m2 of collector area but it is not ideal. By fitting this type of coil that replaces the existing immersion, the surface area of coil will be very small.
    The other problem is that the flow rate through the coil will be extremely restricted and therefore performance will be affected.
    Finally, you will also need to ensure that the new coil does not touch or any part of the existing heating coil and the two metals continously expanding and contracting against each other will eventually result in failure. You must also ensure that the coils do not have a chemical reaction without other.

    They are a neat idea, but I am afraid more work is needed on them to be of any use to the industry.


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