This is a summary of the problems, challenges and benefits of the Solar Hot Water Service installed at our house at Woodlands.

It has been done in conjunction with the WISE Group at Woodend as a community purchasing initiative. (I am a committee member of the WISE Group (Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy)

The system was provided by AAE Solar Hot Water and it was installed by Brett Gregoire, a local Woodend plumber.

We are located at Pipers Creek and are not connected to town gas.  Wood fires provide our heating however our hot water and cooking is provided by bottled gas.

The cost of bottled gas for our house is approximately $1,000 per year (and rising) for our family of five.  I would estimate that more than half of our consumption is for hot water.  We also have 5 bedrooms and two bathrooms, one bathroom is fitted with a large heritage shower fitting and the main shower that we use has a standard (non-water saving) shower rose.

The continuing increase in cost of the bottled gas was one of the driving forces behind our decision to install a solar hot water system.  We were also interested in reducing our carbon footprint and are looking into solar PV and micro wind technologies.

As part of the WISE committee I was satisfied that the AAE evacuated tube, gas boosted solution was the lowest cost, most effective solution.  After discussions with AAE sales staff we were advised to install a 270GLES-S20LP-30 which is a 30 tube system with a 270L glass lined storage tank and a 20L/min Rinnai Propane gas booster.  This also came with a recirculating pump, controller and standard installation frame.  Due to the location of the installation, we needed to order a tracked frame, which added another $220 to the installation.

With the configuration of our house I asked if a 20L/min booster would be sufficient and was assured by AAE that it would be fine to run 3 showers.

The system was ordered on 4^th June 2009.

We then organised for a quote from Brett Gregoire a local plumber from Woodend who was referred to me by AAE.

The final cost of the system was broken down as follows:

There were a number of delivery issues and the system was finally installed on the 21^st August 2009, two and a half months after it was ordered.  When it came it had a Natural Gas booster instead of a Propane booster, thankfully AAE had someone in the area with a Propane booster and we were able to complete the installation without delaying the plumber.

After the system was installed, the next morning we took our first showers and were disappointed.  The water was hot enough, however the flow was poor and unsatisfying.  I was unimpressed that we had paid $2,500 for an inferior solution, as was my wife!

I then spent two weeks trying to work out what the issue was with my plumber and AAE.  I did numerous tests and timings to work out the flow and the temperature and finally disconnected the outflow from the booster to check the temperature and flow rate.  This proved to be the limiting device, as it was putting out 60 degree water at a rate of only 10.5L/min, despite being a 20L/min booster.

This was put to AAE as the reason for the low flow rate at the shower head and they continue to deny there is any issue, despite the literature from Rinnai, the opinion from the Rinnai support phone line staff and the opinion of the Apricus sales staff (a competitor).

Thankfully, after paying all costs in full to AAE, they provided an exchange S26 booster on the 26^th September 2009 for the differential cost of the S26 booster (to their credit, they paid for the courier costs).

It has taken almost 4 months to get the system delivered, installed and modified to an acceptable configuration.  It has been operating and has reached 60 degrees on a couple of occasions, however more often it has been operating in cold temperatures and has needed to boost a number of times from 16 degrees.  As a result, the S26 is a much more appropriate booster to have for our circumstances.  If you look around in the market, you will also notice that many providers only supply S26 boosters as the default option.

From my experience I would advise the following for other prospective purchasers of these systems:

• Approach a couple of providers to see if they are able to provide the system within a guaranteed reasonable time (2.5 months was unacceptable)
• If you have non-water saver shower heads then choose an S26 or greater booster.  If necessary, test the flow rate per minute using a 10L bucket and work out if the “Water Heating Capacity” of the booster is sufficient, and plan for when there is no solar contribution

Some pictures of the installed system:

This is the view of the panel from the back of the house at the regular entry point. It cannot be seen from the front of the house.

As can be seen the system is tucked out of the way and is fairly neat.

There is still some work to do to tidy up the cabling and move the bricks somewhere worthwhile.

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