Solar panels?

castleking1

Hi all just looking for people's experiences to see the viability of solar panels or other water heating system?
I am in my home now for over 2 years. I have underfloor heating run by an oil burner. 3500 sq ft house. Well insulated and fair airtight ness.
I have a closed system with solar tank 300 lts all pump showers and heat all my water via oil.
I burn aprox. 1700 lts of oil per year.
Just checked this morning I burnt aprox 400 lts from mid march to now mid sept. In these months especially may till now I have had boiler mainly only to heat water for dhw.
As a rough estimate that means that at most I would save this 400 litres by installing the solar panels on the roof and the payback would be the cost of this around 300 euro into whatever the cost of the panels would be.
What would the panels cost installed on the roof considering I have tank already installed.
My house is south facing with 35 degree angle and I have 3 kids plus my wife.
Any opinions or recommendations welcomed.
Thanks

therealmccoy

castleking1 wrote: »

Hi all just looking for people's experiences to see the viability of solar panels or other water heating system?
I am in my home now for over 2 years. I have underfloor heating run by an oil burner. 3500 sq ft house. Well insulated and fair airtight ness.
I have a closed system with solar tank 300 lts all pump showers and heat all my water via oil.
I burn aprox. 1700 lts of oil per year.
Just checked this morning I burnt aprox 400 lts from mid march to now mid sept. In these months especially may till now I have had boiler mainly only to heat water for dhw.
As a rough estimate that means that at most I would save this 400 litres by installing the solar panels on the roof and the payback would be the cost of this around 300 euro into whatever the cost of the panels would be.
What would the panels cost installed on the roof considering I have tank already installed.
My house is south facing with 35 degree angle and I have 3 kids plus my wife.
Any opinions or recommendations welcomed.
Thanks

For traditional tubes you'd be looking at anywhere between €3,000 and €4,500 depending on quality. Kingspan widely regarded as the best of the tubes and will provide up to 65% of your hot water needs but you'll still be using oil to heat your water between October and April.

I'd recommend looking at a Thermodynamic system. This works all year round and guarantees you hot water on demand. Cost wise you'd be looking at around €3500 as you have the cylinder ready for it.

Wearb

therealmccoy wrote: »

For traditional tubes you'd be looking at anywhere between €3,000 and €4,500 depending on quality. Kingspan widely regarded as the best of the tubes and will provide up to 65% of your hot water needs but you'll still be using oil to heat your water between October and April.

I'd recommend looking at a Thermodynamic system. This works all year round and guarantees you hot water on demand. Cost wise you'd be looking at around €3500 as you have the cylinder ready for it.

Do you have annual COP figures for average household useage for both systems. I don't have either system, but every time I decide to have one installed, I read something that puts doubt in my mind.

MicktheMan

castleking1 wrote: »

Any opinions or recommendations welcomed.
Thanks

Well done on working out your hot water cost. It's amazing how many people don't have a clue what their hot water costs.

Based on your data, getting solar thermal would be a poor choice.

On the other hand, have you considered solar PV? It might prove to be a better long term investment. Btw, I'm not involved in any way in solar so just my opinion.

froshtyv

castleking1 wrote: »

Hi all just looking for people's experiences to see the viability of solar panels or other water heating system?
I am in my home now for over 2 years. I have underfloor heating run by an oil burner. 3500 sq ft house. Well insulated and fair airtight ness.
I have a closed system with solar tank 300 lts all pump showers and heat all my water via oil.
I burn aprox. 1700 lts of oil per year.
Just checked this morning I burnt aprox 400 lts from mid march to now mid sept. In these months especially may till now I have had boiler mainly only to heat water for dhw.
As a rough estimate that means that at most I would save this 400 litres by installing the solar panels on the roof and the payback would be the cost of this around 300 euro into whatever the cost of the panels would be.
What would the panels cost installed on the roof considering I have tank already installed.
My house is south facing with 35 degree angle and I have 3 kids plus my wife.
Any opinions or recommendations welcomed.
Thanks

For the kind of money your looking at for solar, would you not get rid of the oil and let an air-to-water heat pump look after everything.
You will probably half your oil bill on a yearly basis.