{"id":710,"date":"2015-02-26T11:14:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T11:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/?p=710"},"modified":"2022-04-13T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T17:22:02","slug":"how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How Solar-Powered Water Heaters Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blogabc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/4453383679_e443e46899_z.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-711\" src=\"http:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/4453383679_e443e46899_z-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"4453383679_e443e46899_z\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/4453383679_e443e46899_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/4453383679_e443e46899_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Most homes use either electricity or natural gas to power their water heaters, and while these work fine, they can add up in additional energy expenses over the month. Depending on the size of your home and how much water your family uses, you can expect to spend around $600-$800 a year just to power your water heater. An alternative, more cost-effective method, however, is to use a solar water heater. Contrary to popular belief, they\u2019re actually fairly easy to set up and work extremely well in providing your home with all the hot water it needs. If you\u2019re interested in learning more about them, keep reading and we\u2019ll explain how solar water heaters work and why you should consider installing one in your home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Basics of Solar Water Heaters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although there are a few different types available, most solar water heaters feature the use of a solar collector and tank. These two primary components are usually mounted on the home\u2019s roof where it will receive the greatest amount of sun exposure. Contrary to popular belief, the solar collector doesn\u2019t actually consist of photovoltaic cells such as those found in solar panels, but instead it\u2019s made of a dark insulated, waterproof material that absorbs the sunlight. Beneath the surface of the solar collector are tubes where the passing water is warmed by the thermal heat generated from the sun.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that most solar water heaters still require the use of some alternate means of energy to heat the water. When it\u2019s sunny and the sky is cloud-free, you system shouldn\u2019t have a problem generating the necessary energy to heat enough water for your home, but this isn\u2019t always the case. When it\u2019s raining, snowing or just an overcast, your system won\u2019t generate as much energy; therefore, your water won\u2019t heat as<\/p>\n<p><strong>Active Solar Water Heaters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Solar water heaters usually fall into one of two primary categories \u2013 active or passive. While both of these types can effectively produce hot water for you and your family, there are a couple of noticeable differences between the two.<\/p>\n<p>There are two main types of active solar water heaters \u2013 direct and indirect circulation. In direct circulation systems, the water traveling through the collectors goes directly into the home. These are the most basic type of solar water heater available, but they typically only work well in warm climates where the temperature doesn\u2019t frequently drop below freezing.<\/p>\n<p>Indirect circulation solar water heater uses a pump combined with anti-freeze to help push the water through the system and into the home. Because it uses anti-freeze, indirect circulation is a popular method for homes in colder climates where there\u2019s a constant threat of water freezing in the pipes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Passive Solar Water Heater<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now that you know a little bit about active solar water heaters, lets take a look at passive. Integral collector-storage is a common type of passive solar water heater that\u2019s designed for homes in warm climates. This method doesn\u2019t use a pump, but rather the warm water automatically travels down into the normal water heater, which means you\u2019ll still be required to use either gas or electricity to supplement the heating of your home\u2019s water.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, Thermosyphon systems is a type of passive solar water that\u2019s more suitable for colder climates and environments. In these systems, the tank must be installed above the solar collector so the warm water will rise as the cool water drops. As a result, there\u2019s no need for a pump to be installed or used in a Thermosyphon system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most homes use either electricity or natural gas to power their water heaters, and while these work fine, they can add up in additional energy expenses over the month. Depending on the size of your home and how much water &hellip; <a class=\"continue-reading\" href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":711,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-workers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Solar-Powered Water Heaters Work | Workers &amp; Workplace | OneMonroe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Solar-Powered Water Heaters Work | Workers &amp; Workplace | OneMonroe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most homes use either electricity or natural gas to power their water heaters, and while these work fine, they can add up in additional energy expenses over the month. Depending on the size of your home and how much water &hellip; Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OneMonroe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/monroeengineering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-26T11:14:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T17:22:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/4453383679_e443e46899_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MonroeEngineer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MonroeEngineer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/efcd863279664c9fa16205ed2e3981c8\"},\"headline\":\"How Solar-Powered Water Heaters Work\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-26T11:14:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-13T17:22:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/how-solar-powered-water-heaters-work\/\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Workers &amp; 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