How do I tell if my Solar Hot Water Heater is broken?
Image by AIDG
CalSolAgua Water Heater
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYarWfxn_5E
Question by : How do I tell if my Solar Hot Water Heater is broken?
I have had a Solar Hot Water heater on the roof of my 3 level home for about 10 years. I have often wondered how do you tell if the heater is broken? If the re-circulating pump dies, am i right in saying the electric heating back-up would kick in? Would then my electricity bill skyrocket without me knowing until I got my next quarterly bill? I’d like to be able to avoid this.
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
3 Responses to How do I tell if my Solar Hot Water Heater is broken?
Leave a Reply
… I suggest turning off the electrical breaker or fuse to the water heater while keeping the the re-circ pump electric on. Thus, you can verify if the system is using the solar heat exchanger or the electrical backup. Remember to turn the electric heater back on – you don’t want a cold shower.
thisbe.dave
April 9, 2012 at 4:33 pm
check the heat exchanger
namdnas samaj
April 9, 2012 at 4:43 pm
When I install them, I like to put a thermometer near the tank in the piping coming from the collectors on the roof so you can see if it there is hot fluid coming from the roof into the tank heat exchanger. A low tech way to verify if it is working is to CAREFULLY touch the pipe under the insulation coming from the roof during a sunny day. I say carefully, because it could be around 200 degrees F. You could also check if the pump is running on a sunny day, by carefully touching it to see if it is hot. If it is not, the sensors, controller, or pump could have died, those are all easily replaceable. http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Water-Heaters/c402/.
But yes, if the system is not working, your electric water heater will be doing all of the heating instead of just topping it off, so your electric bill will be higher.
Amy
April 9, 2012 at 5:20 pm