Solar water heating systems for Spain & Portugal

by / Monday, 16 July 2018 / Published in Solar Solutions

A typical swimming pool set-up in the Algarve

Our hot solar water systems will significantly lower your gas/electricity energy bills.

With our state of the art monitoring system, you can see water temperatures, amount of hot water consumed and monitor climatic change and production of energy in real time. While also retaining a history of all data so you can go back and check all previous data collected.


 

 

For Quotes on Swimming Pools or overseas systems Please contact HotSolarWater Direct

To use the graph follow instructions below

Hold ctrl and click one of the above fields to overlay another field, or highlight an area to zoom in, refresh the page to get the graph updated or zoom back out. Please note that our clients are provided with a fully functional graph for their properties, with many more functions and up to 5 year history to review system performance.  Web viewers have limited access, so they can’t adjust the view.

THIS PAGE IS BEING ACTIVELY UPDATED. CHECK FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES.

Here is a pool and hot tub we installed

Small 150 L Thermosiphon Geyser Solar Water Heater

Large 300 L Thermosiphon Geyser Solar Water Heater

For Quotes on Swimming Pools or overseas systems Please contact HotSolarWater Direct

Our aim with our meters and solar water heaters is to improve water efficiency and cost to every household.

Before Buying solar electric you need to address the items that cost the most to use and Water heating is the highest cost in most houses.

These figures below are for 1 person not including the water you use for washing up ETC.
The lifespan of normal electric or gas boiler knower days can be between 5 to days years max, costs can start from £300 to £1000 plus fitting.

Solar water heaters start from a £1000 but are totally free to run.                           Click Here for Pricing
Lifespan in excess of 20 years if fitted and maintained properly.

Daily & Annual costs of Heating Water:

Heating water to have a bath or shower can be a major cost on your energy bills depending on how you heat the water and how much water you use. This changes from country to country but we will look at the UK for now. water temperatures There are many other factors including the temperature of the cold water entering the heater system, the temperature of the hot water coming out of the heater and hot taps and the cost per kWh of the energy. Bath sizes in the UK are limited to a maximum of 230 litres but the average water volume used is about 80 litres. Some manufacturers try and design the bath form to reduce the amount of water required to have a full bath. Showering instead of taking a bath can also be an option to save water but the energy cost to heat the water depends on the type of shower, water pressure, flow rate and method of heating the water.

Water mains temperatures in the UK (Average  7.3C) are much lower than Spain and Portugal (Average 15-20C) but the cost of energy is much higher but these principles will be the same.

There are many other factors including the temperature of the cold water entering the heater system, the temperature of the hot water coming out of the heater and hot taps and the cost per kWh of the energy. Bath sizes in the UK are limited to a maximum of 230 litres but the average water volume used is about 80 litres. Some manufacturers try and design the bath form to reduce the amount of water required to have a full bath. Showering instead of taking a bath can also be an option to save water but the energy cost to heat the water depends on the type of shower, water pressure, flow rate and method of heating the water.

In our comparison below we have shown the costs of heating water to have a shower or fill a bath of different volumes to 40°C using three different methods; an electric immersion heater, a modern A-rated gas boiler and solar water system.

Daily costs: heating water for shower or one bath this is only for 1 person and multiply the figures for your household. 

 

 

 

 

Annual costs: For shower or heating bath water for one bath for 365 days a year.

 

 

 

 

Last calculations made 2015.

T1 = Temperature of cold water entering system in Kelvin (K)
T2 = Temperature of hot bath water in Kelvin (K)
V = Volume of bath water  (litres)
S = Specific heat capacity of water is  4.18 J/cm3/K
Be = Boiler efficiency (A-Rated is assumed 90%)
EJ = Energy required heating water in Joules
EB= Energy required heating water with boiler efficiency adjustment
C = Cost to heat one bath or have one shower.

  • The assumed water temperature entering the heater is 10°C.
  • The assumed water temperature leaving the heater into the bath is 40°C.
  • Energy prices are taken from the Energy Saving Trust website based on the average rate for domestic households in England, Scotland & Wales, last checked February 2015.
  • Electricity average price (Standard Rate) : 14.05 pence / kWh
  • Gas average price (Standard Rate): 4.29 pence / kWh

(EJ) The energy required to heat the water in Joules is therefore :

EJ (in Joules) = S x (T2-T1) x V x 1000

Adjustment  to account for the boiler efficiency (EB in Joules) is therefore :
EB (in Joules) = EJ x  ((1 + (100-Be)) / 100)

To convert Joules to kWh (1 kWh = 3600000 Joules) is therefore :
EB (in kWh) = EB (in Joules) / 3600000

(C) The cost to heat one bath or shower in kWh is therefore:
C = EB x Energy price per kWh

 

4 Responses to “Solar water heating systems for Spain & Portugal”

  1. forexloveu says : Reply

    Thanks Hodag!Book(s) in progress.

  2. david boustead says : Reply

    hi, is your 150 litre solar hot water heater a mains pressure system with a copper coil for heating the mains water for the taps or does the tank water get used for the taps.

  3. […] running costs & being Green is the ethos of their Sister Company Recycled-Appliances. The first and only laundry in Portugal running on 100% renewable […]

  4. TONY says : Reply

    Hi, could you possibly forward any suppliers of immersion heaters local to castello branco. We have tried every where in industrial zone with no luck.
    Kind regards
    Tony

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