Talk of The Villages Florida - solar panels on roof

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Re: solar panels on roof

VillageKahuna: Would you please post when you do find a local company/plumber and any info on a tankless hot water heater. I would love to add that to my TV file. Very interested in this type of hot water heater. Thanks.

Re: solar panels on roof

Lets do some math ( I hated math in school but love it now)

One Tankless water heater=#1500.00-$2000.00 installed

Florida water being naturally warm my heating of hot water costs maybe $25.00 per month=$300.00 per year

Heating with tankless at a savings of 30%= $200.00 year

Savings with tankless =$100.00 per year

Lifespan of a tankless= 10 years

In 20 years I have spent 4000.00 in tankless water heaters to save $100.00 per year X 20 years =$2000.00 savings in the 20 year period

After 20 years I'm at a loss of $2000.00 and most likely dead, so I'll tell the kids to ditch the tankless and use rooftop solar (God don't charge for sun ;D)

Handie :joke:

Re: solar panels on roof

That't funny Handie. I personally love it when other people do the math. I still want to know when solar panels on roofs (not just for heating pools) are available in TV. Thanks.

Re: solar panels on roof

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerseygirl008

That's funny Handie. I personally love it when other people do the math. I still want to know when solar panels on roofs (not just for heating pools) are available in TV. Thanks.

In all seriousness, I do think that water heated by roof mounted,solar collectors, are very worth while if you have a pool. Again, I say that during the summer months in FL it's common to take a shower with the faucet set way over to cold, thus no heating required. The bottom line of my thinking is use a conventional gas hot water heater and forget the extra expense in this climate.

Yes tankless has some virtue in northern climates where the incoming cold water is near 45 degrees and the energy required to take it up to shower temp is greater.

Handie :joke:

Re: solar panels on roof

Being very energy focused, we installed a solar hot water system to supply (summertime) and help supply (wintertime) our domestic hot water on our upstate New York home around 1985, literally a week before the president eliminated the solar credits that made it affordable (possibly because, as mentioned by an earlier poster, in the interests of Big Oil rather than energy conservation/'independency'). We were surprised at the time that more people didn't take advantage of the credits prior to their elimination.

That system has required little maintenance over the years, and we are certain that it has paid for itself time and again, as it is costly to heat water from the 45� or so that it comes up out of the well using oil or electricity. (We also installed a boiler that allowed us to heat the house with multiple fuels, particularly good old American coal!) I can only assume that current solar technology is much more advanced than it was two decades ago, and it would certainly seem like a viable thing in an area like ours in central Florida.