Solar Water Heating A Comprehensive Guide to Solar
July 10, 2010 by SolarInfo
Filed under solar heating systems, solar panels
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Heating water with the sun is almost as old as humankind itself, and it is done all over the world. Yet there are strangely few resources on the topic in North America.
Solar Water Heating fills this gap. It reviews the history of solar water and space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author’s experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover:
- Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages
- System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance
- System sizing and siting
- Choosing the appropriate system.
Since people often get turned off by the up-front cost, the book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run. Well-illustrated, the book is designed for a wide readership from the curious to the student or professional.
Bob Ramlow is the solar thermal consultant for the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program. The owner of a renewable energy company, he has over 30 years experience with solar energy systems and is a founder and director of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA). Benjamin Nusz currently works as a solar water heating consultant and site assessor in Wisconsin.
Homeowner’s Guide to Solar Water Heating
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Find out why your next home should be heated by a solar water system. This book will explain the ins and outs of various kinds of systems.
Excellent Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a very well written book. Bob Ramlow has done a lot of work on the subject of solar heating and makes the subject fun to read. I highly recommend that if you are interested in solar heating you also read “Build Your Own Solar Heating System” by Kenneth Clive. Build Your Own Solar Heating System
Basic Facts
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
While giving the basic facts necessary for everyone considering a solar system it is nothing more than that. Great source of things to look for but definitely not a book that will get you from A to Z if you are looking to build your own system or even if you are looking for a source to buy your parts from and install them yourself.
Solar Water Heating
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This book is a great primer on how these systems work or can work. I was looking more for something that would show me where i can get a complete packaged system, pre-enginered. But this book was very helpful in allowing me to make a decision about whether to pursue a solar water heated slab design for my new house to be built. It turns out that according to the author, I need full sun from 9:30am to 3:30 pm on my proposed solar panels.
My site only allows sun from about 10:30am spring(11:00am winter) to 3:30pm and hence is not a great candidate for this type heat. The great part about the book is he gives you what you need to make this determination and I agree. If I am going to commit to an insulated slab, solar foundation, then I must be relatively sure it will be successful. I am now going to look into a geothermal ground source heat pump. I is more expensive to install, but in many ways could be simpler to run and keep from having to use as much expensive/dirty fossil fuels as conventional systems. Sure do wish my sight was SUNNIER though!!! Good book, easy read.
Handy, easy-to-follow guide
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Written by solar thermal consultant Bob Ramlow, Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide To Solar Water and Space Heating Systems is a straightforward guide to heating water with the sun in one’s home for the sake of energy conservation and energy economics. Chapters discuss the costs of fossil fuels and the history of solar heating, types of solar collectors, how to choose and install the right system for one’s needs, and much more. Black-and-white diagrams illustrate this handy, easy-to-follow guide to a facet of eco-friendly living, which can save significant money in the long run.
all the basics
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After reading reviews for this book I made the purchase hoping to have the basics of solar water heating covered. The book does that very well. Like most of us I’d love to see a book covering a detailed step by step installation with tools, equipment, costs, etc. But people with a handy man ability or a bit more like myself (builder)can figure things out pretty easily. Over All an excellent resource!
Nothing special.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
content on solar heating..
Nothing special; good or bad.
MJL
Excellent treatement of solar water heating
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This book takes a tutorial approach, providing an overview behind the impetus of solar hot water systems, the various systems available and their applicability, and provides a good deal of “how to” information regarding installation. This is the kind of treatment of material that I most prefer when attempting to learn for the purpose of later application of that knowledge. It stands in contrast to books by Dan Chrias (see my reviews), who tends to provide a more overview approach to the information. Coupled with a good understanding of conventional hot water systems, this book may be enough to successfully size, install and operate a solar hot water system. It’s only weakness, given its objectives and the volume of the material, is that it glosses over the techniques for system sizing, especially how to manage the relationship between demand and supply (sun availability).
Great Book
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was a little upset having read the chapter 1 only to find out that several systems described in detail the author would never recommend using. I was thinking to myself why did I waste time reading about those. But that’s where the accurate part comes in. And by knowing why the author doesn’t really even use those systems you get to participate in the pleasure of knowing everything there is to know about solar water heating.
With this complete book and a simple how to directions on plumbing almost anybody could build a system for their own specific climate and needs.
If you just want to find out about solar water heating and are thinking of buying an “off the shelf” solution this book will guide you to a great choice.
http://www.solarpanelkitsreviewed.com
Wagan Solar ePanel 12 Power Supply
Sunforce 39810 SHARP Polycrystalline Solar Kit – 80W
A great book!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This book is practical and written in a very easy to understand manner. The author has extensive experience in the area of solar heating of water and conveys that knowledge to the reader very effectively. This book goes beyond hot water for household use and into radiant heating with the use of a heat storage system using a large sand bed which is the GEM of the book! I am planning on building a cabin in the Colorado Mtns and wanted this retreat to be self-sustaining and not a warm cabin that was sucking power or energy while not in use. This book has inspired me to design into the cabin solar hot water for household and radiant use. Now if I could just find a decent book about radiant heating for less than $100………..
Solar Water Heating
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great reference on solar water heating. Lots of options and details. The item is as described. Shipping was reasonable and prompt.
Excellent for people of all levels of interest.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
With this comprehensive “manual” and a simple how to book on plumbing almost anybody could build a system for their own specific climate and needs.
If you just want to understand solar water heating and are thinking of buying an “off the shelf” solution this book will guide you to a good choice.
Solar Water Heating
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Very good and useful book if you want to understand/evaluate offers/tenders of companies that will construct your solar water heating system. Contains all the rules of thumbs and all the subjects really you need to know (system components, scaling of the system, types of solar water heating systems, system maintenance, system installation, cost calculations, etc.). My only real disappointment is the pervasive use of non-metric units (btu/therms, feet, gallons) throughout the book. This makes it hard to read for non-American readers. There is a unit conversion table, but it would have been better to include the second unit system between brackets or just to use the international metric system. Also a decision diagram/tree for helping to decide what type of solar heating system you would best go for depending on your climate/freezing conditions or not, etc. would have been a useful addition. This information, though, is in the text, but you just have to read it all.
Great support
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I read the book fully with one breath. Basically it contains almost everything what need to know about solar systems and their application. But I gave 4 stars. The reason is simple: I am not sharing the view as vacuum tubes or heatpipes are having a same efficiency as normal flat collectors having. In our climate only heatpipes are able to supply enough heat for heating and support for heating. All others are excellent!
Great compact manual
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t know a heck of a lot about solar technologies. But after reading just the first few chapters I feel confident enough to build a simple flat panel solar water heater.
Excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Despite Federal tax credits (up to $2,000 at this writing) for solar water heating there’s a lack of information on the subject.
For a handyman with good plumbing skills, or a homeowner wanting to learn about solar water heating, this is the best book available.
After a history of solar water heating in the US, the book describes various systems that use the sun to heat and store water. Climate, freeze conditions, water quality and amount of sunlight available are some of the factors considered in choosing a system, and the book describes them all. Individual components are detailed in a logical, straightforward way. It’s obvious the authors have extensive practical knowledge. The writing style is informal and easy to read.
Besides all the solar water heating information, this book also has a good section on radiant floor heating, detailing the use of PEX tubing to heat a concrete slab.
The book uses a lot of drawings to demonstrate how things work. More actual photographs of systems and components would have been helpful. I also wish the authors would have included brand names and sources for equipment. The industry still suffers from the stigma of poorly designed systems of the 1970′s and 80′s. Some reassurances from the authors regarding which component manufacturers are good would have been nice.
For the past two years, I’ve lived with a solar water heating system I bought as a package and installed myself. I’ve been happy with all the “free” hot water it’s provided. If this book had been available when planning my system I would have had a much better idea of what I was doing. Having all the components matched and sized with specific instructions gave me a lot of confidence during installation. In my opinion, for the neophyte, a component package is a good way to go.
For anyone planning a residential sized solar water heating system, this is the best book available. It’s an excellent guide, whether you decide to choose the individual components yourself, buy a package, or hire a contractor to install a turnkey system.
If you’re a contractor or someone wanting to get into the solar water heating business, “Solar Hot Water Systems – Lessons Learned 1977 to Today” (Tom Lane) is very good, but the amount of technical detail implies you already have a good working knowledge of plumbing and roofing. [...]
Good luck getting into hot water!
Not cool
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
This was supposed to a gift for my dad. I waited 6 weeks for my book then a week before Christmas they told me they lost it. They ruined Christmas.
Excellent Book, but wasteful repeated pages
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Content wise this is an excellent book. The level is just right for individuals that need to make the right choices to provide renewable Domistic Hot Water and Space Heating for their homes without having to sift through many non insightful therory and math. It has good collection of rules of thumb for a quick design. I have one criticism for this book. In my copy pages 113-144 are printed twice. The book is really only 240 pages and not 288 as stated in Amazon by the publisher. Not that the 40 extra pages would have completed the book. The book is fairly well written and complete as it is. I am just for saving paper/trees.
Its in There!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Everything you needed to know about solar water and space heating is in this book! Written by 2 people who have been doing it for many years and have seen many succeses and a few failures. I appreciate their candor. Written for anyone to understand. Read this book before making any real plans and you will avoid some mistakes. Well worth reading!
Comprehensive
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Not being a plumber I can’t say this book will be as much value to someone with those skills. He covers the systems so thoroughly that I would imagine if you had the plumbing ability this book would be all you need to get started.
I was a little frustrated having read the first chapter only to find out that several systems described in detail the author would never recommend using. I was thinking to myself why did I waste time reading about those. But that’s where the comprehensive part comes in. And by knowing why the author doesn’t recommend those systems you get to participate in the joy of knowing everything there is to know about solar water heating.
I especially enjoyed the cost analysis of the hot water systems vs. gas and electric, as well as the discussion of using solar heated water to provide whole house heating.
solar hot water
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is a great collection of information on the subject of solar water heating. I love how the author doesn’t pull any punches. There are definite reasons why we don’t use more solar hot water in this country. Regan led by example in the 80′s when he pulled the solar collectors off the white house roof. While the author spends a bit on the history of solar heating this is definitely a manual on how to design and install a system. The author obviously has had a lot of experience with these systems and he knows what works. read this book and get a high quality solar hot water system up and running in your home. Our planet depends on it.
In fact he dedicated the book for our earth.