GET YOURSELF INTO HOT WATER
Excluding the family car, water heating accounts for the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions from the average home. It’s also one of the biggest guzzlers of power, accounting for between 25% and 35% of home energy use.
People don’t realise that it is not expensive to install and maintain a solar hot water system.Essentially, two years from installation, a solar hot water system will start paying for itself.
A solar hot water system can save up to ninety per cent of the average home’s hot water energy needs. It can also save up to 3.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions from an average household each year. Factors such as geographic location, the direction the roof faces and the quality of the system all affect the solar system’s performance and efficiency, but the fact is, the bulk of the energy for domestic hot water requirements can come from the sun.Any shortfall can be supplemented by a home’s normal gas or electricity supply.
The search for appropriate renewable energy sources is becoming more intense as electricity costs grow.The case for solar power becomes even more convincing when one considers what electricity generation is costing us, and the environment.
The technology around solar hot water has progressed significantly recently.Consumers can choose between a ground or a roof-mounted system, and can use the system in any weather conditions from below freezing to the heat of the desert.
Solar hot water isn’t restricted to new buildings.Many people around the world are being encouraged and incentivised by government to replace electricity driven hot water systems.
For example, generous rebates from the Australian government are encouraging eligible property owners, landlords and tenants to replace electricity driven hot water systems with solar hot water. Under the current system, the Australian Government is providing a Solar Hot Water Rebate of 600 per eligible installation to help people save money on their power bills and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.It has been calculated that the average family can save up to 0 a year on their energy bill by making the change to solar hot water.
Since government introduced rebates, there has been a huge increase in demand for solar hot water systems, according to Perth solar energy company, Solar MyWorld.They say that increased environmental awareness is creating demand as people change their lifestyles to reduce carbon emissions.
The Australian Government study ‘Energy Use in the Australian Residential Sector 1986-2020′, put the projected increase in residential sector energy consumption at 56% from 1990 - 2020.However, water heating was the only major energy use that was predicted to decline, mainly as a result of government and state energy programmes.Water heating energy use reached a peak in 2002 at 92.4 petajoules (PJ) and is anticipated to decline slowly to 8.5PJ by 2020.
As a lifestyle change, solar hot water is one of the simplest and easiest - and most effective - changes people can make. There aren’t any negatives.It is not only kind to the environment, but is also cost-effective and low on maintenance. What’s more, a quality Perth solar hot water system properly installed by capable installers should last for at least 25 years.Now, that’s a sizzling hot option!
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Tags: renewable energy, Solar Hot Water, solar energy, solar hot water Perth, solar panels, solar power, solar power Perth, solar power WA