Stories from Our Biosphere

Use Solar for Your Hot Water

If your home is fitted with a solar hot water system that should meet all of your hot water needs. The energy in the sun is converted to heat and this makes the water hot. Your tank will then have up to 260L of hot water ready for you when you come home from work.

Using a solar hot water system is great as long as you use it in the correct way. In winter, people will often turn the electric booster on for the solar hot water system; unfortunately it’s easy to forget and leave the booster switch on even when the sun is shining which wastes energy and potentially hundreds of dollars per year.

Solar energy is maximised between 10am and 3pm to make the most out of this solar energy. Schedule your large hot water demands (e.g. washing and laundry) for as close as possible to the middle of the day.

Most electric booster switches are found in the switchboard labelled as “hot water” so take a look and make sure your booster is not on.

If you find you need to use the booster, check:

• You don’t have any water leaks wasting hot water.
• Has the time that the family is showering increased?
• Is your system faulty?

Contributed by: Annie Guthrie