Evacuated Tube, Ashland

System

Sun: Evacuated tube hot water system

Cost: $10,000 O&M replaced some components with CSA approved, Jan 2009

Date of Installation: May 2007, with ongoing corrections

Type/kind: residential (2 occupants)

Installer: Sunwave did installation, Tony Craft of Urban Pioneer did later repairs

Supplier: Sunrain ( http://en.sunrain.com/) : Evacuated tubes, Super Store: solar tank, Eos temperature difference

Experience: Bad install by Sunwave, good with Tony

Results: Did notice difference in power bill, reduced by 1/3 in summer

Description of Case Study: This was one of the first systems installed by Sunwave. It was originally installed to provide water and space heating. However, it produced all of its heat in the summer, when the space heat wasn’t needed. The system was oversized for the users, leading to ongoing problems with overheating, etc. Several components of the original system were not appropriate, such as a water tank that was not CSA approved.

The owner has recently had a number of components replaced, including a new CSA approved water tank and a temperature differential. This has improved the reliability of the system greatly.

The owner recommends that people interested in having installations of renewable energy do their research first, get qualified installers, and gain an understanding of how to properly operate and maintain their system in order to ensure that it best serves the owner.