I have been thinking about getting a solar panel to keep a fridge runnning and keep a battery charged while camping.Has anyone any experience/opinions?Also with energy prices being the way they are has anyone gone further than this and installed solar in the home? Likewise with wind, a local electrical supplier reckoned he could get me a 2kw turbine for approx £1500. At one point I would have thought alternative power was prohibitively expensive but now it looks as though it may sense.

It would do if it actually delivered on its promises. In fact it falls way short and so is not viable at the scale and budget suggested.

Solar/wind?

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AJH 17 years ago

Since you mentioned this last week and as I heat dhw with the gas ch boiler, I have measured my gas consumption, average 8.3kWh(t)/day. Which as you suggested is considerably more than the 2.5kWh(t) I calculated was a good bath full. Assuming up to 3kWh(t) of that is likely to be tank losses I've cut the heating period to 16:00 till

19:00.

With gas prices increased by 30% today it's beginning to look worthwhile to install a system able to supply in the 10kWh(t) region as long as it's cheap.

What I'm lacking is data to figure out whether there's any advantage in trying to buffer store hot water, I need to see someone's actual temperature and flow volumes for a summer period.

If it's not worth investing in a store then the simple system

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with an integral water tank feeding a combi that is suitable for use with a warm water input looks feasible. On the surface there's not much detail about the differences between the products with integral tanks but it looks like a mains feed to this with an output directly to the domestic heating circuit (seasonally isolated from the dhw cylinder) would be a cheap means of doing this. Can anyone see drawbacks in doing this, feeding into a classic vented dhw system with f&e tank by isolating the outlet of the existing cylinder, then Teeing in the supply from the panel tank and installing a combi inline? Looks to me that capital cost could be below GBP1k with a bit of DIY, I already have a flat roof over the bathroom.

What ~20kW(t) combis can take a warm inlet? Can a thermostatic blender valve reduce temperatures to 50C, before or after the combi?

Detail is a bit lacking about dealing with freezing and overheating and their forum search doesn't yield much advice for this approach.

AJH

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Cerumen 17 years ago

Somebody said

I said

I have the same model and was quoting the manufacturers figures and am glad to hear they are confirmed by your tests, I have a very large leisure battery and a 60 watt solar panel and am indeed hoping that the combination will suffice for almost continual running of the unit.

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dennis 17 years ago

Yes.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 17 years ago

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher saying something like:

They do if you make them yourself and I thought this was a DIY group.

They make no sense at all if you have to pay somebody to manufacture and somebody else to install them - perhaps at 200usd/barrel they might, but not even then, I think.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 17 years ago

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home" saying something like:

I have an unused borehole I'd be willing to sell - it's about 150' deep.

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dennis 17 years ago

Do you deliver?

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Dave Liquorice 17 years ago

Yes, but only the hole.

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Bruce 17 years ago

I'm sure he would gladly accept half of the hole, but it must be delivered in one unbroken length.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 17 years ago

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "dennis@home" saying something like:

Collect only, I'm afraid. Have you ever tried to send a hole by carrier? Not easy, I can assure you.

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dennis 17 years ago

Only if its the bottom half.

>

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The Natural Philosopher 17 years ago

I dont even think they make sense DIY.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 17 years ago

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher saying something like:

Free materials, free time and resulting in free hot water? How can that not make sense?

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The Natural Philosopher 17 years ago

you have to eat to replavce the energy you use in manufacture/installation..

Food is energy as well.

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Grimly Curmudgeon 17 years ago

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher saying something like:

Here's a straw - fancy a clutch?

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Solar/wind?

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