New York Solar Hot Water Systems

The New York family spends more than 40% of their home energy costs on home and water heating, and as the prices of oil, natural gas, and other heating fuels continue to rise, the cost of heating your water and your home will continue to rise at the same rate - this could put your heating expenditure well over 40%, and significantly higher over the coming years.

In January 2008, Crude Oil traded on the open market reached an all-time high price of over $100 a barrel. This immediately drove the prices of gasoline, and other fuel made from oil, higher. In fact, I recently filled my own home fuel tank at home (250 gallons) for $3.74 a gallon for #6 fuel oil.

This came to a total of $935 for a single tank of gasoline - which, knowing the depth of New York winters, and the extremely cold temperatures we can face, will last maybe a couple of months (at the outside).

There are ways to beat these winter heating costs.

The graphs below show the current price and trends for the two most popular fuels for home and water heating in New York; Propane and Home Heating Fuel Oil. As you can see, prices in the 2006-2007 heating season hovered at roughly the same level - propane stayed consistently around $2.00 a gallon and Home Heating Oil stayed right around the $2.50 a gallon mark. However, the 2007-2008 trend has been markedly different for both fuels. The price of Propane has climbed this winter and is currently at a price of over $2.50 a gallon, while the cost of fuel oil has spiked on concerns over the stability of the world's oil supplies and political instability of the countries that dominate the production market, with the average price climbing to nearly $3.50 a gallon in recent weeks.

Compared to January 2007, it is now far more expensive to heat your home and your hot water with Propane and Home Heating Oil. Filling up the same 250 gallon Home Heating Oil Tank now costs $ 231.50 more than it did a year ago, and purchasing the same 100 gallon Propane tank now costs $ 53.80 more than last year.

It is very likely that you have noticed these price increases this year, especially if you recently had to get more Home Heating Oil or Propane at today's fair-market price. However, there is something you can do. Invest in a SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System from Silicon Solar.

A SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System on a home in New York can cut your home and water heating costs by 60 to 80%. Considering the current price spikes in the cost of fuels used for home and water heating, a 60 to 80% reduction in your heating costs is becoming a better, and more profitable deal every single day - as prices continue to rise, so too does the money that you save.

Just water heating alone accounts for roughly 20% of a typical household's energy bills, and with a SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System, you can easily cut this portion of your energy bill by 60-80% for an investment of only a few thousand dollars (typically lower than installing a new traditional home heating system).

The following shows the costs related to a typical SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System Installation in New York. Please note that the figures for installation are only estimation, and your actual installation costs can be higher or lower by any amount.

The System above, installed in New York will produce roughly 80,000 BTU of heating per day. If this system were installed in a typical Albany, NY home and used strictly for Water Heating (not space heating as well) we can draw the following conclusions about the system.

Using the SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System and financial estimations above, just the savings in the cost of Propane alone would allow this SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System to completely pay for itself in a shade under 7 years (the payback period). This is, however, without taking into account the current federal and New York Solar Incentives and Credits that are designed to help New York Homeowners pay for their new SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Systems easier.

Solar Hot Water System Components

The most important component in a SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System is the Solar Collectors. Solar Collectors, like a PV Solar Panel, use the light from the sun to generate heat, which can then be used to heat water for domestic use, and even for radiant space heating for your home through baseboard and floorboard radiant heating systems.

There are two main types of Solar Collectors used for Solar Hot Water Systems in New York; Flat Plate Solar Collectors and Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors. And while Flat Plate Collectors are generally lower-cost than Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors, in colder, northern states, like New York, with long winters and short days, Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors actually pay for themselves faster, and generate a larger Return on Investment over the lifetime of the system.

Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors - These Solar Collectors are the most efficient and cost-effective Solar Hot Water Collectors for Northern, cold, long winter climates like New York State. While Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors are typically more expensive than Flat Plate Solar Collectors, their increased efficiency in these regions allow them to completely pay for themselves as, or more, quickly than Flat Plate Solar Collectors. Silicon Solar Recommends SunMaxx Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors for customers in New York.

Flat Plate Solar Collectors - Flat Plate Solar Collectors generally cost less than Evacuated Tube Solar Collectors, and are extremely efficient and cost-effective in warm, southern, short winter climates. However, in north, like New York, where winters are cold and long, Flat Plate Solar Collectors can suffer from decreased efficiency, which overtime can lengthen the payback period of your SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System and decrease the lifetime Return on your Investment. Silicon Solar does not recommend Flat Plate Solar Collectors to our New York customers.

There are several other important components to a SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System. These components include:

• Dual-Temperature Controller - the dual temperature controller reads the temperature within your Solar Hot Water System and determines whether the system should be OFF or ON to keep the water temperature at the pre-determined setting.
• Automatically Controlled Pump - The controller of your SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System will tell the pump when to turn ON and OFF, moving water through your Solar Hot Water System when it needs to be heated and when it doesn't.
• Heat Exchangers - Heat Exchangers can be built directly into your Solar Hot Water Storage Tank (like the 40 and 80 gallon SunMaxx Storage Tanks) or can be added externally to an existing Hot Water Storage Tank to pre-heat the water before it enters the tank. This pre-heating allows your traditional heater to be used less, saving you hundreds of dollars a year on water heating costs.
• Other Components - There are several other components that make your Solar Hot Water System more efficient and cost-effective, including, a Heat Dump to remove excess heat from the system in the summer, piping, valves, fitting, and more.

A SunMaxx Solar Professional can assist you in determining which SunMaxx Solar Hot Water System is right for you, what financial assistance and information you can take advantage of to help offset the cost of your system, and how to find a dealer and installer in your area. For more information on SunMaxx Solar Hot Water Systems please visit solarhotwater.siliconsolar.com.