Post by thread:[OT] Solar water heating economics

>> The basics are that I can get a system installed for $NZ4000 and get >> an interest free loan over a 3 year term to cover >> it. Isn't it a bit expensive for just a big black metal box with some bonze (not actually pure) pipes and some glass cover? I can do it here for less than (say) 300 U$S... So why does it cost so much? Does it has any particular characteristic? Regards, Mauricio Jancic Janso Desarrollos - Microchip Consultants Program Member spam_OUTinfoTakeThisOuTjanso.com.ar http://www.janso.com.ar (54) 11 - 4542 - 3519

>From what I can gather the collectors are aluminium with a black nickel coating and the whole arrangement sits in a box with 4mm (tempered ?) glass glazing. The panel is insulated from the bottom of the box by expanded polythene. Copper pipes are used for connections and are lagged to minimise heat loss. The $4k includes installation into an existing hot water system and also a pump, pump controller and some sort of valve block. And yes, I have thought about "rolling my own" but "other people" are concerned as much about how it looks as how it works ! Still under consideration. Richard P >> The basics are that I can get a system installed for $NZ4000 and get >> an interest free loan over a 3 year term to cover >> it. Isn't it a bit expensive for just a big black metal box with some bonze (not actually pure) pipes and some glass cover? I can do it here for less than (say) 300 U$S... So why does it cost so much? Does it has any particular characteristic? Regards,