Solar Heating | Solar Hot Water | Sun Lizard Solar Room Heater A solar Hot water collector on your roof will save more than 80% of your heating bills in a year. We are blessed with sunshine and in Queensland the average home can have more than 80% of its hot water needs provided by the sun. In a grid connected home this can save up to 3 to 4.5 tonnes of Greenhouse gas production a year. in an average household that spends 40% of its electricity bill on hot water heating, the full cost of the solar hot water system may be recouped as quickly as 4-5 years in reduced bills. A Solar Hot Water system should provide reliable operation for many years. Considerable savings can be made during the life of the solar hot water heater through lower running costs and little or no maintenance. Solar hot water is a very different technology to Solar Photovoltaic cell. An hot water collector is a insulated box with a black collector plate inside. This collector plate has tubes running through it that contain either water of in frost prone areas, a glycol based substance. The water or glycol are heated by sunlight falling on the surface of the collector and due to a principle known as thermosyphoning the heated water rises and allows colder water to flow to the bottom of the plate ready to be heated and rise again. This natural process means that many systems need no pumps to circulate the water. The heated water is stored in an insulated hot water tank until drawn off by the shower or kitchen tap. Solar hot water systems are very affordable when compared to other solar hot water heaters due to their greater life expectancy and natural frost protection. For a household of 4 costed over a 10 year period, the price of a full system can actually be less than a new electric or gas system. Depending on you location (solar levels) and current hot water usage the annual electricity or gas saving will differ. Solar hot water should not be seen as a complete alternative to gas or electricity, but rather a major partner. Solar cannot totally replace the need for gas or electric heating in most cases as there are sometimes days when there is little sunlight. When averaged over a year, a correctly sized solar system can provide up to 80% or more of a household's hot water needs. The hot water system can easily be automated so hot water is guaranteed regardless of sunlight levels.