hydronic solar panels

[loggie]

Does anyone have experience with these,the only ones I can find are from houseneeds they are rated at 21k btus per day per panel and are over one thousand dollars apiece.I was thinking of hooking one to a spare coil in my wood boiler and running glycol in it mounted on my south facing roof..I would need too many of these to make a difference in my 1250 gal boiler,any Ideas?

 

[peakbagger]

If you search this forum, you will find a recent long thread on solar hot water. Realistically with a wood boiler, the panels are better suited for supplying domestic hot water the rest of the year when the boiler isnt running. If you want to supplement your space heating needs, there are some economic and practical decisions that you would have to go through before you can come up with a best fit.

 

[smokinj]

http://www.aaasolar.com/cat-pdf.html these guys have some used ones Its alot cheaper than new, this may help too (broken link removed) http://www.radiantec.com/systems-sources/open-system.php

 

[steam man]

The best applicaion for solar thermal panels is domestic hot water preheating. You would need a fair amount of panels to heat 1250 gallons to anything useable. The rule of thumb is to heat DHW first. Then possibly apply the balance of the available heat to low temperature loads. Keeping solar heat collection separate from fossil fuel heat is simply more efficient.

Mike

 

[loggie]

Hey,thanks for the replies ,some interesting info there.I guess I would have to cover my entire roof with panels to make a difference in the boiler.now what do I do with that extra coil?