Solar Thermal Heating

Since 2003 gas prices have risen by a huge 90%, this means the average household gas bill has increased from £300 to £630 as gas prices continue to soar. It is no surprise people are taking measures to reduce their gas bills.

There are other benefits too, research carried out by the energy saving trust shows that home improvements incorporating energy saving measures increase property value by up to £10,000.

Is it suitable for our home?

Most homes and existing central heating systems can be altered for a solar thermal hot water installation.

Wolf heating will visit your property to conduct a free no obligation survey to ensure your property will substantially benefit from solar thermal water heating and advise you accordingly.

A correctly sized solar thermal system will provide 60 to 70 % of your homes hot water requirements annually and 100% during summer months.

Solar hot water storage systems - prices from £2,500.

Roof Type

The panels/evacuated tubes can be fitted to most sloping roofs, we can also fit them onto flat roofs, out buildings, and even in the garden, to heat your swimming pool. For optimum performance the roof should be facing south, but we can do systems for east and west facing roofs. The tubes benefit from full exposure to the sun and should not be overshadowed by trees or other obstructions.

Boiler Type

Solar thermal heating systems still require a boiler to top up the hot water when required. We can design your system to be compatible with all types of existing central heating, from system, regular or combination boilers.

However if you were to incorporate a new high efficiency A rated condensing boiler as part of the solar installation you will be dramatically reducing your carbon foot print, and annual gas bills.

Panel Types

There are two types of panels (collectors) evacuated tubes and flat plate. There are benefits to both systems and the site requirements will determine which is best suited.

Wolf heating offers the latest high performance TZ evacuated tubes in 18 20 24 or 30 arrays, which are solar key marked and come with a ten year tube guarantee.

We offer a 10 year warranty on the evacuated tubes only.

We also offer a 2 year no quibble warranty on all other workmanship done during installation of your solar system should any problems arise.

We also offer German Wagner flat panels EURO L20 AR –The Next Generation Top Performance With Anti-Reflection Glass and LASER Fused Absorber these offer comparable performance with the current high performance tubes can be in roof mounted for a velux window effect, with no pipes showing.

Benefits of installing solar panels:

You will have hot water through the year
Sunlight is free so after initial installation costs your bills will be reduced
Solar panels do not release carbon dioxide so you will be cutting your carbon footprint

Solar Thermal Collectors

Solar Collectors work by converting sunlight into hot water. Each collector is made up of a number of evacuated tubes with a selective absorbent coating and a copper heat pipe. Light enters the tube and the coating converts it to heat, this in turn is transmitted to the heat-pipe, the vacuum in the tubes prevents this heat being re-emitted to the atmosphere, meaning that the collectors will work in cold outside temperatures. Each tube with its heat-pipe is connected to a manifold through which fluid is pumped and warmed by the tips on the heat-pipes, the heated fluid is contained within a sealed circuit that connects to a dedicated solar coil on your cylinder.