If you ever have paid the electric bills for heating water, then you might understand, using the sun rays to warm water is a better option. Almost 25% of household utility bills are because of heating water for the domestic purposes like washing clothes, dishes etc. The solar hot water heaters are the good option as these can reduce the electric bills to two third, so too without using any kind of fossil fuels which can cause the pollution. With the improvements in the technology, you can get hot water and even do not even have to live in the sunny areas, to take the benefits of this infinitely renewable source of energy.
Pros and cons of the solar heaters:
The solar water heaters have numerous advantages. Your energy utility bills will decrease to the maximum extent and you don't have to cost anything as the solar heaters use solar energy, which is present in the abundance and is free of cost. The other most important issue, which generally people ignore is the environmental issues. The use of the energy through the sun is very beneficial as it will not save your electricity bills but will also let you contribute a bit to you environment.
The main disadvantage of the solar heaters is its initial cost. The solar heating systems are quite expensive, though their prices have went down, in the past few years. The other thing of concern is the areas where t here is heavy snowfall. In those situations, the panels will end up in the huge piles of snow and will be useless. So what you need to do is to remove the snow, in order to make your heater work properly. Hence still today, we use the solar water heaters as the supplement not the replacements of the conventional electric heaters used for the daily purposes.
Choosing the right solar heater for you:
generally the solar heaters are installed at the roof of the houses, facing south. As the technology has advanced, the solar heaters are also available in plenty of sizes and configurations., form which one can choose according to the requirement, still maintaining their pocket.
One of the most important thing to find out is the solar resource of your location. The design and efficiency of your solar heating system depends on the amount of solar energy reaches to your solar panels. It is not necessary that there should be continuous sun rays for the solar system to work. As long as sun rises, your solar heater is effective.
The next thing you need to find is the size of the heater. This depends on your daily need and consumption of your hot water. Greater the needs, then go for the heater with many panels and large collector.
When all your analysis is done, the next and very important step is to shop around for various models and price quotes and select the one which best suit your requirements and your pocket as well.