Our family is reinstaling a new solar water heating system

Despite our previous negative experiences with solar water heating, our family is about to install a new solar water heating system on our house. More about this soon.

Far from being negative about the future of solar water heating in New Zealand, I am all for solar water heating. I believe that every NZ house with a sunny disposition should be employing solar energy capture systems like solar water heaters to reduce expenditure on household energy while improving quality of living.

Having said this, there is nothing to be gained and much to be lost if householders install poor quality systems that do not go the distance. Even a quality system will not perform or last if the workmanship of the installation is poor. There are good systems and quality installers out there; It is just a matter of doing your research carefully and selecting the best system for your requirements.

Please peruse this website using the search functions to in the right hand column to find your way. I strongly recommend that you take time to read the BRANZ reports that are on this website and read the responses on this website.

It is clear that pressuring the industry to bring down prices has been counter-productive. Low cost items simply may not be of a quality sufficient to withstand half a dozen years of being battered, soaked, frozen and roasted in the typical NZ roof setting - let alone durable enough to keep working for 20 years!

Energy conservation in the home is a multi-factorial exercise, since it is total energy consumption that is the key to reducing a family's energy costs - and saving the planet - of course!

As part of our family's programme to reduce our carbon footprint, we have amped up the insulation of our house by filling the internal cavities of the walls of our old house with foam insulation. For more information about this energy conservation measure, go here. However; in recommending this energy conservation measure, our family does not recommend this firm. They were very good on the sales pitch, but very poor on the after sales handling of us. Why do so many NZ companies keep letting themselves down on their customer service?