Solahart water tank leaking

[Ironwood]

I have a Solahart 302J on my roof, it’s about 20 years old now.
It has a few rust spots on the water tank, and is starting to drip from one of them.

My options seem to be,
1- replace the tank. Probably the cheapest option, but considering the age of the system, is it worth putting money into it ?

2- Replace it with another Solahart. I believe they still have a steel tank that will rust eventually, though probably after I am gone.

3- Replace with another brand, or type of hot water system. Is there another brand that uses a stainless steel tank ?

Anyone have any thoughts, or advice they can offer here ?

[Fuzzie]

I had a Solarhart for 20 years on the roof in my last house. I think it was overkill for SEQ but it was installed well before Solar PV became viable. It spent most of it's time during summer trying to expel excess heat. When we originally looked at systems the Edwards Stainless Steel tank system was also available. Edwards was bought by Rheem a few years ago and Rheem SS systems are now available. I believe an extra cost for SS is because the SS tank doesn't use an anode it requires filtered water on the inlet and the filter needs annual maintenance....

My current house has solar PV and a standard electric HWS. My excess Solar PV that only gets 5c feed in tariff is more than enough to power the HWS. I should really get the HWS put on a timer circuit so it only heats during the day when the PV is generating. Currently it usually reheats 2 or 3 times over night when it draws from the grid when it's not really required.

A Heat Pump HWS would be another option for replacing a solar system and it wouldn't have the problem of overheating the water in summer.

[Ironwood]

Hi Franklin, I don’t have solar panels on my roof. I did look into it about 10 years ago, but was talked out of going ahead with it by the company I contacted due to the excessive shade on my house, the roof got about 3 hours full sun at that time. I have cut a few big trees down on the northern side of the house since then, and have probably doubled the hours of sunlight on the roof. I still haven’t gone the solar panel route though.

Due to this, I would still like to go with solar hot water. I am very happy with the performance of the Solahart, just have to do something about the leak before it gets too much worse.
I definitely would avoid going with a system that requires “servicing “, unless it’s something I can do myself cheaply.
I did a bit of googling, it looks like A new Solahart will set me back at least $6K. Not cheap to have a warm shower .

[Fuzzie]

Hi Brad, There are always a lot of variables in working out pay backs, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Things like hours of sun per day, orientation, ambient cold water temp and electricity tariffs all make a difference. I also would assume even in Mackay you need to boost the current solar system sometimes, notionally in winter but also across summer when consecutive wet days also provide insufficient sun. Maybe you should investigate a heat pump HWS, a little browsing seems to show the up front cost may be cheaper than a new Solahart and the running cost if you have regulated supply might be economical?

[rambunctious]

From my experience solar hot water is no longer cost effective, mainly because even though there are stainless tanks available, the panels break down in under 7 years.
I have seen Dux, Conergy, Rinnai, and Edwards panels all break down in under 7 years.
Conergy and Rinnai on my own roofs.
Solarhart quoted me $7000 just before Christmas for a thermo syphon/ tank on roof 300 litre unit but my present Conergy stainless is doing enough in summer but come winter will need boosting as it did last winter.

FWIW I put a Solarhart on my roof in approx 1977 for $660 and it was good for 20 years until I had to replace the tank and added an extra panel, and that set up lasted another 14 years before I changed to a Conergy which only lasted about 6 years before I installed a Rinnai, and the panels on it started breaking down 3 years ago
When I get tired of the present Conergy unit here on the coast I will install a stainless or lined steel unit ( depending my age at the time) of 250 or 315 litre capacity.
Probably stainless for the extra cost because by then they should have proved themselves to be worth the extra or not.
At the same time I may set up more power panels, presently 3.25 kw system which means we don't pay for power with Origin giving up 12 cents/kwh.

Fair bit of discussion here Household water heaters/ Heating | Just Commodores
if you want to read further.

[Ironwood]

I looked at the heat pump water heaters, but due to the hassle of finding a spot to put the tank, running more pipes and wires, I think I will probably just replace with the same unit.
This one lasted 20 years, as long as the new one doesn’t rust out before I move on, I’ll be happy.

I find now that I have cut those shady trees down, the sun heats the water enough for most of the year. We only get a few weeks in winter where it needs the 240V boost, and the couple of times when it rains for days on end.

Though if I was looking at putting solar panels on the roof anytime soon, I would make a different choice for sure.

[wozzzzza]

stick a can of stop leak in it see if it works.

[rambunctious]

stick a can of stop leak in it see if it works.

LOL It's a bit bigger than a vehicle radiator.