Install solar hot water heating
PLEDGE: Install solar hot water heating
Hot water heating is the single largest use of domestic electricity, so cutting down on the amount of electricity used for that is the single biggest change you can make to your electricity consumption.
The money saved in reduced electricity bills can pay for the installation of the solar hot water heater within 5 to 7 years, but they last much much longer than that as there are no moving parts. You can calculate your likely payback time here http://www.mirak.co.nz/SavingCalc.php
If you meet certain criteria you may be eligible for a grant from the government to help pay for the heater. http://www.solarsmarter.org.nz/consumers/financial-assistance
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Solar water heating no necessarily cheaper
My hot water is heated on half rate electricity overnight. Annual cost is less than $400. It wouldn't make economic sense to install solar heating. And just because there are no moving parts doesn't mean there's nothing to go wrong. The heat exchanger is the real costly item and if that goes faulty, you're stuffed.
Solar an environmental decision with financial benifits
Not everything is about economic sense. Applying economic sense to everything we do will not create the change we need. Solar water heating is about reducing electricity or gas consumption and ultimately reducing carbon emmisions. The fact that this has the effect of reducing your energy bill means people tend to focus on financial payback. The problem with payback calculations is that they do not take into account the rising cost of energy. I guarantee you that in 5 years time, your hot water heating bill will be a lot higher than the current $400. The real benefit of solar water heating is the changing to a sustainable resource with the additional benefits of future proofing your home against future energy price rises. Solar water heating also gives you a little bit of independance from the "fragile" nature of New Zealand's electricity network. Where do you think the 5 billion dollars required to fix the cook straight cable will come from?
It does need to make economic sense for most people
The reality is that for the vast majority of people, environmental actions need to make economic sense as they either can't or are unwilling to pay for them. The case for solar hot water just does not stack up economically in my sense.
Lots of these systems require an electrical supply for a circulating pump, so there is no independence from the electricity network.
There's also a concern that a lot of the systems installed are failing prematurely and needing costly remedial work.
Sure the cost of electricity is going up, but probably no more than the interest that can be got from investing the money that would have been spent on the solar hot water system.