Reducing your energy costs is something that you may be interested in doing to save money and make your home greener. There are many things that you can do to reduce your energy consumption, one of which is adding solar energy to your home. An affordable solar energy solution can be hot water heaters.  These can be integrated with conventional systems, or they can produce most of the hot water you need on their own. Here are some tips to help you use solar collectors for your domestic hot water needs:

1. Choosing From The Different Types Of Solar Collectors

When looking for solar collector for hot water, there are two basic types you will find. The first type of collector is one that uses a loop of pipes in a panel to heat water. These are more affordable, but provide minimal energy. The other type of system is an evacuated tube solar water heater. These systems can be costlier, but they are much more efficient and can even heat water with a minimal amount of sunlight, such as on a cloudy day.

2. Deciding If You Need An Auxiliary Hot Water Heater Installed

Even when you install a solar energy system, you will not always have enough sunlight to heat water. You will want an auxiliary system to heat water when there is no sunlight. This can be a small water heater that uses gas or electricity. If your solar water heater is your main source of hot water, you will need to have one of these systems installed. If you use collectors with a conventional water heater, you will not need to have backup system.

3. Adding Storage Tanks To Use Energy For Other Mechanical Systems

In addition to heating water for your home, you can also use solar water heaters for other mechanical systems. They can provide energy for heating your home too. If you use the collectors for other mechanical systems, you may want to have thermal storage tanks installed. These tanks will store the water from the collectors to be used by the different mechanical systems in your home, such as a water heater, furnace and boiler. They can also improve energy savings by giving you more capacity to store energy from solar collectors.

These are some tips to help you get started using solar energy to heat water for your home. If you are ready to start reducing your energy costs, contact a plumbing supplies service like Barstow Industrial Supply and ask them about solar hot water heating for your home.