Why you should service your solar hot water system every 5 years

With regular servicing, a Solahart unit can last more than 40yrs. We recently had a replacement in Laidley for a customer whose system was 47yrs old. Granted this is on the far end of what we would expect but does show what you can get out of an Australian Made Tank.

When your Solahart system is manufactured they coat the metal inside the tank with a special ceramic lining so there is no water touching metal and nothing to rust out. The only metal part that they can’t coat is where the screws and bolts for the element connects, which means it will rust very quickly. To avoid this Solahart uses a sacrificial anode (big, long metal rod) that is designed to eat the nasties out of the water before they can damage anything else. It is recommended that the anode is replaced once every 5 years to maintain the health of your unit.

Most of our systems also have a heating fluid running through the panels instead of water. When you have cold nights (cold being 5^o or less), there is no risk of the panels bursting.

As the heating fluid heats up in summer it expands, and to relieve the pressure the unit vents some of it to the atmosphere. After a couple of summers there is no longer enough of the heating fluid in the panels to work at full efficiency.

Toowoomba and surrounds is a lovely area with lots of trees and greenery as well as plenty of new work being done. The downside is that there is a LOT of dust and debris in the air which can stick to your panels and stop them absorbing the heat properly.

In order to keep in line with government requirements, there are many valves involved in a hot water unit – Tempering valve, Over Pressure Relief valve, Cold Water Expansion valve to name a few.

All of these are mechanical parts and being mechanical, they require either replacement or maintenance. Some may not be used enough while others may be used more often. Both scenarios can result in the valves needing to be replaced to function.

On the day of your service, one of our solar accredited plumbers will attend your address. We will need access to your meter box & to your roof. As part of the service cost, we replace the Sacrificial Anode & the Hot Water Pressure Relief valve (HT-55) as well as cleaning your panels. Our plumber will also check the electrics to ensure your booster is working and check the function of all the valves. If any are found to be faulty, we will replace for additional cost.

Please note that we are happy to service NON-Solahart Solar Hot Water Systems however we might need to order special parts in if ours aren’t compatible.

Give us a call today on 4632 1974 or click here to book your solar hot water service now!