The Energy Family Makes A Solar Hot Water Heater

We do appreciate the technology, though. Before we installed our propane water heater in 1999, we were living with cold showers--a rough situation up here in northern Vermont. The hot water was a luxury. For two days, we even argued over who got to do the dishes. Since then, we've managed to empty our propane tanks every nine or 10 months, for an annual hit of about 550 gal. of fuel and as much as 1000 bucks.

When it came time to try something better, we quickly decided on a solar hot-water system. To most people, "solar power" means photovoltaic panels that produce electricity. That's a shame, because solar hot-water systems actually make better use of the sun's energy and offer a quicker return on the investment, which can range from about $6000 to twice that. "It baffles me," says Peter Allen, founder and president of Thermo Dynamics (www.thermo-dynamics.com), a Canadian company we turned to for help with the project. "A kilowatt of photovoltaics costs about $7000; a kilowatt's worth of hot-water system is about $2000."