Solar water heaters are hot in Israel

Israel is holding its parliamentary elections today, and in a country that's so concerned about energy, it's not a surprise that two environmental groups—the Green Party and the combined Green Movement—Meimad—are among the 34 parties vying for spots in the 120-seat Knesset.

I saw firsthand how significant energy-use matters are to Israel during an August 2008 trip. For example, all the hotel rooms we stayed in were equipped with motion sensors on the lights or required us to plug the access key card into a slot to turn on the TV or air conditioner. This last gizmo also prevented us from leaving either running when we headed out for the day.

But what I noticed most about Israelis' alternative-energy efforts were the rooftop solar water heaters all over the country. Whether I was in the Old City of Jerusalem or in hustle-and-bustle modern-day Tel Aviv, these solar water heaters, required for new residential construction for many years, were everywhere—it was the rare residential building that lacked them. (The photo above was taken in Jerusalem.) In an anachronistic touch in a 16th-century synagogue in Safed, I also saw old lighting fixtures fitted with compact fluorescent lightbulbs (right).

It's not a given that Israel's green parties will claim any Knesset seats, but it's clear that with the widespread use of solar water heaters, Israelis have made some significant steps toward saving energy.—Steven H. Saltzman

Essential information: We'll be testing residential solar water heaters for an upcoming story on these appliances. If you're considering installing a tankless water heater, read our latest report.

Comments

[Bill Loesch]

Congratulations, Mr. Saltzman, on experiencing how a small country with
great solar resources effectively uses that home grown energy. You used the phrase, "...solar water heaters, required for new residential construction for many years, were everywhere" [in Israel]. Kudos to the Israelis for "requiring" this low cost, proven technology for many years already. Please let me interject here what you have pictured on this webpage is known as an ICS (Integrated Collector & Storage) solar system. What is important to remember is this application of
solar is well suited to non freezing climates. Since within the US, there
exist a multitude of climates, the ICS solar system may not be a universal panacea, especially in a freezing climate.

[water]

Hi, I am making and selling solar water heater in china.
Solar water heater technonlogy is developing so rapdily, there is a type of vacumm tube can work without water inside which is good for the place temperature chaning grately.

[Dale Hardaway]

I recently met a central FL homeowner that installed a solar hot water heater during the last energy crisis (1970's) and has used it with great success for over 30 years. It generates enough hot water for the house year round, and suplements with an electic hot water heater during our 1 week of "cold weather" in February. I realize this may not be an option for home-owners north of the Mason-Dixon line - but why not evaluate a technology that has proven benefit for 1/3 of the country. After all - we have to wade thru evaluations of snow-blowers.

Best regards,
Dale H. Orlando FL

[Kathy Martin]

I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. When we built our house in 1987, my husband & I installed a solar water system from ThermoDynamics & built a passive solar house.

The only problem we had with our solar - much to our amazement & even ThermoDynamics's, was we had to add piping to the blowoff value from the hot water storage tank to a drain. The amount of hot water we were collecting would get so hot it, the safety would blow. We had the largest hot water tank you could buy for a residence at the time. Did I mention that due to the angle of our roof, we had we the panels at wrong angle to best collect solar hot water? We are still living in the same house house - our house stays cool in the summer with out air conditioning, we only have to put the heat on around 4 in the afternoon on a sunny day due to in the winter and our hot water pays for itself.

My only regret? That I didn't put a couple of extra panels up on the roof, build the utility room large enough to handle a much bigger holding tank & add radiant in floor heating to the basement...

[john eastman]

I just wish CR was on the leading edge with product evaluations [like solar hot water, heat pumps, electric vehicles or alternate personal transportation]
As it is, it's a tossup whether the economy or the environment [which are linked, and not in the inverse relationship the conservatives would have us believe] will kill the US first.
If it's the economy, we may not all go down with you, but if it's the environment, we all go down.
So it would be nice to have really good comsumer info on how to help saveth planet and the alternate economy at the same time.

[Solar water heaters rule]

It’s about time that people started coming around on solar water heating. It’s been around for 50 years and the ROI is much greater than PV solar.