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Free Hot Water Blog
Archive for February, 2012
Our Made-in-USA 8000 Series Solar Collector Receives FSEC Certification
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 by Solar Fred
 Free Hot Water's Made-in-USA 8000 Series Solar Collector We’re proud to announce that we’ve received Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) approval for our made-in-America 8000 series solar hot water collector.
As Florida solar thermal installers and plumbers know, all collectors sold or manufactured in Florida must be certified by the FSEC. Consequently, the FSEC certification means that Free Hot Water’s made-in-USA 8000 series solar collector can now be installed in Florida homes and businesses and receive all the available solar hot water rebates and incentives.
For some reason, a great many Florida homes and businesses use electric water heaters, which is one of the most inefficient and most expensive methods to heat water. In fact, according to the FSEC, a family of four typically uses 3990-kilowatt-hours a year to heat water electrically, or nearly $400 per year worth of electricity at 10¢ per kilowatt-hour. Consequently, a solar water heating system should save between 50% and 85% of the hot water portion of the monthly utility bill.
Rather than replacing these systems with natural gas or propane heaters, solar thermal installers can now suggest that customers invest in one of our American made OG-300 systems that incorporate our 8000 series panels. Not only will they be saving money, but these Florida home owners and business owners will be contributing to clean energy and energy independence.
Businesses that use high volumes of solar hot water, such as hotels, apartment buildings, hospitals, and nursing homes, will save even more on their water heating bills, especially as utility rates rise throughout the 20-30 year lifetime of the solar thermal systems.
The FSEC is one of the nation’s leading certification and testing laboratories for solar products and equipment. The center’s expertise is based on nearly 30 years of experience conducting solar energy certification and testing programs, as well as partnerships with such national associations as The National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO), and the Solar Rating & Certification Corporation (SRCC).
Check out our online catalog for more information about our 8000 series solar collectors, residential OG-300 systems, and pre-engineered commercial 8000 series solar system packages.
Tags: Florida solar hot water, FSEC Certification, Made-In-USA Solar Hot Water Collectors, solar hot water for apartments, solar hot water for restaurants
Posted in 30% Investment Tax Credit, Florida-FSEC-Certification, pre-engineered solar thermal systems, Residential Solar Hot Water, Restaurant Solar Hot Water, Solar Hot Water, Solar Hot Water for Apartment Buildings, solar hot water for hospitals, Solar Rebates, Solar Thermal Economics | 1 Comment »
See Our New Ultrasonic Solar/Plumbing Tool For Accurately Measuring Hot Water Usage
Monday, February 20th, 2012 by Solar Fred
Question: When bidding on a commercial solar water heating project such as an apartment building, hotel, or hospital, how do you accurately measure the current solar hot water usage so that you can design the most optimal solar thermal system?
 - Free Hot Water’s New V15 Flow Meter for More Accurate Hot Water Usage Measurements
Answer: Either you estimate the building’s usage based on number of factors, such as the number of residents, or … you can now utilize Free Hot Water’s new V15 Ultrasonic Flow Meter and measure the building’s real-time solar hot water usage.
Solar installers and their solar thermal design engineers typically estimate a building’s current hot water usage based on several factors. Depending on the type of facility, the factors can include the number of residents in an apartment building, the number and type of washing machines, dishwashers, etc. This data is then incorporated into an algorithm that approximates the building’s monthly hot water gas usage, but it’s only a rough guestimate.
The V15 Ultrasonic Flow Meter eliminates the need for guessing. Instead, the V15 tool provides solar system designers with a building’s actual hot water usage through flow sensors that clamp onto the outside of the cold water pipe and measures the flow into the existing hot water storage tank.
After a week or two of recording flow data, solar installers will have an accurate picture of the building’s weekly hot water usage and can design the most optimal solar thermal system that for the needs of the building.
The V15 technology is based on transit-time flow measurement principle, which measures the flow rate of a liquid in a closed pipe through a pair of clamp-on or wetted ultrasonic transducers.
 (Click to Enlarge) In addition to solar hot water applications, plumbing professionals and commercial contractors can use the V15 for a wide range of industrial pipe flow measurements.
Examples include:
- Water (hot water, chilled water, city water, sea water, waste water, etc.)
- Sewage with small particle content
- Oil (crude oil, lubricating oil, diesel oil, fuel oil, etc.
- Chemicals (alcohol, acids, etc.)
- Plant effluent
- Beverage or liquid food
- Ultra-pure liquids
- Solvents and other industrial liquids
An SD memory card inside the V15 automatically records the data, which can be exported to a computer via a USB output tool.
Visit shopfreehotwater.com for more V15 flowmeter specifications and to download a Free Hot Water quick start guide.
Tags: commercial solar hot water assessment, solar plumbing tools, solar thermal components
Posted in Hotel Solar Hot Water, How Solar Works, Solar Business Resources, Solar Hot Water, Solar Hot Water for Apartment Buildings, solar hot water for hospitals, solar hot water resources | No Comments »
Share Your Free Hot Water Solar Thermal Installer Photos and Stats
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 by Solar Fred
Free Hot Water wants to promote our installers and distributors as much as possible. The busier you are installing solar thermal on apartment buildings, nursing homes, hotels, and homes, the better for all of us.
If you’re an installer and have just finished a solar thermal job using Free Hot Water materials send us some photos of your crew on the job, as well as photos of the complete installation.
Also, please include some details about the solar thermal job, including:
- Name of your solar hot water company
- Website address, if you have one
- Location (city and state)
- Type of installation (Residential, apartment building, condo, etc)
- Number of solar collectors
- Type of solar collectors you used
- Size of solar water heating tank used
- Estimated percentage of annual energy offset
Please send the above information and JPG photos to solarfred@freehotwater.com with the subject line “Free Hot Water Project Submission.”
We’ll select several projects every month, and put them all together in a blog post, which will also be included in our monthly e-newsletter, as well as other sites that RSS feed the Free Hot Water solar news blog.
Your company and your clients will receive increased web exposure and publicity for their solar installations, and you’ll also be showing the world all of the venues where solar thermal makes sense.
If you have any questions, please send them to the email address above. And thanks in advance for sharing your work terrific solar work.
Tags: solar hot water marketing, solar marketing, solar thermal news, solar water heating resources
Posted in Solar Business Resources, Solar Hot Water Marketing, Solar Hot Water News, solar hot water resources | 1 Comment »
Free Hot Water Website Goes International—with Automatic Translation Services
Saturday, February 11th, 2012 by Solar Fred
As of right now, you can be reading this blog post and all information on Free Hot Water’s website in just about any language.
No, we don’t have a separate website for every language in the world. Instead, Free Hot Water has installed Google Translate. Now, whether your native language is Spanish, Chinese, Italian, German, or many other languages, you can read Free Hot Water blog posts, product descriptions, and learn about solar thermal design and engineering services with a quick click of a button.
To enable Google Translate for this page or any page on our website site, simply click on the “Select Language” tab in the upper left hand corner of the page.
Choose your language of choice, and no matter where you navigate on Free Hot Water or shop.freehotwater.com, the page will automatically translate the text, although it won’t translate the text that may be embedded into images, such as the screenshot of our website above.
Google Translate isn’t perfect, but it does give you a good idea of what’s on the page. If you need to check the original English version, all you need to do is click on the paragraph in question, and you’ll see a pop-up of the source material.
And by the way, Free Hot Water does ship internationally to Latin America, Asian countries, and other regions, so if you’re looking for a huge selection of solar thermal and solar water heating products…. Willkommen, bienvenue, bienvenida, and 欢迎.
Tags: New Solar Products, Solar Business Resources, solar marketing, Solar Thermal Training
Posted in Google Translate, solar hot water resources, Solar Thermal & Solar Hot Water News, Solar Trade Shows | No Comments »
Instersolar North America Offers Free Visitor Registration …Again
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 by Solar Fred
 Photo: Flickr/DavidPaulOhmer They did it last year, and they’re doing it again: The organizers of Intersolar North America are offering free registration to visitors until April 12.
For those not familiar with Intersolar, it’s perhaps the second most prestigious international solar conference in the U.S. Solar Power International gets top prestige honors for U.S. solar conferences, but unlike Solar Power International, Intersolar is very predictable. It stays in one place and time.
That is, Insterolar is always in San Francisco at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and it always happens in the second week of July. This year, it’s scheduled for July 10 – 12, 2012.
Other facts and figures about Intersolar 2102:
- 950 exhibitors from 25 countries (Including Free Hot Water)
- 22,000+ international trade visitors representing 80 countries
- 1,600+ conference attendees, 30 sessions, 200+ speakers
- More than 300 U.S. and international media representatives
- Focuses: Solar PV & Solar Heating & Cooling
- Free practical workshops & seminars on the exhibit floor
- PV Production and Technology Hall (North Hall) with dedicated upstream focus
- Special exhibit on energy storage and grid integration: PV ENERGY WORLD
- Job & Career Forum
- Intersolar AWARD Ceremony & Hall of Fame
- Numerous networking events: Don’t miss the 2012 Solar Summerfest
More information on Intersolar North America as well as discounts on hotel rooms and air fair for Intersolar visitors can be found at www.intersolar.us.
Free Hot Water also plans to be there, plus it’s a great time of year to get away to San Francisco. After you get your free registration, be sure to contact us and set up a time to meet the Free Hot Water team and see the latest in solar thermal heating and engineering.
Tags: Intersolar 2012, Intersolar North America, solar thermal news, Solar Trade Shows
Posted in Intersolar North America, Solar Business Resources, Solar Hot Water, Solar Hot Water News, Solar Thermal & Solar Hot Water News, Solar Trade Shows | 2 Comments »
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