Anyone got solar tubes from Carey Glass Solar?

N

Neehallow

Registered User
Messages
21
Hi

Looking at solar tube options at the moment and had pretty much made up my mind regarding a supplier (Kedco) - was going to go for 60 tubes and a 300 litre tank.

Then I met a rep from Carey Glass Solar. He showed me a system made by Ritter, a German company - and said that I'd only need 18 tubes in the case of their product to get good hot water in a 300 litre tank.

The cost of the Carey system was also coming in substantially cheaper than Kedco (and many others I looked at.) But the key consideration was the space-saving I'd achieve with just 18 as opposed to 60 tubes. (I don't have much south-facing roof space.)

So is it too good to be true? less tubes, less space, less cost and the same hot water????

Be very interested if anyone here has installed Carey Glass Solar tubes and has an opinion.
 


we went with ecologics, found them excellent
 
Yes it is true..

Carey Glass Solar 18 tubes is equivalent to 36 because of the parabolic mirrors on the tubes. This system will heat a 300 litre cylinder to 60 deg and more without any difficulty.

Tried and tested experience!

No connection with Carey other than a happy customer.
 
thanks armada - that's very interesting. I was skeptical until now but that sounds good.

colin - the price quoted for the 18 tube kit was 1400. (That doesn't include the cylinder by the way or fitting).

I think the rep said about 800 for fitting - but I'm not 100% on that as I don't need them to fit it.
 
i am surprised kedco not good price, talk to them they might come down. They also have the 18 tube option as I was looking at that also but if you check the kwh per year the 60 tubes give more....installatin for 800 euro??...get a plumber to price not the rep, most installs are 1500 min. Also note the 60 tubes get a better grant than 18, its a better discount
 
I found that it was cheaper to get bio-ethanol from N Ireland DELIVERED rather than collecting at KEDCO.

have also found CAREY to be cheaper than other systems.

Was not happy with LVP system
 
Reflector tubes

Reflector based systems perform very well when new, but unless they are accessible for cleaning, their performance will plummet in time.

They work well in tests because any light that falls between the tubes is reflected back into the back of them. Tubes keep themselves clean because any dirt is washed by rain. However, this dirty water then rolls to the back of the tubes where the water can sometimes evaporate, resulting in a massive build up of dirt at the back of the tubes.

That doesn't matter on most tube systems - the back of the tube is irrelevant. Personally I would only use reflector systems on a house with easy access to clean the tubes every couple of years.

As regards the size of system that will heat a 300L cylinder, it all depends on your water use. If you have a house occupied during the day, and lots of hot water use, you then need more tubes - as many as 60 in a high volume system. Going for that option will also extend the season further into spring and autumn.

Remember that tubes will stagnate at very high temperatures, and if you want the system to last, it should have a heat dump to reduce the incidence of "stagnation" when the panel shuts down, boils, and sits on the roof at a high temperature. This degrades the antifreeze, damages pipe insulation and shortens the system life.
 
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