Computer Controlled Solar Hydronic Heating Systems
A more reliable cost-saving heating solution for Moreno Valley homeowners and their builders
By John Edmund Halley
Many homes in the Moreno Valley area are heated with propane-fired hydronic heating systems that are complex, non-standardized and very expensive to operate. As volatile propane fuel prices continue to steadily rise, homeowners in the Moreno Valley area can substantially reduce and stabilize their home heating and domestic hot water costs by installing a computer-equipped hydronic heating system controller, active solar thermal collectors, passive solar features and building envelope performance improvements such as installing more insulation, weather stripping, caulk-sealing air gaps, etc.
Historically, integrated hydronic heating systems (systems that provide both heating and domestic hot water with one or more backup heat sources) have required custom solutions that lacked necessary heating system standardization, resulting in high costs for system design, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance.
Now, an efficient standardized heating system design run by an intelligent computer-equipped hardware/software controller can provide a solar hydronic heating system that is much easier and cheaper to install, operate and maintain. The “intelligent” controller offers a host of internet-delivered system efficiency benefits such as remote commissioning, monitoring, system diagnostics, data logging and remote system operation. Pre-programmed for each job, the controller can run the heating system as soon as it is plugged in, with a solution that homeowners can easily program, monitor and control for maximum comfort and efficiency. System access over the internet offers a new advantage especially for non-fulltime resident homeowners.
For system installers, a standardized system equipped with the pre-programmed controller is easier and cheaper to install, commission, troubleshoot and maintain. For locations like Moreno Valley where access is sometimes difficult in winter, many heating system issues that presently require expensive service calls can now be diagnosed and resolved by accessing the heating system over the internet.
Since solar thermal heat collectors convert sunlight to useful energy about 4 times more efficiently than solar electric technologies, adding a solar heating system with a computer controller can cost effectively reduce home owner heating bills by up to 75% in the Moreno Valley area. When homeowners take advantage of federal and state solar system rebates that presently pay up to 40% of the solar system cost (30% federal and 10% state), solar systems can often provide an immediate positive return on investment with a system that pays for itself in about 5 to 7 years.
Evolving out of more than 35 years of solar hydronic heating system experience, the best standardized solar hydronic heating system designs and related computer equipped controllers provide time-tested reliable solutions installed by certified installers, providing the homeowner with many years of reliable cost saving service.
John Halley is founder and president of Comet Studios, a firm that has specialized in energy efficient passive and active solar home design for over 35 years. Comet Studios is also the exclusive Moreno Valley area dealer for Solar Logic computer equipped hydronic heating controllers and SolarLogic’s related standardized hydronic heating system design. For more information about passive and active solar heating solutions, visit Comet Studios website at www.cometstudios.com or contact them directly at comet@cometstudios.com or at 505.231.1454.