Beckett SolarHot - Manual (Page 13)

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© SOLARHOT 2006-2009
because of it’s cost-to-performance ratio, as well as its compact size. A 5”x12” heat exchanger can be
mounted on the side of a standard 80 gallon tank and all of the piping be run from there. With a profile
of only 3” off the tank, t s deal for tght spaces as well.
A standard 8-20 gallon hot water tank can be used as the
drainback reservoir in this configuration as well as using a
standard electrc water heater for the storage tank/back-
up.
The Beckett SolarHot Advantage: Complete systems include an oversized external
heat exchanger which can be easily mounted on the exterior of an unmodified standard
hot water tank. The hot water tank wll provde addtonal water for those tmes when
solar alone wll not meet all of the hot water needs. Our package elmnates the costs
and lead times associated with custom tanks. The external positioning of the heat
exchanger also reduces maintenance difficulties down the road.
Glycol system: If your ste requres that you nstall a glycol system, you need to consder a number
of the optons presented n the secton on dranback systems. You can go wth a sngle pump heat
exchange system or a multi-pump external heat exchanger. The same relative advantages apply as
lsted before. The only opton that s not avalable for a glycol system s a system where the heat
exchanger is integrated with the drainback tank (there is no drainback tank).
Key dfferences when nstallng a glycol system:
Frst, the sze requrements of the pump for the
collector loop are lower than the same pump on
a dranback system. Second, copper s the only
ppng materal sutable for a glycol system although
you can use ½” ppe rather than ¾”. Thrd, you
cannot use the hgh lmt functon of the dfferental
controller. The hgh lmt functon of the control
turns the dfferental control off once your storage
tank reaches a certan pre-determned set pont.
Finally, you need to change your heat transfer fluid
every 3-5 years to keep t from turnng acdc.