Solar Geyser Installation
East London
A solar geyser installation East London weather can live with needs a backup element for the grey weeks and fixings that suit the sea air. The quote breaks the price into its parts, after a look at the roof.
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Solar water heating, three ways
Which one suits depends on the roof, the budget and the geyser you already have.
Flat-plate collectors heat water through a dark panel on the roof. Evacuated tubes use rows of glass tubes and lose less heat on cool days. A heat pump is not solar at all: it works like an air conditioner in reverse, moving heat from the outside air into the water, and stands on the ground or a wall rather than the roof.
Any of them can be added to an existing geyser, called a retrofit, or come as a complete system with its own tank. A retrofit costs less if the geyser is sound. A complete system makes sense when the geyser is due for replacement anyway.
Solar water heating is plumbing under the law. Buffalo City's by-law says a solar water heating system must be installed according to SANS, and the Plumbing Industry Registration Board lists solar installations among the work that needs a Plumbing Certificate of Compliance.
A solar geyser on a coastal roof
Rain in every month and salt in the air change how a system should be chosen and fixed.
East London is not a desert-sun city. The Weather Service's long-term figures give it about 921 mm of rain a year over about 121 rain days, with no dry month: even June, the driest, averages around 40 mm. Mean humidity is 76%. A solar system here will have runs of grey days, so the backup element and its timer settings matter as much as the collector.
Then there is the frame and every bolt holding it to the roof. Within about 1 km of the shore, the national corrosion map rates the air as high to very high for corrosion, and extremely corrosive in the first 150 m. The galvanizers' association says galvanised steel in a C5 coastal zone may need recoating or replacing within 15 years. On a roof near the beach in the Quigney, Nahoon or Gonubie, that is the difference between a stainless or aluminium mounting kit and one that rusts through before the system has paid for itself.
The water matters too. A direct system runs tap water through the collector itself, and after floods and outages East London's water can carry sediment, which settles in narrow collector passages. An indirect system circulates a separate fluid and heats the tank through a coil, which keeps tap water out of the collector.
None of this rules solar out. It decides which system, which fixings and which backup settings suit the house, and it is why we look at the roof before quoting a price.
Ask what the frame and fixings are made of before you compare solar geyser prices. At the coast, the cheapest bracket can turn out to be the most expensive part.
Chosen for East London's weather, not a brochure's
Four things that keep a coastal solar system working long after the first summer.
The roof seen before the price
Orientation, shade, the roof covering and the existing geyser all change the answer. A solar price given without seeing the roof is a guess.
Coastal-grade fixings, in writing
Stainless steel or aluminium mounting where the house is near the sea, named on the quote so you can check it.
Backup set for grey weeks
The element and timer set so you have hot water on a wet week without heating water the sun would have heated anyway.
Paperwork that counts
Installed to SANS as the by-law requires, with the certificate of compliance at the end.
How a solar installation works
Options first, then the one you choose.
- 1
Look at the roof and geyser
Orientation, shade, roof type, the geyser's age and condition, and where pipes can run.
- 2
Options in writing
Retrofit or complete system, flat-plate, tubes or heat pump, and the price of each, side by side.
- 3
Install and commission
Mount the collector or unit, run and insulate the pipework, connect the controls, fill and test.
- 4
Show you the controls
How the backup element and timer are set, and what to look at once a year.
Solar geyser questions
Including the price question, answered honestly.
What do solar geysers cost in East London?
We have not found a published price guide for solar water heating in East London that we would stand behind, so we will not quote one here. The price depends on four things: a retrofit or a complete system, flat-plate, tubes or a heat pump, the size of the tank, and the roof. We put the options side by side in writing after looking at the roof.
Will a solar geyser work in East London's weather?
Yes, with a backup. Rain falls in every month here, about 921 mm a year, so there will be grey spells when the element does the work. The system is sized and the timer set for that, so the sun does what it can and the element covers the rest.
Retrofit or a new system?
If your geyser is sound and not too old, a retrofit adds solar heating to it for less. If it is near the end of its life, a complete system avoids paying for the geyser twice.
Is a heat pump better than solar panels?
It depends on where the heat is easier to get. A heat pump keeps working on cloudy days and at night and needs no roof space, but it uses some electricity. Panels and tubes use none for heating, but depend on the sun.
Does a solar geyser need a certificate of compliance?
Yes. The PIRB lists solar water installations among the work that needs a Plumbing Certificate of Compliance, and Buffalo City's by-law requires solar water heating to be installed according to SANS.
What maintenance does a solar geyser need near the sea?
A yearly look at the frame and fixings for corrosion, the collector for damage, the insulation on the roof pipes, and the valves on the geyser. On a direct system, ask about flushing sediment from the collector after a cloudy-water spell.
Request a call-out
Tell us what is happening and where. We phone you back to confirm a time and what we are bringing.
There is no phone line on this website on purpose: every request lands with a person who phones you back, so nothing depends on catching someone between jobs.
Where we work in East London
A service-area business: we come to you, anywhere in the suburbs below and the rest of Buffalo City.
City centre and beachfront
CBD, Quigney, Arcadia, North End, Belgravia, Southernwood, Panmure
Berea side
Selborne, Berea, Vincent, Vincent Heights, Stirling, Bunkers Hill, Baysville, Woodleigh
Nahoon to Gonubie
Nahoon, Nahoon Valley, Bonnie Doon, Abbotsford, Dorchester Heights, Beacon Bay, Bonza Bay, Gonubie, Sunrise-on-Sea
West and north-west
Cambridge, Chiselhurst, Amalinda, Haven Hills, Braelyn, Buffalo Flats, Scenery Park, Reeston, Mdantsane
West Bank and the coast
West Bank, Greenfields, Sunnyridge, Woodbrook, Cove Rock, Winterstrand, Kidd's Beach
Industrial areas
Wilsonia, East London IDZ, Braelyn Industrial