Pipe insulation is one of those things that’s easy to overlook, but I’ve seen the same thing—water leaves the tank piping hot and by the time it gets to the tap, you’re wondering if you even turned on the hot side. I’m always surprised how many folks skip it, especially in older houses where the runs are long.
About the mixing valve, I had a tenant swear their solar heater was busted last year. Turned out a sticky valve was the culprit. Sometimes it’s the simple stuff.
I’d also echo what you said about shadows on panels—
That’s a sneaky one. Trees grow faster than you think, and it doesn’t take much shade to kill your gains.“I’ve seen panels lose half their output just from a neighbor’s tree shadow in the afternoon.”
Curious if anyone’s actually found recirc pumps worth it in a standard rental? I tried them once, but honestly, it was just another call for me to answer when it needed fixing. Maybe I’m missing something, but I’d rather stick with insulation and regular checks for leaks. Anyone else run into weird pressure drops from slow leaks? Those can be a pain to track down...
Recirc pumps always seemed like overkill to me, especially for a regular house. I tried one in my last place and it was just another thing to maintain. Insulation made a bigger difference than I expected—cheaper, too. I’d rather deal with a bit of wait time than more repairs down the line.
Insulation made a bigger difference than I expected—cheaper, too.
Yeah, I’ve had the same experience. Wrapped the pipes and tank with that foam stuff and honestly, it helped more than I thought it would. Curious though—did you notice any drop in water temp on cloudy days? My solar setup struggles a bit when the sun’s not out, so I’m wondering if there’s a trick I’m missing besides just more insulation.
I get what you mean—cloudy days definitely knock the temp down for me too, even with all the foam and fiberglass I could cram around things. I tried doubling up on insulation but honestly, after a point it didn’t seem to help much. Thought about adding a backup electric element, but that kinda feels like cheating the whole “solar” thing...
I ran into the same issue last winter—cloud cover just killed the heat, no matter how much insulation I added. At a certain point, I realized the collector size was the real bottleneck, not the tank insulation. I get wanting to keep it “pure solar,” but honestly, a backup element saved me from a lot of cold showers. Sometimes practicality wins out over ideals, you know?
