Commercial Water Heaters Resources

Commercial Green Energy Option: Solar Water Heater

Proprietors and lessors of industrial, commercial, office, and apartment buildings are always interested in new ways to lower electricity expenses. While many are studying automated lighting and other interior building energy saving devices, such as using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) wherever possible, and more cost-effective airconditioning or heating systems, there are property owners who are already moving to the latest green technologies like the solar heating system.

What is this? It is actually a commercial green energy equipment that can supply a majority of a commercial office or residential building's hot water needs by utilizing the sun's heat energy. While there are passive and active systems, some that use tubes and some with flat panels, solar heating systems are mostly made of a panel or coil of plastic or metal, where water goes through and is heated by radiant heating or solar energy.

Looks too complex, right? As a matter of fact it isn't difficult to understand the technology. Green technology is so cost-saving that many groups and national and state governments are proffering landlords and commercial and office property owners several economic benefits for investing in green energy. This emphasizes the viability of installing a solar heating system at this time for a large-scale property. These bonuses are designed to offset installation and purchase costs, and enable the return on invested capital achievable in as little as 2-5 years.

The first thing to know, however, is that implementation of commercial green energy requires the services of experts, and although you might have heard that there are people who have constructed their own solar heating systems; these do-it-yourself projects are generally small-scale or only built for a single-family household. But, if it comes to the hot water supply for more than 20 residential units, it will need specialized knowledge and high-level of skill to plan the architecture of the solar heating system.

It is also essential to know that although the technologies behind any commercial green energy have advanced considerably in only a short amount of time, it still doesn't mean that they have totally supplanted old energy sources: electricity, propane, and natural gas for producing hot water everytime. However, when your hot water needs are for the most part provided by green energy, then your electricity bills will greatly be lowered.

Let's just consider what this means in economic terms. For example, if you have estimated that your costs for having hot water amount to sixty dollars per unit every month; then you are already spending that sum of cash every month. As soon as you have made a decision to invest in a solar heating system and have it installed on the roof space of your building, you would be able to finance the purchase, receive a rebate from your utility company, and capitalize on a handful of state, local, and federal tax rebates available. This includes immediately-applicable tax incentives, and the choice to use accelerated depreciation on the solar water heating system. In summary, even though you are spending nearly the same amount or sixty dollars per unit per month; your cash outlay is mostly going to the solar water heating system, and not electricity bills. And after 5 years or so you would have finished paying the complete cost of the system. And you would then benefit from a dramatic dimunition of your monthly expenses, and nearly free utilization cost of your water heating equipment for many years to come.