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Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the water circulate?
Density, and nothing else.
Heated water becomes lighter and rises.
Cooler water falls to replace it.
The loop drives itself.
In proportion to the sunshine.
Why does the tank have to be above?
Because cold water has to fall.
To the bottom of the collector.
If the tank is below, it cannot.
And circulation simply stops.
It is the defining constraint.
What does removing the pump gain?
Reliability nothing else matches.
No pump to fail or seize.
No controller to misconfigure.
No sensor to drift, no power needed.
There is very little to go wrong.
Where is that decisive?
Where power is unreliable.
Or nobody will service the system.
Which describes much of the sunbelt.
Where thermosiphon dominates.
And pumped systems are the exception.
What load does it put on the roof?
A full cylinder, permanently.
Which is substantial and concentrated.
The structure has to be checked.
Not assumed adequate.
It is more than the panel alone.
Does an outdoor tank lose heat?
More than an indoor one, yes.
Overnight and in cold weather.
So insulation matters more.
And so does the climate.
A warm night costs little, a cold one costs.
Can one be used where it freezes?
Not as a direct system.
Direct systems cannot be used where it freezes.
A closed loop with antifreeze can.
Through a heat exchanger to the tank.
Which adds back some complexity.