I just moved into somewhere with solar panels but don't really understand them...all I know is that they heat the water.Do I still have to turn the hot water on with the solar panels or do they heat it automatically or do they store the energy until I turn on the hot water?!
Custom solar-heating systems are unique. Does yours have a circulating pump? Does it have a storage tank? Is the fluid that goes to the panels separated from the household water and transfers heat through a heat-exchanger radiator, and the fluid has antifreeze in it? If it does, is the antifreeze of the variety that won't poison your family if there is a leak? Does your system have a thermostat-controlled pump that turns on when the water in the panels are hot? Does it have a limit-thermostat to turn off the pump when water in the storage tank is hot? There are many more variations to operation of solar-heating panels. Find out who designed it or who knows how to operate it and ask them.
