Mother Earth News_December_2016_2017

Dear MOTHER

water systems using natural gas as a heat

source. I’m curious about whether a person

could pair a solar water heater to comple-

ment an on-demand system.

Dallas Patton

Lindale, Texas

Great question, Dallas. On-demand water

heaters can be used as a backup to a solar

water heating system. The main thing to

look for in choosing an on-demand heater

for this application is that the on-demand

heater will modulate down to zero if the

incoming preheated water is already up

to temperature. Most on-demand water

heaters only modulate down to low. What

this means is that if the on-demand heater

only goes down to low and the incoming

water is already at 120 degrees Fahrenheit,

then the water coming out of the tap can

get dangerously hot. I prefer a condensing

tank-type water heater to back up the so-

lar. — Bob Ramlow

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5)

92 MOTHER EARTH NEWS December 2016/January 2017

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p 5 92-99 Dear.indd 92 10/13/16 9:08 AM