The clear level tube is nifty, isn't it! It took quite an effort to find a supplier of that 15mm perspex tube, which is plumbed in with a bit of PTFE tape and gentle torque on the brass fitting. I have the remains of a 2 metre length left so if you want some, PM me and I will stick what you need in a cardboard tube and post it to you.
If you're anywhere near Blackburn you'd be welcome to nip over and inspect the setup.
And yes, the supplier is an all-round good bloke and very helpful.
I also came across this thread quite recently and am keen to have a go at it myself. Having studied the various layouts I'm wondering if I can leave my existing hot water cylinder as it is and add an additional indirect cylinder in the loft to receive the heat from the solar and feed from there to the existing tank.
My idea is that the cold water feed would be diverted to the new tank then the take-off would be reconnected to the feed to the existing tank. My cold water tank is high up in the loft space so there is enough room to place the new tank directly below it. If my theory is correct then I will simply be passing pre-heated water into my existing cylinder and avoiding the need to disrupt any plumbing around the existing cylinder.
Rough layout of my plan - can anyone see any problems with it? I have only shown the tank layouts. Obviously the solar input would be via the coil in the new hot water cylinder in the loft - not shown that as it is a given based on the equipment available from the suggested supplier in previous posts.
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