This car wash uses a large volume of hot water for serving roughly 20000 vehicles per year. This large solar thermal system was installed to aid in the production of hot water, and to offset the primary heating source — an oil furnace.
The furnace heats municipal and well water from a very low temperature of about 4.5 °C (40.1 °F) to a high temperature of 80 °C (176.0 °F). The solar thermal system preheats the water, reducing the amount of oil needed to bring the water to its end temperature. In the wintertime, the water is also used for in-floor heating.
The installer spent considerable time installing the mounts and the rest of the system. The system owner felt that the installer was under-qualified to perform the task, but only realized this after the system was complete. One issue that has been noticed is that the pump runs continuously, even at night when no heat is being produced by the sun. This has made the system inefficient, lowering its overall effectiveness. Even given this fault, however, the owner has noticed a drop in oil use since the time of installation.
