Wetback Log Fire
A wetback fire provides considerable utility and energy savings in the cooler months. They’re a perfect complement to solar water heating systems and are essential for any off-grid home.
Reliable, Carbon-Neutral Water Heating
Many of us have access to firewood – trees grow relentlessly on lifestyle blocks in the sunny Tauranga area and across the Bay of Plenty. Modern, high-efficiency wood fires are carbon-neutral when the firewood comes from locally-grown trees.
Modern fireplace technology has reached record-low emissions for wood burning, and fireplaces with wetbacks have the same low emission profiles while efficiently delivering heat to your hot water system. A well-matched wetback is able to heat your hot water cylinder in about an hour.
The Perfect Complement to Solar
Considering solar hot water systems operate the least efficient in the winter, and wetback fires are mostly used in the cooler months, the two systems are made for each other.
Still, things aren’t that simple. The size of the hot water cylinder needs to be chosen carefully to suit the size of wetback installed in the fire. A tiny 2kW booster in your fireplace can’t properly heat a large 300-litre hot water cylinder – it’s just not powerful enough.
However, that same 2kW wetback would be adequate for a smaller 130 to 150-litre hot water cylinder. For a high-performance system, the hot water cylinder also needs to be located as close as possible to the fire, with the shortest pipework run possible.
Tauranga’s Wetback Hot Water Pros
Eco Plumber & Gasfitter is the team to talk to for wetback hot water system design, installation, and servicing. Get in touch today.
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