AET Drain Back Solar DHW Heating System

Second time around, Solar DHW is Back

Rick Yaun, CEO

I had the opportunity recently to install one of the first AET’s Solar Sun Hot Water Drainback (HWD) systems sold by Yaun Company on my own house. Yaun Company sold drainback systems in the 70’s and locally there are some of those systems still working. Yaun Company settled on AET because of the drainback module. It holds the water from the panels when the system is not operating and it has a very simple installation. This systems works particularly well in New York latitudes because anti-freeze is not required in many cases which affords you better heat transfers and less maintenance due to glycol ph issues. AET has been in business since the 70’s and is one of the few manufacturers actually making solar DHW panels in the USA.

I was assisted by our President Alan Willi and my neighbor Mike Botsford. We started slow at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning anby the time we broke for lunch. Alan and Mike did the high work and I did the prepping of the panels where it was cool. I took our representatives advice and did all the soldering on the ground. This was a big help and fortunately we had no leaks once the panels were mounted except having to tighten one union which was connecting the panels.

The use of Veiga's Pro Press fittings speeded it up also. Burt Robertson and his son Jesse showed up for lunch and helped with wiring, housekeeping and connections in the attic. Burt has since installed an AET solar on his house and wanted the experience with the mounting issues and roof penetration. By 3 PM they quit for the day and had the drainback module set. I completed the piping in a few evenings. It was a great feeling to have the boiler off, have 120 gallons of hot water banked and at temperature without the electric heater as we enjoyed the first showers and used the dishwasher. I feel that it is a simple job that can be done by two men in two days. It may help if a third was available for a half day to help in getting the panels on the roof. Many of our customers are being asked for alternative energy systems and this certainly is a possibility. The large tax credits that offset installation costs make these systems affordable to a large number of people. The equipment is in stock at Yaun Company and the system has 30+ years of proven technology. Contact Larry in our Plumbing-Heating department if you have a possible job. He’s also going to be installing one personally . We have the “hands-on” experience to guide you through your first job.