If you live on a boat, you may be familiar with not getting all the grease off your dishes because you’re washing them in cold water. You might identify with that first shudder as you wash your hair – or shower – in cold water that hasn’t been heated (unless you’ve been running your engine). It’s not a big deal (well, it’s technically an FWP – First World Problem), but there are times, especially in the colder months, when I’ve found myself longing for a hot shower and dishes that require just a tad less washing up liquid to get them squeaky clean.
So with that said, I couldn’t believe how fortunate we were when we received the email from Christopher at Green Yachting telling us we had been chosen as one of five yachties to receive one of his complimentary Solar Green 12 volt water heating packages!
Winners to receive Solar Green smart water heating package
Christopher had originally put a post in Facebook’s Med Sailing group asking for people to receive and promote five of his smart water heating packages. The winners would be best placed to review this product via all social media platforms. We answered Christopher’s initial set of questions and after a few emails back and forth, he asked us if we’d like to go ahead and receive and install his product.
We arranged to meet Christopher in Samos, Greece on the 18th of May 2019. It was still April and we’d had our shakedown cruise to Kekova, Turkey where the autopilot had failed. All advice pointed to our going North West to Marmaris which is a veritable hub of chandlers and marine service techs to get it fixed. Fortunately, Marmaris is on the way to Didim, which would be our check out point in Turkey before heading the short distance over to Samos, one of the Sporades islands in Greece. I’ll tell you all about our journey from Kaş to Didim over the next few weeks, so for now let’s focus on our smart 12 volt water heating system!
Happily anchored just outside Pythagorion town harbour, we took the dinghy to shore and walked past the colourful harbour side restaurants, admiring the brightly painted fishing boats. After passing a few med-moored yachts, we found Christopher’s yacht and he and his wife Marie welcomed us aboard. Christopher showed us the system that we’d won, while Marie put together a tasty Greek salad for us all.
How Solar Green hot water system works
Basically, the Solar Green hot water system works in conjunction with solar panels and has a 12 volt element that replaces the original 220 volt element in your water boiler. It works best when your solar panels create more power than you need to charge your batteries. Once your solar panels have charged your batteries, then the Solar Green system kicks in and shunts the extra power into heating your water.
More specifically, the Solar Green system connects to one of your house batteries and the smart controller identifies (1) if your batteries are charged to over 80% and (2) if the water temperature in your water heater is less than 50oC. Once these two conditions are met, the smart controller switches the power being generated by your solar panels to the heating element and heats your water – keeping it between 43oC and 50oC. So simple and yet such a fantastic solution!
Christopher gave us the system parts and we just had to purchase a few other connecting bits and pieces, which Baz then used to install the system onto A B Sea. If you’re interested in the installation specifics, do read Barry’s blog #82 - Luxury… Sheer luxury.
Three days later – and most of that time was taken trying to find a 55cm Hex tool to remove the old water heating element and tighten the new one in position – and we had hot water! My first hot shower was blissful and I have to say that it’s (almost) a joy washing the dishes now!
Getting your own hot water!
Many thanks to Christopher for choosing us to be one of five fortunate recipients of the Solar Green system. If you want to find out more about Solar Green or the other products offered by Green Yachting, the links are included below.
I’d just like to point out here that while we have received the Solar Green for free, we are not being paid to promote any of Green Yachting’s products, nor do we receive commission on any sales. We are reviewing this particular product and have made a video about its installation, which you can see in Saturday’s video.