NOT TRUE! HBS Solarwarm solar panels are powered by light, not heat, so they do not need to be in direct sunshine; there is sufficient light, even on a cloudy day, for our solar panel collectors to harvest the energy they need to heat your hot water, and make a contribution to heating your home.

In fact, thanks to modern solar technologies, over 40,000 UK households are now enjoying the benefits of solar energy, and the dti has calculated there are sufficient solar radiation levels across the UK to provide a useful energy supply for the nation.

NOT TRUE! HBS Solarwarm solar panels work well in the winter - even at 0°C - and in December when the days are shortest. As soon as day breaks, the sun’s light is absorbed into the solar collectors and your solar powered system immediately starts to contribute to your family’s hot water needs. The only thing that can inhibit the output from an HBS Solarwarm solar panel is a snowfall that blocks the light, but this rarely lasts for any length of time, as the snow quickly melts, and your solar panels begin their work once more.

NOT TRUE! HBS Solar Warm panels, like all solar panels, work best on south facing roofs, but if a south facing roof is not available, a efficient solar collection can be achieved by an ‘east west split’. An ‘east west split’ involves installing solar panels on both east and west facing roofs, and switching the heat collection (via a in-built automatic solar controller) from one set of panels to the other, as the sun makes its daily transition across the sky. An ‘east west split’ installation works on exactly the same principles as a south facing installation, but simply splits the distribution of the panels between east and west to make maximum use of the available sunlight across the day.

NOT TRUE! An HBS Solarwarm solar powered system can provide up to 60% of your hot water needs, but when there is insufficient light for your solar collectors to work well (for example at night, or on a foggy day in late December) you are still guaranteed to have hot water. This is because when we design your system, we make sure that an auxiliary heat source (such as your gas boiler or immersion heater) is fully integrated with your system so hot water on demand is always available in the usual way.

NOT TRUE! HBS Solarwarm hot water and heating system installations start from as little as £4,500, and once installed, the system will begin to pay for itself immediately. What’s more, you will only pay 5% VAT on the installation of your system (saving a whopping 10% on VAT). There are also Government grants available to you through The Low Carbon Buildings Programme. This programme encourages homeowners to install solar powered domestic water heating systems and offers grants of up to £400 to assist with costs. To find out more visit www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk for details.

NOT TRUE! The average family home emits one ton of carbon-dioxide each year, which is a significant amount. The emissions from an HBS Solarwarm solar energy system: Zero! HBS Solarwarm panels supplement your existing water heating arrangements, significantly reducing your bills, and at the same time substantially reducing carbon dioxide emissions - which helps you to reduce your home and family’s carbon footprint.

NOT TRUE! HBS Solarwarm solar powered systems will work with your existing central heating system and most boilers. In fact, integrating solar energy into your hot water supply system tends to extend the life of your boiler simply because the boiler’s workload is significantly reduced when your solar powered energy supply takes over. The only thing you will definitely need to replace is your cylinder as our solar cylinders are key to integrating your existing hot water supply system with your new solar powered system.

Sometimes however, customers have reached a point where they really need to replace their whole central heating system, or they need to introduce a central heating system into a new build home and that’s where HBS Solarwarm is ideally positioned to help.

Unlike many solar panel suppliers, HBS has over 50 years experience in heating and ventilation engineering, so we are professionally trained and qualified, to design and install heating and hot water systems that will help customers make the most of solar power - or indeed any other renewable or traditional energy source that may be applicable to their particular home and family.

NOT TRUE! An HBS Solarwarm solar powered heating and hot water system is straightforward to install in any home and is just as easy in a modest three-bedroom house as in a mansion. Installing your solar powered heating system can often be completed in one day without fuss or unnecessary mess.

NOT TRUE! HBS Solarwarm solar panels are constructed using toughened safety glass and they carry between five and ten year guarantees depending on the type of panel installed. That said, as with conventional hot water and heating systems, it really does pay to make sure that all aspects of your installation are working to optimum level so that you maximise the efficiency of your system. For this reason, we offer annual maintenance plans, just ask your HBS Solarwarm installer for details.

NOT TRUE! All HBS Solarwarm systems come with a full guarantee and our dedicated team is always on-hand to offer technical support should you need it. We are also here to help with any detail you may have forgotten regarding how your system works and of course, as mentioned earlier, we offer an annual maintenance plan for extra peace of mind.

NOT TRUE! There are several solar panel manufacturers in the market and whilst the technologies they use are similar, they by no means perform to the same standard. At HBS Solarwarm we use flat plate and vacuum tube solar collectors both of which we obtain from world-class manufacturers.

These solar panel manufacturers test and approve their products to the highest standards including EN 12975, and each product comes with a full guarantee for five or ten years depending on the type of panel installed. Our cylinders are equally high quality, tested and guaranteed, so you can be sure that your solar powered hot water and heating system is not only reliable, but very safe for your family to use.

Of course, a great system is not guaranteed by just drawing together the best components, what HBS Solarwarm is able to offer, over and above both its competitors and DIY installations, is the engineering expertise required to specify the appropriate system for maximum efficiency, and carry out a safe and reliable installation.

One of several key benefits in choosing HBS Solarwarm is that as heating and ventilation engineering professionals, we will always offer (where appropriate) to flush out the debris and limescale in your existing heating and hot water system prior to installation of your new solar system. This means that your whole system is optimised for maximum efficiency and savings.