Heat Pump Hot Water - Solar Heater

The Solarstream is a third generation design and very much the result of an evolutionary development. Better value and higher quality than comparable products the Solarstream is something special. It started in a small shed at the rear of Sidchrome. John Siddons, the son of the founder of the highly regarded spanners (Sidchrome Spanners) decided that energy saving technology was not only good for the environment, but just made sense. So work began on the Siddons Solar Plus.

Dr Bill Charters and his team at Melbourne University first came up with the idea of a Solar Boosted Heat Pump water heater as a way of solving the “solar counter cycle dilemma” i.e. people shower more in Winter when solar gain from the sun is the least and in summer too much heat gain results in over heating of water heaters. John was so impressed with the work of Dr Charters he made funds available and work began on a project that now spans 30 years.

Heat Pump Water Heater

The Siddons Solar Plus was released in 1985 as a “solar boosted heat pump water heater” and the heater set a new international benchmark for energy savings. Although it was difficult to install the design was very successful, The State Electrical Commission surveyed 100 users of the product and the response was the best they had ever received form a survey. Customer satisfaction reached new heights and the heaters are still going 20 years on.

In 1989 Solar Plus became Quantum Energy Systems. Then in 1995 we began developing a new generation of air, water, and heat recovery heat pump water heaters, including the new patented commercial model, the Quantum Titan Eyre. The new second generation models stimulated export growth in China, Italy, Singapore and many other countries around the world. Although compact, the heaters were a little noisy and lacked performance in colder weather, so in 1998 the Siddons family parted ways with Quantum Energy Systems.

The third phase: The Siddons Solarstream is a new patented development, in the tradition of the earlier Siddons Solar Plus water heater. Combining the (Sidchrome like) strength of stainless steel and the convenience of a pre-charged split configuration, the Solarstream is easy to transport, quiet, brilliant in cold weather and more convenient to install.

The water tank also features a new patented “direct heat transfer” heating method, which has increased heat transfer efficiency. Although the Siddons Solar Plus was the first Heat Pump Water Heater to use the “Direct Heat Transfer” to heat water, the Solarstream is a significant improvement on this earlier design. 20 years on and we are glad to introduce to you the Solarstream: tougher and more energy efficient than ever before, so you will save more, longer, I know you will be impressed.

- How does it work?

The copper condenser coil is the heat exchanger. It is wrapped under compression around the outside of a marine grade, stainless steel tank, integrating it with the water tank in a design that provides a very large conductive area, making it very efficient. This design also keeps the refrigerant completely separated from the hot water. In operation, the heat recovery unit of the Solarstream captures solar heat from ambient air and fan forces it through a fin coil, similar to the reverse cycle of an air conditioner. The warm refrigerant is then super heated by compression, pumped through the condenser coil and transferred to the water tank via a very effective, patented design giving amazing performance. There are no welds or joins in this design between the copper coil and the stainless steel tank so that these different metals are free to expand and contract differently.

This robust design together with the use of the best materials available will ensure long operational life from your Solarstream. If you use the cheap night rate, you will save even more and you will also save the environment because night time electricity, if not used, is otherwise wasted.