Solahart Kf Series

Here We Go Again – My system is installed facing North on a 25 degree pitched roof in Maroochydore QLD.... While my "system" (panels) are 10 years old I have had a tank replaced at the 5yr mark under warranty which cost me over $600 because the warranty doesn't cover labour costs for replacement items. Back in January I got the reminder for the service (10yr)… Read more

and reminded them the tank was only 5yrs old and the panels 10yrs old.

Up until then everything was working fine. The Solahart service tech turned up and spent about 20mins onsite. Said all was good and paid the hefty bill and he left.

A few weeks later I noticed that after a 30C+ day the booster would come on. Checked for a few days even after e came back from a weekend away and no hot water use the booster still came on. I suspected the glycol levels were down even when there were no signs of leakage.

Called Solahart and said it would cost me $140 for the tech to come out. I said it was just serviced a few weeks ago and was told it was all OK so they told me they would give me a discount so it would be $120. Faaaaar out.

Tech comes around and says glycol level was down and he would top it up with water as there was still enough glycol in the system. Same tech and I said you were here 4 weeks ago and you reported everything was fine and he just shrugged his shoulders and said he couldnt find any leaks.

That was 3 weeks ago. As of yesterday, every time the sun gets on the panels all this banging and clunking is coming from the tank on the roof. Very similar to what happened before the tank failed last time!

As its a weekend, a call to the Solahart money pit office will need to wait until tomorrow. Given the noises I think the tank is about to fail again.

Their website says made/built for Australian conditions....I am thinking thats conditions in a showroom at 23C with no sun on the panels!!!!!

My roof and panels are plainly visible from the main road in Maroochydore so if I get no satisfaction from Solahart a nice Solahart Lemon sign will be placed on the tank for all to see as they drive past.

Leaks glycol - cannot be repaired – After 6 years and 4 months, leaks glycol and I am told it cannot be repaired. As per the other reviews, scalding hot in summer (which is ok) but need to run booster through winter. Now just a (very expensive) electric hot water system on my roof. Solahart are coming out to have a look and see if they can advance my case for a refund (of some… Read more

sort). If no refund it forthcoming, I will be taking to the small claims tribunal as these systems should last for a lot longer than 6 years. No cost jurisdiction and $38 to file your case.

Dont deal with Solahart – 30 year old solar on the roof froze the pipe then split flooding the house 35k damage. Bought a new 302kf total price $5700, they used the old pipe the old valves and the old mounts and flashing. after 2 weeks of calls they looked in the roof and clamped the pipe, then the valves froze and split, I have had about 7 people do patchup jobs on the… Read more

installation, it still freezes if the weather is cold, and Solahart parent company now offer that I pay $500 and they will recover the 30year old copper. They refuse to take any responsibility at all. claiming its their authorised installers fault, So No hot water and no warantee. DO NOT DEAL WITH SOLAHART

Solarhart leaked glycol – Poor product leaked glycol even though it was serviced when required. We are throwing it out after 9 years but it would have started corroding after 6 or 7 years. The solar started reducing in efficiency a few years ago. We are now replacing it with a Rinnai hoping we are more fortunate this time. Solar Hart admitted that their systems had a design fault but would not reduce the price of a change over unit.

Good Stuff - some side effects – Had the new Solahart hot water around a month now and we are just getting the hang of when to use the booster. Still, the energy efficiency feels good. Also, we were a bit surprised with the lack of hot water pressure. We have adjusted to the differences and its not been a problem for us. May effect those that like a high pressure shower. The… Read more

installation was a bit disappointing. Bits of copper and fittings aroung the grounds and a broken roof tile. Bit more attention to detail required here.

Overall, so far so good.

Do not buy a Solahart!!! It is now just an electric hot water cylinder on the roof! – We had a Solahart 302 KF Freeheat installed on the roof of our new house in NSW, 30 mins south of Canberra 12 years ago. The documentation given to us by the installer specifies that a service is due every 10 years, which we missed by a few months, however, shortly after the 10 years the 'self destruct' kicked in. The glycol ran dry, leaked out… Read more

of the enclosed system. The Solahart dealer came and refilled it at our expense. We then had a full service, at our expense, however they could not replace the sacrificial anode as it was seized in.

The glycol ran dry again, the outer jacket is leaking and cannot be repaired.

We now just have a hot water boiler on the roof heated solely by the electric booster.

The local dealer offered us a 'special deal' to install a new Solahart but for an additional $300 I could buy a whole new system from a different supplier.

NO!! DONT do it! Think VERY carefully before purchasing a solahart – We bought a house 12 months ago in Hobart with the solahart hot water system KF series. It has a booster button installed that is on a short timer. On Xmas day 2015, we noticed that we did not have any hot water. We have a 6 month old baby so we NEED hot water. During the period of Xmas and New years - we couldn't get anything done - fair enough,… Read more

it was a busy period for eveyone.

I ended up calling the Vic/Tas rep who was helpful and he put me on to a plumber. In the first week of January, M***** came out from E*& Plumbing and looked at the system. He pressed the hot water booster button....and then asked us to call him with the results....Nice - it's not as if we had not already tried that a hundred times. Even when pressing the boost button - sometimes we had hot water, sometimes we did not. With a bub, it was very difficult.

Obviously, we were calling him back within 24 hours and he arranged to re attend.

This attendance, he changed out the element and left. Again, within 48 hours - we had no hot water, someimes warm, sometimes ice cold.

We were quite surprised to receive an invoice only a few days later - advising that despite attending twice and not saying anything - it appears that the system was in fact, not under warranty as first thought and we were now responsbile for the invoice for... replacing parts which had not fixed the system.

So after several phone calls and my own resolution to simply convert the sola system to full time electrical - I ordered an annode for when the system would be down. The rep advised the annode would be a week for delivery and he would call me.

After 2 weeks passed - I called to find out about the annode and was advised it was instock(they had forgotten to call me) and I was speaking to the state rep.

The state rep advised he was not happy with the way things had gone, he did not like unhappy cusotmers and that he usually did not do this - but he said he would attend and rectify the issue. I advised that this would be the 3rd time someone had came out and with a bub, I could not go on as we were. - without hot water.

The state rep prepared a quote and was apparently doing me a favour by not allowing me to go electric. The quote was for $420 for 2 hours labour, 4L coolant, a hartstart valve, servicing of the system and supply of one annode. The quote did not include annode install as I advised I would do this myself, however the state rep said these are tricky, see how he was going for time - he might fit it himself.

The state rep turned up as planned at 08.00 and drained coolant which he caught and reused. He then installed the hart valve, reused the old coolant. All was finished at 08:30. He did not charge me for the coolant he reused but the 2 hours labour charge remained - as that's apparently a minimum, okay - fair enough. So here it is the 12 of Feb 2016, some 50 (FIFTY DAYS!) without regular hot water. Some $500 out of pocket for various (including another 3rd party plumber) and hundreds and hundreds of jug boils and we are hoping this is the last of it.

Oh and I still have to turn off the system in the near future and fit the annode - apparently, the state rep did not have the time after all (30 mins out of a min 2 hour charge)...and the states reps words are still ringing in my ears - " I dont like unhappy customers...."

After speaking with the previous owner of the house - he advised it was the worst mistake he had ever made when building the house and advised me of similar issues that he had repaired during ownership.

Never again. THINK and research before walking this road - not only does the product come into question but also the after sales service.

Flat Panel system – I have had a two flat panel-system from Beasley thermosyphen for 20 years ,ie since 1995. No moving parts no problems with a 315 Marine grade steel Tank in Brisbane.Electricity Boost of around $50 for approximately 3 months.Hail has been very large over the years but has lasted the3 test of time

Terrible product!! – If you want scalding hot water in summer and luke warm to cold water in winter, this hot water system could be for you. It's a product that doesn't meet Australian design rules and is very expensive. I will spread the word far and wide. NEVER CONSIDER WASTING MONEY ON ONE.

Not a happy camper – We have had our Kf series solarhart for just over 7 years. In that time the valve has been replaced twice and we have just been told that this time it has blown the tank and to fix it will cost in excess of $2500. To date we have not had to pay for the valve but now Solarhart want us to pay half the cost. It seems to me this has been a faulty… Read more

system from the beginning. We paid in excess of $4,500 to have the system installed on a recommendation from the supplier. Not sure where to go with this now.

I wouldn't buy one – I had one installed in 2008, gas boosted freeheat glycol system and it worked for 2 years trouble free. Then the electronic control unit had to be replaced. Gas boost came on randomly then stopped boosting. It would gas boost at midday on a bright sunny day when solar should've been working. After two consecutive overcast days, no hot water. There… Read more

are many problems with these units from cheap and faulty products to bad quality assurance at the factory. After having the controller replaced it lasted 2 years , same problem. There was also a hole in the glycol piping installed by the solarhart professionals which eventually led to loss of glycol and no solar heating. We've had the glycol replaced, a new thermostat installed and now for a third time no hot water. Gas boost has failed once more. This time the controller needs to be replaced again. Rheem now own solarhart and service is abysmal. The plumbers have to wait many hours on the phone just to talk to a rheem representative. They have bought Edwards and Solarhart and I'm old this is to kill off these products to gain market share. The glycol comes from Perth and there is a 1 week wait on delivery to east coast Aus. In the meantime no hot water. The solarhart manual recommends installing a timer set to activate the booster two hours before the hot water is needed as in before and after work. Unbelievable. What's the control unit for? I believe the gas boost unit is a total failure. They are unreliable. you can be lulled into a false sense of security with clear weather for months on end then the booster failure shows up at the first overcast period, usually in the cold and wet months when you need hot water the most. Es specially with children in the house. We do not overuse hotwater the tank capacity is more than adequate for out needs.

Regular gas boost failure, glycol heat exchanger leaks, high maintenance costs.

Reliable & Hot – We have a 302k series that's 8 years old. There are three adults using the system. It faces north on a 25 degree pitch roof in Brisbane so that's almost the perfect orientation. Since I've owned it, the only maintenance has been to scrape the lichen growth off the glass twice, don't ask me how it can even grow there being it's too hot to touch… Read more

sometimes.

When we have rain for three days I turn the booster on. I have a manual switch for the booster and use it about three times a year for one hour each time.

I had the same boiling problem that others experienced. Solahart sent me out a cooling manifold that I fitted but it didn't stop the problem.

My overflow burnt the lawn. Being on tank water I was worried about the water loss so I plumbed the overflow back into the tank using copper pipe.

This works great, these systems get very hot, way hotter than electrics, so the blow-off valve is a necessary safety device and a small price to pay considering the advantages.

Which are:

1:The hottest water you'll ever have, we have untempered supply to the kitchen & it's great for washing the greasy dishes.

2: Free hot water, so we wash all our clothes in hot water and use hot instead of cold more often for other things.

(Spar bath etc)

3: Power savings, I can't tell how much being we built this home & never had electric to compare to but it is significant. Free hot water Nothing, we love it.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED!! – After having had our Solahart system for just over 12 months we wish we had never been talked into it. We live in northern Victoria where we have temperatures over 40 degrees during the summer. The pressure valves blow out to release over hot water. This is supposed to happen for safety purposes we believe but it dumps 160 litres of water every… Read more

time this happens. The unit had only been installed 2-3 months when one time this happened but the valves didn't close again resulting in a continuous flow of water just running to ground. Luckily on that occasion we realised what had happened and didn't lose too much water. The valves were replaced under warranty. It has just happened again and again the valves blew open but didn't close. The water ran to ground overnight and we only realised when going to have a shower the next morning as there was no hot water. thank goodness we had come back from a short holiday. Had to turn the water off at the mains to the house resulting in no use of water until the repairer arrived and fixed the problem. Apparently this will happen during times of extreme heat of 38-40+ degrees as we were advised when we phoned Solahart's H O asking for advice on how to get around the problem. We were told to use more hot water as your not paying for it (we are paying for the water and there is only so much water two retired adults can use!), try covering up one of the panels (OK if you can get up on an angled roof but after a recent knee replacement this is beyond me), put in an extra tap at ground level to turn the water off if we think it is going to be very hot. Even if we managed to organise to turn the water off to the unit and the valves blew and stayed open we would still have to get the valves replaced if they had stayed open. Turning the water off would stop the loss of water at least. These suggestions would all be at additional cost to varying degrees. We are told time and time again to save water but if this system drops 160 litres of water often it's ridiculous! We are saving up to go back to electric hot water asap. Nothing now. Costly and technically unreliable.

Solarhart died after 6 years would of been cheaper on electric one – Brought one with the government incentive but only lasted 6 years. Rang up for a service and was told the tank had rusted through. Yes it was 12 months over due but really. Have a family of four and had to always have a booster switch on so over the life of the product would of lost money to solar

High Maintenance – I want to like this thing, but 10 years life just isn't enough to recoup costs. When the solar tank started to die the very expensive plumber said I should be getting it serviced annually (wiping out all gas cost savings). How was I supposed to know that anyway? I also had chronic problems with large amounts of boiling hot water discharging to… Read more

the stormwater in summer. Never mind the water waste, what about the safety issue. I'm 100k from Melbourne and service is a real hassle. Just not robust enough for the Australian climate - it gets to minus 3 here and up to 45 in summer. Now I'm looking at $3k for a new tank. Thinking of swapping to a Rinnai Inifinity system - just more robust. Saves on gas costs Maintenance and replacement costs more than wipe out the gas savings

Excellent – Love the product, love the savings. Some friends had brought another brand of solar hot water system and had huge problems. As my parents replaced their Solahart at 30 years of age we decided to stick with it and brought our own. We will only ever have a Solahart again. Everything!! Love the consist flow of hot water, not like our old gas hot… Read more

water system where the flow and temperature fluctuated. We have a family of four and have saved about $500 a year by replacing our old gas hot water system. Great savings!! We have had the system for 4 years and no problems or maintenance. Not had a cold shower yet.

wouldn't go near one – In addition to a very poor installation experience, the unit had a hole in it and leaked onto the roof and into our drinking water tanks. Solahart took more than a week to rectify leaving us with no drinking or bathing water - it stank!! They did not still have not assured us that our health (incl young children) would not suffer, but told us not… Read more

to drink it. When we got the unit replaced, the thermostat died (due to faulty wiring)and they still wouldn't come and fix it quickly. Solahart don't really care. I wouldn't buy one - the whole experience has been an absolute farse! Go for another brand.

faulty installation, faulty product

Good product – I am replacing my old closed circuit unit with the kf series, as my old unit finally got a leak in the outer heat exchanger bit, probably my fault i never bothered to change the anode,the old unit worked without a problem for 27 years,and if the new unit lasts that long,i will be long dead, a good Aussie product, and with the new type solar panels i am sure i will be pleased. Reliable unit passed the endurance test  Show reply

Fantastic System, Very pleased with the system and Installer – When our old hot water system died, we decided it was time to go GREEN. We searched for a reputable solar hot water provider and decided to go with Solahart. Our local Solahart dealer could not do enough for us, and recommended the Solahart KF series system. We can have some pretty heavy frosts in our area and he has assured us that these… Read more

systems will stand up to them. We have had the system in for almost 12 months, and have noticed a big saving in the amount of power we use to heat the water.

We are absolutely thrilled to have gone solar with Solahart and couldn't be more happier. Nothing was a hassle for the Solahart Plumber; Energy saving = $$ saving

Cold showers suck – We had a solar heart system fitted to our new house in 2001 in vic facing north in summer it is great in winter it sucks you get one shower in the morning after that roll the dice and hope you gat a warm shower i gave up dealing with solar heart they sent 3 different blokes out to fix it but it never got fixed one of the solar heart repairers evan… Read more

told me to get a trimmer fitted and set it to heat up the water in the afternoon if i wanted a hot shower at night 10 years on and it still sucks Running costs are good Cold showers in winter

Wrong unit istalled, on our fifth safety valve – Does produce abundant hot water even with plenty of people in the house, but not worth the trouble and maintenance costs. Been without water too often, and we need to cover the unit completely with a tarp before we go on holidays to stop it blowing. Has to replace a cooked bit of lawn twice. Even on cooler days we would hardley ever run out of hot… Read more

water This unit was recommended to us in Gladstone Queensland. It cannot operate without half the panels covered by a tarp, the pressure just blows. Safety valves only last one or two pressure releases, then they need to be replaced, about $200 each and $200 for the plumber. We are on our fifth valve. It also means no water until the plumber arrives (not just hot water: no water as there is no isolation valve). Once went on holiday, came back and the back yard was a swamp as the water had been leaking for a week. We've had to pave down the side of the house at the unit regularly cooked the lawn. Annual cost of the tarp is $50.00, only lasts a season. It will cost $4000-5000 to replace the unit, so we are going for a conventional system now for $600, as in ten years we have not made up half the investment in the system in energy savings.

OK – solarhart need to stand by there products specially when they have lasted 10years plus. The reply i got back from solarhart sorry your unit is to old. You need 10years plus to recoup your costs for the extra money you layed out. you save some money on gas solarhart have no service after your unit gets to old, because the installers are plumbers with limited electical experience.

Excellent – All the KF systems now come with a Hartstat which prevent the system from discharging any hot water on hot summer days. Good solid high performer with high solar input for high energy savings  Show reply

Works perfectly – Installed a kf 302 hardstat in sept 2011 on north facing roof in southern vic ,with boost tuned off and 2 cool cloudy days in a row still very hot water. works great and aussie made,would recommend to anyone. Our power bill was half hot water ,now free most of the year Make sure roof can carry weight

Terrible – Sorry to say.. my 302KF seemed fine.. until summer. Has been dumping large volumes (maybe 30 litres?) of scorching water onto garden almost every day since late December. Told by local dealer (installer) that all solar hot water systems must do this when gets too hot. Not true, and no mention of this in manual which states that model has valve to… Read more

limit heat transfer to tank if too hot.

Thankfully I don't have young children...

Solahart Victoria say (a) put a blanket over one panel on hot days! and (b) use more hot water on hot days! I said (a) is unsafe and (b) immoral, given water shortages in Victoria. They said someone would call to discuss - have not heard back, despite two calls. Seems this model is not equipped to cope with hot weather. Buyer beware, and please ask about this before installing. I shall persevere with Solahart.. Fine in cool weather Wastes water ++. Serious design flaw which Solahart very resistant to take responsibility for.