Apricus Solar Hot Water System

I have had this system for nine years now. When it works it is good. The evacuated tubes seem very effective even in colder months. However the build quality is very poor and accordingly it does not work a lot of the time. It failed in the first few days after installation. Since then I have had three pumps, 2 controllers, tubes sliding out of their fittings and now the cylinder is leaking. When I have tried to claim under warranty they come up with all sort of conditions to avoid repairing it.

For a family of four, this tank has been nothing but trouble, limited warranty and the amount of items that has gone wrong is not acceptable from a 4 year old item. I totally agree with all the bad reviews and the customer service line is not much better, they are rude and I dont believe that it is true solar if the booster needs to be continuously on. Unfortunately you need a qualified plumber to fix anything that is out of warranty period, and they are few and far between and charge like wounded bulls. I would expect a new item to not have had so much go wrong with it it the first 4 years, quite a considerable amount of repairs within the 1st year (thank god that was covered under warranty). Good Luck is all I can say.

I bought a 250lt / 22 tube unit, all were installed by an Apricus recommended Licensed Plumber with the installation inspected by the Apricus supervising plumber within the first 12 months. I have had nothing but trouble with these units and recently submitted a warranty claim as the manifold has developed a leak (4 years old). Now I'm informed my warranty is void because both plumbers who inspected the units had not insulated the connection to the manifold. Apricus is a complete waste of time and money.

Has only worked for a short time after tubes wete replaced.
System does not work in cold weather regardless of of sunshine.
Booster does not work.
It has never been hot enough to wash up.
There was a bad lot of tubes around the time of purchase.
Almost nothing is under warranty I really wish I had read these reviews before I bought this piece of junk.
Company I purchased from were going out of business and wouldn't return my calls.
I am interested in class action
Also fair trading

Hi I hereby fully reciprocate the last review I posted on this site in regards to my 40 tube apricus solar hot water system. I’d have to say I thought it was a total heap of crap up on my roof it’s taken nearly four years to get it sorted until the plumber showed up and told me there was a faulty batch of copper tubes inside the glass ones, since replacing those under warranty the thing is smoking free hot water no gas at all and it’s autumn loving it it’s full steam ahead from here on in go apricus

2 to 4 people. Reheats 310 litres quickly with the 30 tubes. I do have tank water so the little grundfos circulation pump has always been flawless.
Bought in 2009, I asked the installer pjt plumbing to raise the angle of the tubes to 60 degrees for maximum winter production. Electric back up fitted.
Love it

Had a unit for less than 2 years and controller has already gone. Looked them up and they say upto 15 year warranty. Be warned this is a hav! Now im up for $500 for a new controller. I dont believe its ever worked properly looking at my gas bill. At times in business we have to except th hat our products are not upto std and then we fix and everyone wins. These guys are out of touch with warranty and would not recommend to anybody.

I have had this system for about 8 or 9 years and have never had any problems with it ! The anode has now deteriorated and I am replacing it and cleaning out the tank and hope to get a few more years use out of it!! Love it!!! When it is time to get a new hot water tank I will definitely get the same!

3.5yr old installation in Tamworth - faulty connectors burnt out and not covered by Apricus warranty. Local Apricus service plumbers (Laser Plumbing Tamworth) failed to return 3 calls and didn't follow up - so I went with an independent plumber and sparky who were able to remedy the situation after 2weeks. Very disappointing after sales service. Apricus should coordinate repairs!

Had this system for 5 years now and had only 1 problem (seems like the sensor at the bottom of the tank gets stuck on a high temp occasionally). I have the data logger as well so I can see how it is performing. I live in Sydney and can turn off the electric boost from Sept to April To get free hot water 8 months of the year.

$8,000 in electricity bills, lukewarm or cold water, irrespective of fine weather. System was barely used but racked up this bill when previously annual bills were only $700. Had a manual booster so no automatic boosting but still a disaster. Had to disconnect it or risk losing the house. A financial disaster from a brand new system.

Get an apricus if you want cold showers. Waste of money. I’m actually furious. Years of ridiculousness and issues. Anyone interested in a class action??? Nearly everything has broken and I don’t know how many Luke warm and cold showers I’ve had to endure. Ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous ridiculous.

Buyer beware Once the system controller, Sensor, or pump, which carry only 12 months warranty after that period if any above fail and burst the manifold warranty is invalid on the manifold repairs are at your expense even though it states manifold has a 10 warranty. Buyer beware of this product

It’s been unsatisfactory since buying it in August 2015. After 3 months of boosting the system in summer Apricus finally believed me and replaced 7 tubes that had corroded. Ever since then we’ve been boosting our system more than our old solar hart Today 2.5 yrs later the heating element went. Great. Stay away from this system!!! Doesn’t save you anything. It cost us 3x more than a solar hart.

I have been dealing with Theo from warranty - who was great. However, it appears a week later she is too busy and Ive been pushed to a number of people. Perhaps there are a lot of issues with their systems! After a month of dealing with warranty service, I still have not had a call back to provide any update on when my broken system will be repaired. I have now resorted to calling up every day and have been told by a short and angry warranty person. I will get a call back, but I never receive one. I have explained that I have a new family and hot water is important - doesnt seem to matter for this company!

I have purchased 5 Apricus hot water systems, and have had nothing but trouble with them. The tubes clogged up within the first two months, even tho the company told me they were suited to our water. We have had to run acid through them to clear the pipes which eventually rotted the tanks...tanks were replaced by the company only for the same thing to happen again. They are now being replaced with Solahart closed circuit systems.