Siddons Solarstream Questions & Answers

Hi Ian, Siddons went out of business many years ago. Poor product and no repair network sent them bust.

Hi Chris They are no longer available. Siddons sold off the domestic heat pump side of things to another company( name escapes me - Edson i think) and they dont want to know anything about their old product Siddons are now only doing commercial heat pumps I hope you arent thinking of getting one!! Bad product, appallingly badly supported tho how it is under the new management i dont know. Mine blew up again 3yrs after being replaced by Siddons - couldnt find any one to service it so it Went to the tip and I bought an electric.

Just some more on the above question about my Siddons Solarstream water heater. After getting a quote from Mount Colah Plumbers, (AKA Omega Plumbing) I then went to a one man local refrigeration mechanic and together we looked at the unit. As seen in another post on this forum, the problem was an that electrical short had blown a hole in the pipe coming from the compressor. A dob of silver solder, a vacuum test, addition of gas and the water heater is working again for a cost of $150. I actually paid $250 as the service and honesty was superb and a great relief. Just be careful when a bunch of sharks like Omega try to send you down the path of buying a new heater without even having a look at what might be wrong with your existing one.

The following links document the demise of Siddons Solarstream - sadly. external link  external link 

I have had a look on the Internet and can’t find them anywhere so maybe they have closed up shop. Maybe ask a retailer who used to deal with them, they might know.

Hi Else

As far as I know they are still going

external link 

Regards

Peter

Unfortunately the webpage external link  doesn’t open anymore. I almost think that there don’t exist anymore.

They do still exist and are now called Hydrosol. Here is the link to their website........... external link 

Are they now called Hydrosol because the Siddons name is pretty average, with reviews like this??

I don't work for Siddons, but it sounds like the defrost function is not working, most Air con/heat pump systems have sensors that detect Ice build up on the coils and they automatically defrost, sometimes that sensor may be faulty or has lost contact with the coil, give the guys at Siddons a call and they will find a service agent for you or guide you on how best to rectify the issue. I spoke to them a few times when making the purchase of my Siddons and they were very helpful with information and finding a service agent to do the installation.

Heat Pumps do not work below a certain temperature and the hotter the day the more efficient they are at creating hot water. Accordingly you should not run them at all when the temp is below zero (Frost) They are best to run at the hottest time of the day. They have a large storage tank so running them for only 1 - 4 hrs a day should be fine. If the days and nights are warmer over 13 degrees then the difference in electricity tariff from day rate to off peak may mean it is cheaper to run them at night even though it will be less efficient. It is also possible to buy an insulated tank to act as a battery to store hot water produced. This may be worthwhile if you are using solar panels that fail to produce due to clouds - the tank will get you over one day of clouds.

they maybe under charged with refridgerant best way to solve this problem is get SANDEN ECO HOT WATER SYSTEMS...cheaper to operate , no frost issues

Your best option with heat pumps are sanden, they hae a 6 year warranty on the heat pump, and 15 years on the tank. While at the promium end of the market, they are the cheapest to run of all heat pumps, and work at lowest outside temperatures. Following that wouldbe either Quantum, and perhaps Tivok.

The first 2 also use natural refrigerant gases too, also a bonus.

Hi Lynley,

Thanks for the message.

Please call our office on 1300SIDSOL so we can assist.

Regards

Siddons Solarstream

By law today all bathrooms must have either a mechanical (for normal people and babies) or electronic (for handicapped bathrooms) temperature limiting device fitted to reduce the temperature to a maximum of 50 degrees. The mechanical limiter costs approx $140 the electronic around $300 the more expensive one can stop hot water passing through faster. Storage Hot water services Must reach 60 degrees c to kill bacteria so that the water coming out of them is safe. The hot water on storage systems max temp can vary from 60 up to almost boiling. The mechanical temp limiting devise Mixes cold water with the hot water from the HWS to reduce the water temperature to what ever its set too. I have a baby bath in one property and I have set the temperature at only 40degrees so the babies never get burned. I expect that your problem has nothing to do with the type of HWS you have and that it is operating correctly. I expect that you need to find the temp limiting devise and turn the red nob at the bottom to increase the temperature it is set to . I have heard that some people have removed them all together - resenting the Nanny state over regulations and that may be an option for your shower (note kitchens and laundries do not require the limiters) but don't consider doing it for a bath. Babies have died by jumping in baths with "boiling" water others have lived with horrific burns hence the "new": regulations requiring the limiter. Some handicapped people cannot feel pain hence the "need" for faster temperature control.