Case studies

Dairy farmers and technical experts share their experiences across four demonstration projects using a variety of solar water heating and waste heat recovery systems to reduce energy costs in the dairy shed.

This case study looks at how the Mangonui Hotel, built in 1905, retrofitted the heritage building with a modern solar water heating system with gas back-up.

A 50kW wood pellet-fired boiler is proving considerably cheaper than electricity for heating the Bay of Plenty‘s 30 bed Titoki Healing Centre.
Fully automated and fed by a 3-tonne hopper topped up by the truckload, the system operates virtually hands-free.
Installation cost around $80,000. That compared more than favourably to the other main option, heat pumps, at around $90,000. Running costs are even more competitive at about $4,400 annually, almost a third of the costs estimated for running heat pumps.

Five New Zealand schools have opted to heat their pools using solar energy resulting in an extended swimming season and warmer pool water. Find out about Coroglen School (Thames-Coromandel); Glamorgan School (Auckland); Matawai School (East Cape); Sefton School (Canterbury); and Whau Valley School (Northland) and their choice to warm their pools with solar heating.