While we are talking plumbing, has anyone had success with solar water heating attached to the electric hot water cylinder?

Don't mean to hijack, but how is it working with the pex? A low-life crackhead stole all the copper plumbing out of a house I am renovating, and my partner and I were looking into pex for everywhere not coded for copper,as we have to re-plumb from the water meter to the hot water tank(and laundry tub, washer/ hook-up) and the kitchen/bathroom supply lines.

A guy up the road from me set this up 2 years ago. He has two 4' x 8' solar exchangers on his roof. Cost him about 8k, but he claims to have saved $1400 / yr on heat.

It was a nice installation, which is why I struck up a conversation with him about it. Most installations seem awkward or scabbed on, but this was flush against his roof and nice & clean. I am seriously considering the same thing within a couple years.

My parents ran this setup for at least 10 years. The system was taken down when it wasn't winterized properly and burst a copper pipe. In the summer, the water heater didn't heat a drop of water. This was low tech copper pipe in an anodized aluminum frame with interior painted black. In the winter, it was back to electric water heating.

yes its great stuff, just keep it tight during install cause it will sag when filled with hot water. we use pex with the crimp rings and wirsbo (sp) with the slip collar expansion fit, both are easy to do and i highly prefer over copper especially on long runs.

In the states, PB can't be used anymore for potable water (thank the lawyers - 2 class action lawsuits), but PEX is great and is becoming more common.