Innovation fund - Rawhiti Backpackers, Geraldine

With a solar-ready cylinder already installed, a solar water heating system was the first choice for small accommodation provider, Rawhiti Backpackers, when they were looking to reduce their water heating costs. The Backpackers has a maximum hot water demand requirement of 20 people and previously electricity and diesel was costing the business $8,000 per year.

Rawhiti Backpackers hoped to eliminate diesel and electricity use for heating hot water as much possible with the 8m2 Edwards Titan solar water heating system that was installed. The monitoring for this system took place during the winter months where it was estimated that they were saving around 5 litres of diesel per day. These savings were expected to rise over the summer period.

As 90% of the Backpackers' guests are overseas tourists, another significant reason for the solar water heating installation was to improve the environmental impact of this business. The owners have found that guests have a great deal of interest in this working example of renewable energy in action.