Solvelox other water heaters
1 report to CPSC, the latest made Aug 23, 2011. A report isn’t a recall.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own search is on saferproducts.gov.
At a glance
From SaferProducts.gov, released Oct 25, 2026.
- 1report to CPSC
- Aug 23, 2011the latest report was made
- Aug 23, 2011the earliest
- 0with the company’s comments
- Brand
- Solvelox
- Maker
- ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CONCEPTS INCMakers, importers or sellers, as the reports name them
- Product
- Other water heatersCPSC’s product type: Other Water Heaters (code 133), in Home Maintenance and Structures: Plumbing & Bath
By month
The numbers, as a table
| Month | Reports |
|---|---|
| August 2011 | 1 |
How badly anyone was hurt
- No one hurt 1 CPSC: Incident, No Injury
As each report says it, in short words; CPSC’s own words are under each.
The reports, as CPSC published them
Reports people made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC publishes each one after sending it to the company named, and doesn’t guarantee they’re accurate. A report isn’t a recall.
Each report is the words of the person who made it, as CPSC published them. The company’s comments, where CPSC published any, are set apart as the company’s own.
CPSC, SaferProducts.gov public database export. Released Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily.
-
No one hurt Made Aug 23, 2011, published by CPSC Sep 15, 2011
The product, in the report: This is a solar water heater system. Two pumps and a heat exchanger are mounted on the side of a water heater. One pump is piped to collector panels on the roof, the other to the water heater. When the roof is hot, both pumps run, transferring heat from the roof to the water in the water heater.
We had a solar water heater installed in Dec. 2009. The system is mounted on the water heater. It has two loops. One pumps water to the roof to panels where it is heated. The water returns through a heat exchanger. The second loop takes water from the water heater and runs it through the heat exchanger, then returns it to the water tank. This system won’t heat the water tank past 160F, but the individual pipes can see temperatures well above 200F. For this reason, the pipes should all be copper or stainless steel (per the installation manual).
The contractor, contrary to the above, used plastic (PEX) pipes on the water tank loop. One of the pipes on the water tank side ruptured and spilled about 2000 gallons (before it was detected and stopped) into the house. It caused about $63,000 worth of damage.
Luckily, no one was standing nearby when this pipe ruptured because a person could have been sprayed with 200F water.
The contractor reported that he and many other solar water heater installers used PEX pipe up until about 2 years ago. There are probably thousands of these installations out there, and they will eventually fail in all likelihood.
- Model
- Solvelox drain back system
- Bought from
- Alternative Energy Concepts, North Carolina
- Bought
- Jan 6, 2010, about then
- Where
- Kure Beach, North Carolina: Home/
Apartment/ Condominium - Who was involved
- Age 53, Male
- The reporter’s relation to them
- Self
- As this report names them
- Brand Solvelox, made or sold by ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CONCEPTS INC
- How badly, in CPSC’s words
- Incident, No Injury
CPSC’s disclaimer
Disclaimer: CPSC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database on SaferProducts.gov, particularly with respect to information submitted by people outside of CPSC.
Word for word, from the disclaimer in CPSC’s export.
Sources
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, SaferProducts.gov public database export.
Released Oct 25, 2026 and checked Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Reports of harm are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on SaferProducts.gov. CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record.