Dux Hot Water have opened the Dux Solar Hot Water Institute in Moss Vale, NSW.

"Dux sees the need to train plumbers in water heater installation and maintenance as vital for the future of the industry," says Chris Brown, Dux National Training Manager.

"As water heaters become more high tech, plumbers will need new skill sets and better knowledge to sell, install and diagnose system and installation faults. The Solar Institute is all about giving plumbers the opportunity to up-skill."

The launch of the Dux Solar Hot Water Institute comes at an opportune time with the Government's Ebergy Efficient Homes Package, which offers households either $1,600 towards a solar water heater or $1,000 towards a heat pump, and legislation abolishing the installation of electric water heaters in existing homes from 2012.

Chris continues, "The increased demand for environmental water heaters has led to a surge in the requirement for skilled tradesmen and sales people, which have been used to dealing with conventional storage gas and electric water heaters for the last 50 years.

"Solar water heaters typically require more labour time to install, relative to conventional electric hot water heaters. We see that there will be enormous upheaval in the industry and plan to overcome this through dedicated solar hot water training sessions."

Chris believes that while some plumbers feel they have all the knowledge they need, they will soon find out that technology is moving too quickly to be left behind. Even now, he says, plumbers are installing hot water heaters incorrectly. he cites an audit where 75 out of 100 installations undertaken were non-compliant.

"Some were even plumbed backwards," Chris says.

In November 2007, the largest survey ever undertaken of Australian plumbers showed that over 50% of all plumbers surveyed lacked confidence in stallaing hot water systems. In fact, only 2 per cent of all plumbers surveyed were very confident abaout installing hot water systems.

"Plumbers who last received hot water training 10 years ago unfortunately no longer have the skill set to cover the new water heaters. Most environmental water heaters now have a microprocessor that decides when to use solar, and when electricity or gas boosting is required. This means plumbers need to know a little about the electronic side of things as wel. This is a once in a lifetime change," Chris says.

The Dux Solar Institute offers different courses, designed for different audiences. Courses include subjects such as product knowledge and selection, standard installation procedures and fault diagnosis rectification. What makes the Solar Institute stand out is the 11 different working environmental hot water systems. These cover the high efficiency gas, electric boosted solar, gass boosted solar and heat pump water heater categories.

The Institute has been in the planning stages for a couple of years and it took 12 months to pull everything together in order to meet all council regulations - energy ratings, safety and disabled access. Dux has also been liaising with different TAFEs, including Illawarra, Queensland and Sydney, as well as the Green Plumbers and Master Plumbers to help ensure they have met market expectations and regulations.

"TAFEs are very keen to be a part of this because they are in the tenuous position whereby they don't have enough funding to keep themselves updated with the latest technologies. It's possible that in the future, TAFEs could be sending their students to the Solar Institute to learn about the latest environmental water heaters."

The Institute is a feather in the cap for Dux who have already put tens of thousands of dollars into its construction. Dux plans to continue this investment into the future as it strives to be Austrlia's cleaner, greener hot water company.


Source: Plumbing Connection magazine