Flat plate collectors are the most widely used kind of collector in the world for domestic solar water heating and under-floor heating applications. These collectors have an operating range from well below minus eighteen degrees Celsius to around eighty degrees Celsius which is precisely the operating range required for these applications. Flat plate collectors have a distinct advantage over other types in that they shed snow very well when installed in climates that experience significant snowfall. They are durable, effective and are the standard to which all other kinds of collectors are compared.