Alpha V1 multipoint instant tankless electric geyser

[Ockie]

Hi guys. I was considering a gas geyer, but I am now considering this also. Found a guy that supplies them. R2257.0 including VAT and then R100.00 for shipping to Joburg. Think the supplier is in Bloem.

The unit can supply 3 outlets and has a 8000 watt element (max rating) and works on 1phase supply. He does say it needs a 40amp breaker and 6mm wiring to the distribution board. I am assuming this is standard on our distribution boards? I am going to ask the guy that sinbad suggested to come out soon and have a look at the current setup and how much to remove the old Kwikot geyser and to plumb in this unit. He said if it gets plumbed in where the old geyser was then it should be easy peasy cause the pipes etc should pretty much all be there.

What do you guys think?

 

[Ockie]

Damn .... it seems like the current board that supplies the installed geyser is only for 30 amp on that plug. Can one install a new board?

 

[Sinbad]

That thing will not give you much hot water...

 

[Ockie]

That thing will not give you much hot water...

Why you say that meneer? From what I understand they can go over 50 degrees and that is hotter than one needs for a shower? Has a minimum flow rate of 2l/per minute

Just spoke to electrician now and it will be about R880.00 ex VAT to convert the board breaker to 40amp and change the wiring to 4mm to the geyser.

 

[spiff]

isn't gas still faster when it comes to instant heating?

 

[Ockie]

isn't gas still faster when it comes to instant heating?

Could be, but with gas additional plumbing will be required as it cant be installed where the old geyser is now. But now that it is giong to cost R880 ex vat to convert the board to 40amp for the electric geyser, the gas geyser might just be back in play again lol. Jirre .... so much to consider. Think I might just install one of those wood fired donkey water heaters lol

 

[Sinbad]

Why you say that meneer? From what I understand they can go over 50 degrees and that is hotter than one needs for a shower? Has a minimum flow rate of 2l/per minute

Just spoke to electrician now and it will be about R880.00 ex VAT to convert the board breaker to 40amp and change the wiring to 4mm to the geyser.

8kw.

Say you want to shower at 45 degrees and your cold water is 15 degrees (which is optimistic in this weather).

So you need to heat the water by 30 degrees.

8 kilowatts can heat roughly two litres of water by one degree C per second.

you need to heat by 30 degrees, so that's 2 litres in 30 seconds, which gives you 4 litres per minute max flow

That's a really slow hot water stream.

Bear in mind that 8kw will also cause load limiting to kick in if you have a smart meter and load limiting is active... and that if the power's off you have no hot water, and a 10KVA generator is very very expensive.

 

[Ockie]

Urg ... sinbad, I AM HATING THIS!

Ok, so your advice is to go gas. Perhaps you are right. I have a water saving shower head and see they have a flow rate of about 10l per minute, so 3l per minute does indeed seem very weak.

 

[brakpanpolisie]

We have the Stiebel Eltron version in our bathroom and works good except on very cold days ( our house is quite cold and we have and open bathroom with lots of glass so this is also a factor.) I would recommend you also get a water saving shower head with the geyser, the normal ones dont work so well. It sounds like you want to install it quite a distance from the point of use, just run this by the supplier as I know they are supposed to be as close as possible to the point of use.
Also give Stiebel a ring for a quote, their units will be the same if not slightly cheaper and its a known brand.

 

[desiganp]

8kw?:wtf: You will become more dependent on Eskom if you go this route.

Adding gas geyser shouldn't require too much extra plumbing (in a standard house). Keep your existing geyser in place. Install stop valve just before where your current geyser enters your taps and pipe the gas geyser to the same pipes (after the stop valve). That way you can still make use of electric geyser if you run out of gas.

 

[Sinbad]

Urg ... sinbad, I AM HATING THIS!

Ok, so your advice is to go gas. Perhaps you are right. I have a water saving shower head and see they have a flow rate of about 10l per minute, so 3l per minute does indeed seem very weak.

For contrast, my 20lpm gas geyser uses max 2.85KG/hour of gas.
That works out to 131 megajoules per hour. One megajoule is 0.277777778 kilowatt hours, so equates to 36 kilowatts. You can't compare electricity to gas for instant water heating.

 

[upup]

This kind of geyser uses a flow switch that protect the element. It does not last that long.

Also if this little geyser is on, and a few other devices, you are going to trip the main circuit breaker.

 

[Ockie]

This kind of geyser uses a flow switch that protect the element. It does not last that long.

Also if this little geyser is on, and a few other devices, you are going to trip the main circuit breaker.

I am assuming that is why it needs a 40amp breaker? The main breaker for the property I think is 80amp? But from what Sinbad has been saying it seems this is not the way to go for me.

 

[Sinbad]

In today's power climate you really need to get your power draw as low as possible.

 

[Sinbad]

Nothing to see here, move along

/demands tk title change

 

[mister]

Oh lord of course. You are right haha. Sorry ... my bad. epic face palm

thanks for that

 

[Ockie]

thanks for that

TSEK!!!! I cant believe I did that! I wonder if meneer sinbad will oblige and let us delete that completely embarrassing fail on my part????

 

[upup]

Why don't you go solar? a heat pump also use less power.

 

[mister]

TSEK!!!! I cant believe I did that! I wonder if meneer sinbad will oblige and let us delete that completely embarrassing fail on my part????

Must have been a long day

 

[Ockie]

Must have been a long day

Well, it actually was ... that DAMN!!! ... that aint no excuse for that embarrassing blunder lol