CBI Geyser Timer

Paul Kemp said:
What about the major tech timer?
Has battery backup and has been flawless for my pool. Packaging said it was also suitable for geysers.

Link
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I had this previously.
The time drift was annoying, ie: in 6 months, the time would be 1 hour off.
Mine also died after 18 months so I decided to give CBI a chance given their experience with circuit breakers
 
Dolby said:
This is the calculation I get, based on my lowest unit cost and assuming a few other bits and pieces.

I feel I should make the money back on the device pretty quickly !
Click to expand...
Will be interesting to see what savings you materialise.

If your geyser is in a roof and has some insulation and you do not change your hot water use behaviour I predict the savings might be less than you hope for (but any savings is better than none).

If the geyser is outside, no blanket etc. and you live somewhere with very low temperatures you might save a bit more.

There are way too many variables to probably consider it useful but FYI my geyser seems to operate about an hour a day (covers actual hot water use for 2 people and making up for the water cooling as it just stands there).

EDIT: my geyser's 1 hour "on time" is without any external timers/controllers btw.
 
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Paul Kemp said:
What about the major tech timer?
Has battery backup and has been flawless for my pool. Packaging said it was also suitable for geysers.

Link
Click to expand...
Also had two, binned both after they died. POS.
Bought a CBI over the weekend, have to get a sparky to come install.
 
My geyser is set to operate once a day for a maximum of 90 minutes winter or summer. The actual on time is mostly only about 50 minutes, but the extra allowance caters for winter and summer variations and mostly for changes in the number of occupants. In summer, the on-time is actually sometimes as little as 35 minutes.
For two of us, we never run out of hot water in a day.
All the pipes are insulated. the geyser is insulated. The heating component is at the absolute minimum it could possibly be. I have run timers on geysers since forever.
 
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one poster said:
Will be interesting to see what savings you materialise.

If your geyser is in a roof and has some insulation and you do not change your hot water use behaviour I predict the savings might be less than you hope for (but any savings is better than none).

If the geyser is outside, no blanket etc. and you live somewhere with very low temperatures you might save a bit more.

There are way too many variables to probably consider it useful but FYI my geyser seems to operate about an hour a day (covers actual hot water use for 2 people and making up for the water cooling as it just stands there).

EDIT: my geyser's 1 hour "on time" is without any external timers/controllers btw.
Click to expand...

The old used to save me around R200.00 or more per month.

It was only me at that stage, so I had a routine and could stick to it. The geyser came on early in the morning - and that was that.

NO insultation or blanket, but based on my own usage it works 100% and it's a noticeable difference !
 
SykomantiS said:
Also had two, binned both after they died. POS.
Bought a CBI over the weekend, have to get a sparky to come install.
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Hi

It's a very easy switch if you had the majortech one installed.

Same wires used so can be switched out by yourself without a sparky
 
Dee96 said:
Hi

It's a very easy switch if you had the majortech one installed.

Same wires used so can be switched out by yourself without a sparky
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The majortech was removed some time ago (not by me) so not in this case, I'm afraid.
 
CBI ones are rubbish as well, battery/capacitor dies about 14 months in. Thanks to Eskom.

Have had 3 CBI's in past 5 years.

Just installed a Toptech, suspect it will be worthless as well, only paid R290 at Builders.

The trick with either the CBI or the Toptech, check the manufactured date on them and buy the youngest one on the shelf, remember the longer it's been sitting on the shelf the less use you will have from them. If the manufactured date on the packaging is less than 3 months, go to another store.
 
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Maybe this is the best thread for the question :

So these have a power on default? My power went out the other day and when it returned, the geyser needed to be switched on from the app
 
Dolby said:
Maybe this is the best thread for the question :

So these have a power on default? My power went out the other day and when it returned, the geyser needed to be switched on from the app
Click to expand...
Which? A timer or their smart system?
If the timer defaults to "on", it means that was the state it was in when the power failed and the battery/capacitor has lost its ability to provide backup.
 
Geoff.D said:
Which? A timer or their smart system?
If the timer defaults to "on", it means that was the state it was in when the power failed and the battery/capacitor has lost its ability to provide backup.
Click to expand...

The CBI Astute - I bought 2 weeks ago, but I've left it running for the past few weeks to get a geyser use first. I'll only schedule from July.

Ok - so maybe it was 'off' when the power sent off or something ?
If it was 'on', it'd stay 'on' ?
 
Dolby said:
The CBI Astute - I bought 2 weeks ago, but I've left it running for the past few weeks to get a geyser use first. I'll only schedule from July.

Ok - so maybe it was 'off' when the power sent off or something ?
If it was 'on', it'd stay 'on' ?
Click to expand...
Don't know. Have no experience with Astute. Very interested in what you find.
 
Dolby said:
The CBI Astute - I bought 2 weeks ago, but I've left it running for the past few weeks to get a geyser use first. I'll only schedule from July.

Ok - so maybe it was 'off' when the power sent off or something ?
If it was 'on', it'd stay 'on' ?
Click to expand...
The Astute does not have a "Remember state " function.
The easiest way to confirm this is to turn it on, the put the main breaker off for a few minutes, then switch it back on and note the state.

With that being said, my workaround for Eskom is that for the "On period ", I have it set to switch on in 15 mi ite intervals so if the power goes off during an on period, it will turn back on within 15 minutes of power being restored.

Ie: If I need it on between 8 and 10 am, I have an instruction to switch on at 8, 8:15, 8:30 etc
 
Dee96 said:
The easiest way to confirm this is to turn it on, the put the main breaker off for a few minutes, then switch it back on and note the state
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Yup - DB board hidden behind a large mirror.

So I'll do that if I need ;)

Another alternative I've thought of is that I looked too soon after power has returned - so maybe it hasn't connected to the WiFi yet / WiFi wasn't available
 
Dolby said:
Yup - DB board hidden behind a large mirror.

So I'll do that if I need ;)

Another alternative I've thought of is that I looked too soon after power has returned - so maybe it hasn't connected to the WiFi yet / WiFi wasn't available
Click to expand...

You might have blocked the wifi signal, the mirror has a metal lining that will affect wifi, and your DB board might as well be all-metal enclosure.
 
Dolby said:
Yup - DB board hidden behind a large mirror.

So I'll do that if I need ;)

Another alternative I've thought of is that I looked too soon after power has returned - so maybe it hasn't connected to the WiFi yet / WiFi wasn't available
Click to expand...
I can try it out for you since my DB board is accessible
 
warwickw said:
You might have blocked the wifi signal, the mirror has a metal lining that will affect wifi, and your DB board might as well be all-metal enclosure.
Click to expand...
You can use the CBI app to check the signal strength to confirm
 
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