Geyser Timer

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gboy

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Hi

I am looking for a good Geyser timer, to turn on from 4-6am and from 5-7pm at night. I am getting tired of switching the breaker, I am more than capable of installing it myself onto the DB board.

Thanks
 
gboy said:
Hi

I am looking for a good Geyser timer, to turn on from 4-6am and from 5-7pm at night. I am getting tired of switching the breaker, I am more than capable of installing it myself onto the DB board.

Thanks
Click to expand...
But why?

Does switching off the geyser really save energy? | ISOTHERM

You can save electricity by managing your hot water use.We look at 4 Factors affecting energy use and give you 6 Ways to save electricity.
www.isotherm.co.za www.isotherm.co.za
 
gboy said:
Hi

I am looking for a good Geyser timer, to turn on from 4-6am and from 5-7pm at night. I am getting tired of switching the breaker, I am more than capable of installing it myself onto the DB board.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Depends on what rail you have. Here are some options. Timers
 
@krieg Many of those are not timers with a 20A rating, which is what you would need for geysers. Also, those prices are exorbitant.
Geyser timers, irrespective of base/mount type, are usually available for under R300 incl VAT.
 
Unless you have different KW unit pricings at different times of the day I do not see the point using a timer to switch on/off your geyser.
 
All these so called digital timers are rubbish. Those major tech ones are rated at 16 A. Barely enough.
They have a 1 year warranty and they typically last one year, hardly ever much longer than 2 years.
The contacts burn out.
The simpler CBI ones will last longer but the built in battery packs up. A good old fashioned mechanical pool timer is a much better bet.
And go for a 20 A rated one.
 
Speedster said:
But why?

Does switching off the geyser really save energy? | ISOTHERM

You can save electricity by managing your hot water use.We look at 4 Factors affecting energy use and give you 6 Ways to save electricity.
www.isotherm.co.za www.isotherm.co.za
Click to expand...
Hi, can you comment on your monthly cost whilst keeping your geyser on full time? I am also curious about this. We have our geyser on a timer, seems to work. The geyser is in a closed off area so the water is not going totally cold.

However, I am interested to hear from you.
 
i can confirm that you do save money, but very little.
I did the test for a year where i switched the geyser on when i woke up, 40 minutes later i have a shower and then 15 minutes later i switched the geyser off.
Total runtime per day 60 minutes
i was saving about 25 units a month
i live alone
I dont even bother anymore, now i have turned the thermostat down to 55 degrees and just leave it on all the time
 
The savings only materialise if you also change your hot water usage patterns. As papa smurf indicates.
There are no short cuts in this game.
The major tech guys tell you and their manuals claim 20A ratings but in practice, the contacts burn out within two years regardless.
They make a moerse big deal out of their fancy timer with a gazillion settings when all you ever use is the 24-hour cycle with one or two settings.
The CBI timer is a 24-hour timer. It claims 20 000 operations which implies a 27- year lifetime, but the battery and clock only lasts about 5 years.
 
Last edited:
Dee96 said:
That is strange. The builders site has it as 16A but the manual has it as 20A
Click to expand...
I bought that one works perfect and can have up to 8 on and off settings, i used to use about 16 units per day with my geyser and now its on 5pm-7pm everyday it uses about 6 units.
 
Get a timer and a thermal blanket, thats when you see the real savings.

The thermal blanket helps the geyser keep the water warm while the geyser is off. We have the geyser on 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening and the thermal blanket keeps the water warm during the day.

From R1300 electricity a month to R723.
 
i really must get a blanket, they're only R200
my geyser is wall mounted vertically in my scullery
 
I also have the Major Tech Timer, bought the 20Amp version for my house, moved with the thing to the new house. Still going strong (about 5 years on) had to update the time one or twice, as the internal clock drifts slightly.

Bought a 2nd one for the pool 6 months ago, notice that all the units are now 20A Units. Seems the only 16A Units actually in stock are old stock. I know the original "1st gen" 16A versions had many issues, but the 20A version seems to be decent.

As for savings (2 people household), we saved about a 3rd of our bill at time of install.

It all comes down to timing however - To really save, you need to turn off the geyser before you start to use the water, so in my case, it is on late afternoons, and on weekends it is on early morning as well.

If you turn of the Geyser after you used the water, you are essentially heating the water, just to leave it to cool down again, thus not really saving anything in the process. Maintaining water temperature is relatively low power vs actually heating water up for use.
 
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