Geyser Timer

Geoff.D said:
What size geyser? And how many people taking showers?
The more people the hotter the temp needs to be to meet everyone's needs. Hence the mixing of hot and cold water.

If one person, then you could argue for a lower setting and only draw water out of the geyser. But if there are more uses for hot water, then more hot water is required at a hotter temperature.
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150 litre kwikot, 2 people in the house.
 
jezzad said:
Ok so you guys are saying run my geyser between 3pm and 5pm and then it should stay warm till 8pm? Id rather have an argument with you oaks and Eskom than the household MD about a cold shower.

My geyser tends to loose heat pretty quickly, even with a geyser blanket on it?

Maybe my back was up a bit with all the talk of Eskom.
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jezzad said:
150 litre kwikot, 2 people in the house.
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To be accurate you could not really tell the actual loss rate till now.
but if it is still losing more than a couple of degrees after a few hours ,especially if no hot water is used you might have a leak somewhere.
 
The geyserwise control system you have puts plenty of power into your hands now.

You can very quickly get a very good idea of the hot water usage in your home, when it occurs and what the ideal settings would be to keep your lifestyle intact.
You can then optimise savings accordingly, detect leaks, and lost of other things as well.
 
Disclosure i didnt read the whole thread. Just my 2 cents:

Cbi and majortech are useless. I have tried both brands several times and they keep failing.

The best ones I have found so far is the 30Amp rated digital switches from Radiant (model SW2030). Bought a couple cheap off onedayonly several years a go. So far so good!
 
Mobus said:
Disclosure i didnt read the whole thread. Just my 2 cents:

Cbi and majortech are useless. I have tried both brands several times and they keep failing.

The best ones I have found so far is the 30Amp rated digital switches from Radiant (model SW2030). Bought a couple cheap off onedayonly several years a go. So far so good!
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I would support that view. A 30 Amp unit will outlast any 20/21 Amp rated unit.
 
Geoff.D said:
I would support that view. A 30 Amp unit will outlast any 20/21 Amp rated unit.
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As an afterthought, these switches are rated 30Amp for a resistive load (like a geyser). The inductive load rating was something like 15 or 20Amp (for motors, pumps etc).
 
Mobus said:
As an afterthought, these switches are rated 30Amp for a resistive load (like a geyser). The inductive load rating was something like 15 or 20Amp (for motors, pumps etc).
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I can't find any detail specs on the radiant timers. The killer for most digital timers is the standby battery, once the contact rating issue is solved.
The typical failure mode of the timers is when the contacts carbon up and stop conducting, followed by the contacts losing their springiness (if you understand what I mean) and then the backup battery failures.

The earlier CBI units used to fail until they upped the spec to 20/21 Amp, but the battery failure issue is still there, about 5 years maximum.

All timers and contactors have a lower inductive current load rating than for purely resistive loads.
 
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The_MAC said:
You can save money by switching it off during peak times, thats only about 6 hours a day, then it stays on for the rest of the day.
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Why would that save money? Unless you have differentiated rates it won't make any difference
 
Geoff.D said:
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.
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To support what GeoffD says, your money is much better invested in geyser insulation / cladding to make sure it doesn't radiate heat. Staying heated is much more efficient than reheating the water.
 
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The_MAC said:
You can save money by switching it off during peak times, thats only about 6 hours a day, then it stays on for the rest of the day.
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Speedster said:
Why would that save money? Unless you have differentiated rates it won't make any difference
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So you are both correct but @Speedster 's is more correct - In South africa Majority of our electricity is billed by a Tier system the more you use the more you pay there are few (and very few) people who are on a TOD based billing system for those few @The_MAC 's statement is correct.
 
The_MAC said:
I have an Eskom smart-meter that bills me at 2 different rates, Off-Peak and Peak
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I'm interested in how this works. Is the cheap rate cheaper than the single rate, or is the expensive rate just higher? I.e. what are your rates?
 
BBC said:
Yet they still do it. STSS is the prepaid company contracted to most of their estates
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It won't be STSS's fault - it is the body corporate / developer who hired them. They will charge what they are told.
Think of this like paying more than the regulated price for PETROL ... I'm sure lots of people get away with various ways of charging illegally high prices, but that doesn't mean it's okay - and often the "powers-that-be" don't realise they are doing something wrong.
 
wingnut771 said:
you're lucky. i'm jealous.
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I'd be interested to know the rates he's paying too... I've only ever seen Eskom Time of Use tariffs for larger users (either Nightsave, which has only peak/off-peak and high/low season; or the mini/mega flex which has Peak/Standard/Off-peak and High Season and Low season)
I've only ever seen BusinessRate, and residential rates (homelight, homepower) having only one rate per kWh?

The time of user tariffs available always have very large R/KVA charges and high admin & service charges...
www.eskom.co.za

Tariffs and charges - Distribution

Eskom prices for electricity supply and related services are for end-customers directly supplied by Eskom and for Municipal bulk electricity purchases.
www.eskom.co.za www.eskom.co.za

Ruraflex is probably the simplest/lowest-cost ToU Option, minimum fixed charged at 50KVA would be 27/day (admin + service) and then another R1000 for the Network Capacity Charge...

Even then you'll still pay at least R0.86/kwh in off-peak hours... and as much as R4.15 in peak hours in the high season...
 
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