Geyser Timer

There has been talk over many years about implementing a universal residential peak/of-peak tariff.
Then there all these blasted ripple relay devices that were going to be standard, installed and removed in some places.
My house is equipped with the external point through which the geyser cabling goes.
I have long since connected the geyser direct the DB, and utilise that box for an external powerpoint.

I installed an ECU unit years ago because the then PTA Council started talking of peak tariffs at the time.
The ECU unit stops the geyser and stove from drawing power at the same time.
 
richjdavies said:
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.
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Can anything be done legally to prevent being over charged
 
So, can I summarise as follows: A timer is a waste of time, get a geyserwise as an interim and then go solar (or gas - I have another thread on that...)?
 
BBC said:
Can anything be done legally to prevent being over charged
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First thing is to actually know the real number that you are being overcharged... The municipal/eskom rate for your area and connection is key. I feel like Im getting ripped off too - and Im connected directly to the City of Cape Town - legal, but still a rip off!

Second thing, once youve established it is a problem thats worth spending time on is to bring it to their attention that SOMEONE is ripping off all the tenants... It may be that someone 5 years ago agreed a contract and all the money is being made by a company that won the job for a pittance...

If you have a home owners association or body corporate you should bring it there and I dont see why you would need to go 'legal'. For an individual landlord over charging in this way, I guess you need to decide if its worth taking it to a tribunal etc... Probably not!

This is a bit like any neighbour/body corporate problem - it can be solved quickly and amicably with a bit of communication. If your landlord or BC is a militant jerk - then this like everything else is messy and difficult. Slow expensive justice is no justice at all :(
 
pinball wizard said:
So, can I summarise as follows: A timer is a waste of time, get a geyserwise as an interim and then go solar (or gas - I have another thread on that...)?
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Geyserwise will only help in so far as it allows for differentiated (lower) heating temperatures - you could have the same effect by turning down the thermostat. As someone posted earlier, best way to save on heating (apart from lower temp) is to ensure your geyser and piping is well insulated.
 
Speedster said:
Geyserwise will only help in so far as it allows for differentiated (lower) heating temperatures - you could have the same effect by turning down the thermostat. As someone posted earlier, best way to save on heating (apart from lower temp) is to ensure your geyser and piping is well insulated.
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Ah, right. So about 4 weeks ago, I replaced my geyser thermostat and element and reduced the temperature setting, and I am getting a blanket for it on the weekend, so just that until solar then. Thanks.
 
pinball wizard said:
So, can I summarise as follows: A timer is a waste of time, get a geyserwise as an interim and then go solar (or gas - I have another thread on that...)?
Click to expand...

pinball wizard said:
Ah, right. So about 4 weeks ago, I replaced my geyser thermostat and element and reduced the temperature setting, and I am getting a blanket for it on the weekend, so just that until solar then. Thanks.
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Don't get the geyserwise in the interim -since you are going to convert the geyser just do that one time , if you getting gas then dont bother with the blanket - but if going Solar it will help.
Look at Lagging the pipes (Fancy term for pipe insualtionation) helps with heat loss from geyser (whatever type you use) to tap
 
pinball wizard said:
Ah, right. So about 4 weeks ago, I replaced my geyser thermostat and element and reduced the temperature setting, and I am getting a blanket for it on the weekend, so just that until solar then. Thanks.
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Do you know what the energy efficiency rating of the geyser is?
The insulation route is a good start of the exposed pipes.
The minimum is to insulate the cold and hot water pipes for at least 1 m from the geyser, the best is to insulate whatever you can get to.
IF you are planning to go solar, start with a geserwise or similar controller that you will require anyway. It is just a fancy timer. I know others' will disagree, but the knowledge you gain now will help with the final decision regarding what solar system you go for as well.
Use the time now to analyse the hot water usage patterns in your home and see what can be done about altering that usage pattern.
Then see what you can do short term to limit energy use by the geyser.

If you are alone and the only one drawing hot water, then you can lower the temperature and only draw hot water when you shower etc. BUT if there are more persons in the household, all wanting to shower at the same time, hotter water is required, mixed with cold, to share.
 
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Geoff.D said:
IF you are planning to go solar, start with a geserwise or similar controller that you will require anyway. It is just a fancy timer. I know others' will disagree, but the knowledge you gain now will help with the final decision regarding what solar system you go for as well.
Use the time now to analyse the hot water usage patterns in your home and see what can be done about altering that usage pattern.
Then see what you can do short term to limit energy use by the geyser.
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Your reasoning is spot on but, The reason i suggest dont get one now most of theses guys include the geyserwise in their conversion kits and don't really charge less because you already have one.
 
isie said:
Your reasoning is spot on but, The reason i suggest dont get one now most of theses guys include the geyserwise in their conversion kits and don't really charge less because you already have one.
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Yeah, I was leaning gas, but based on the replies on my gas vs solar thread, I am probably going solar, and all of the options I am looking at include a geyserwise as part of the deal.
 
isie said:
Look at Lagging the pipes (Fancy term for pipe insualtionation) helps with heat loss from geyser (whatever type you use) to tap
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Yip, I have some thermaflex my old man had leftover, so I'll do that when I put the blanket on.
 
There is really a lot to think about in this forum and thanks for all the ideas.

I have just got my self a smart geyser timer that is also a power meter and watching it dayley has been interesting, my geyser is set to about 55deg, there are 5 of us in the house, and we using about 6-8kw a day, unfortunately the device does not log the times of day that we use the power but I have an idea by just watching when the current goes up and when it's not drawing current. From this I have noticed that they geyser element stays off most of the day and only turns on after the first bath has run and then turns off again about 2 hours after the last one, I have only had the device a few weeks now and will be playing around with different temperature and timing options to see if it does save any money at all, and will take some of your comments into the experiment.
 
dread85 said:
There is really a lot to think about in this forum and thanks for all the ideas.

I have just got my self a smart geyser timer that is also a power meter and watching it dayley has been interesting, my geyser is set to about 55deg, there are 5 of us in the house, and we using about 6-8kw a day, unfortunately the device does not log the times of day that we use the power but I have an idea by just watching when the current goes up and when it's not drawing current. From this I have noticed that they geyser element stays off most of the day and only turns on after the first bath has run and then turns off again about 2 hours after the last one, I have only had the device a few weeks now and will be playing around with different temperature and timing options to see if it does save any money at all, and will take some of your comments into the experiment.
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Welcome to the forum and the debate.
How big is the geyser ( how many litres)and do you know the kW rating of the element?
 
I'm assuming it's a 150l, when the geyser turns on its draws just over 3kw, at least that's what the smart switch tells me. We only just bought the house so have not done a huge amount of investigating on the geyser yet.
 
Hi, this is the one I got and from this shop.

www.robofactory.co.za

63A 1P Smart Circuit Breaker with monitoring - eWelink

Connect this high powered Smart Switch to your high current appliances and control it from anywhere. This device is perfect to control your geyser (up to 63A). You can set this device to automatically switch off your geyser during peak times and switch it back on during off peak times.
www.robofactory.co.za www.robofactory.co.za

I'm yet to test the accuracy of the Amps and Watts that it records will be interested to know how accurate it is, but I'm liking the data it gives, you can download a 3month usage spreadsheet too, only thing I wish it would give is the actual time that the kW where being used.

Once I'm done with the geyser testing I'm thinking of moving it around and seeing what my whole house or certain circuts in the house are drawing.
 
Hi guys

I just moved into a new house and the previous owner installed a solar geyser and I noticed a timer by the DB board.

But I think the timer has reset as the light is permanently on, so I want to ask for those that have a similar setup, what timer do you find optimal?
 
KoKaRoT said:
Hi guys

I just moved into a new house and the previous owner installed a solar geyser and I noticed a timer by the DB board.

But I think the timer has reset as the light is permanently on, so I want to ask for those that have a similar setup, what timer do you find optimal?
Click to expand...

CBI Astute is good quality, any timer with a battery won't last long with loadshedding.
 
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