Geysers and electricity consumption

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myBBexpert

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Good morning fellow experts.

A colleague is having a problem with electricity consumption when their geyser is on.
The electricity draw seems to be rather excessive when their geyser is turned on.

Should a 2000W element use 2 units of electricity per hour that the geyser is on and no hot water is being used?
What could be the cause of for instance, 10 units being used during an hour of operation?
 
myBBexpert said:
Good morning fellow experts.

A colleague is having a problem with electricity consumption when their geyser is on.
The electricity draw seems to be rather excessive when their geyser is turned on.

Should a 2000W element use 2 units of electricity per hour that the geyser is on and no hot water is being used?
What could be the cause of for instance, 10 units being used during an hour of operation?
Click to expand...
The element could be faulty (ot thermostat) but why is she sure its only the geyser (and not something else as well) and is she sure the element is 2kw and not 3kw.

Just because hot water is not being used doesn't mean the geyser is hot - what if she has a leak?
how do you know the water is at the temperature set by the thermostat?

if she is on prepaid what CIU does she have - if its a Landis+Gyr it has options to check amperage and kw usage at any time and can tst things a bit more properly.
 
isie said:
The element could be faulty (ot thermostat) but why is she sure its only the geyser (and not something else as well) and is she sure the element is 2kw and not 3kw.

Just because hot water is not being used doesn't mean the geyser is hot - what if she has a leak?
how do you know the water is at the temperature set by the thermostat?

if she is on prepaid what CIU does she have - if its a Landis+Gyr it has options to check amperage and kw usage at any time and can tst things a bit more properly.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

By observing the prepaid meter, the units decrease excessively when the geyser is turned on (manually at the circuit breaker)
Managing agents say that it is not their responsibility to check.
 
Does the units being used increase when the geyser is turned and then reduces after the geyser is hot? Or does the draw remain high until the geyser is switched off?
 
myBBexpert said:
Good morning fellow experts.

A colleague is having a problem with electricity consumption when their geyser is on.
The electricity draw seems to be rather excessive when their geyser is turned on.

Should a 2000W element use 2 units of electricity per hour that the geyser is on and no hot water is being used?
What could be the cause of for instance, 10 units being used during an hour of operation?
Click to expand...
Does she turn it off during the day and only turns it on before she uses it? More context on what is happening.
Plus if it's a 2kw element it should only use 2kw if it's running for an hour, if there is 10kw being used, something else is the problem.
 
isie said:
The element could be faulty (ot thermostat) but why is she sure its only the geyser (and not something else as well) and is she sure the element is 2kw and not 3kw.

Just because hot water is not being used doesn't mean the geyser is hot - what if she has a leak?
how do you know the water is at the temperature set by the thermostat?

if she is on prepaid what CIU does she have - if its a Landis+Gyr it has options to check amperage and kw usage at any time and can tst things a bit more properly.
Click to expand...
What gave the impression it's a "SHE" ? :unsure:
 
10 units being used during an hour of operation?

That is 10 000 Watts consumption in 1 hour. :oops: :oops:
 
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Reactions: Yuu
myBBexpert said:
Thanks.

By observing the prepaid meter, the units decrease excessively when the geyser is turned on (manually at the circuit breaker)
Managing agents say that it is not their responsibility to check.
Click to expand...
Not sure what the managing agent has to do with it I'm assuming sectional title if your friend is the owner of the unit its their responsibility.

how many KL geyser does your friend have -
better test is switch everything off and only have the geyser on and you can tell exactly ty what the geyser is using


Dimpie (COMPUTEK) said:
What gave the impression it's a "SHE" ? :unsure:
Click to expand...


lol no idea i just felt this is a a " trying to help the friend so OP can get laid type of story"
 
If there are multiple units on the property just make sure your meter is only connected to your unit. I have recently heard of dodgy landlords who connect the main house electricity through a tenants meter making the tenant pay for the landlords power, or his fish pond or whatever. That sounds wrong though, 10 units in an hour is insane. My whole house with 4 people has never done that. Even with a 3kw geyser my peak usage was perhaps 7kwh and that briefly, not for an entire hour.
 
myBBexpert said:
Good morning fellow experts.

A colleague is having a problem with electricity consumption when their geyser is on.
The electricity draw seems to be rather excessive when their geyser is turned on.

Should a 2000W element use 2 units of electricity per hour that the geyser is on and no hot water is being used?
What could be the cause of for instance, 10 units being used during an hour of operation?
Click to expand...
yes
2000w=2kw run for an hour and that is 2kwh

heating devices is what consumes most of our electricity
ie a geyser can represent 30-40% of household consumption easily even more dependant on family size and bathing habits

naturally the consumption stops when the geyser is hot
so give it 2-3 hrs after bathing then check again

some prepaid meters has code you can enter to see momentary/avg consumption

ie my conlog #70# gives kw load at the moment
some meters #1# is the code (also a conlog just a different model but i think it gives a last 5 min avg)

would have to google the manual of your meter to see what code it uses
 
Last edited:
chrisc said:
Replace the hot-wire element with a Geyserwise solid state 2200 watt element. Well worth the saving. It is more efficient converting electricity to heat

View attachment 1708187
Click to expand...
As i understand it, heating is one of the few things that are very close to 100% efficient, so how exactly is a PTC element "more efficient converting electricity to heat" ?
 
Geyser is turned on an hour before showering and then turned off. During that hour, the units just disappear (approx. 10 units).
The apartment is a rental and the landlord and managing agents are not assisting in any way.
This has been the case since the start of moving in.
 
Cius said:
If there are multiple units on the property just make sure your meter is only connected to your unit. I have recently heard of dodgy landlords who connect the main house electricity through a tenants meter making the tenant pay for the landlords power, or his fish pond or whatever. That sounds wrong though, 10 units in an hour is insane. My whole house with 4 people has never done that. Even with a 3kw geyser my peak usage was perhaps 7kwh and that briefly, not for an entire hour.
Click to expand...
This may be the case. It is a block of apartments with geysers in the basement.
 
myBBexpert said:
Geyser is turned on an hour before showering and then turned off. During that hour, the units just disappear (approx. 10 units).
The apartment is a rental and the landlord and managing agents are not assisting in any way.
This has been the case since the start of moving in.
Click to expand...
Find a new place, this landlord is very dodgy
 
myBBexpert said:
Geyser is turned on an hour before showering and then turned off. During that hour, the units just disappear (approx. 10 units).
The apartment is a rental and the landlord and managing agents are not assisting in any way.
This has been the case since the start of moving in.
Click to expand...
some big geysers have 4kw elements so at most you would have 4kwh going to geyser in that hour

switch of all breakers ie manual load shedding
see if consumpotion drops to zero
then at least you know the parasite draw isn't pre your DB
if there is a parasite setup it has to be in or tapped from your DB

you can switch on one breaker at a time
and see what consumes what

if there is more than one geyser connected to that breaker then naturally the consumtion will be different
 
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myBBexpert said:
This may be the case. It is a block of apartments with geysers in the basement.
Click to expand...
yea this is a very likely problem
can grab a multi meter switch off geyser check how many geysers are dead
switch on check how many geysers are alive

or just follow the wires on geysers if you see any daisychain from one geyser to another then very likely
subsidising a neighbours hot water
 
A useful tool to have is an energy meter. Effigy has one, but you can pick them up at Builders. Useful for tracking power usage regardless, especially the ones that are smarter and can measure over time. You can install the reader side on your main power inlet and walk around with the wireless display turning things on and off to see what pulls what. Another useful tip is make a short extension chord with a loop of the live wire exposed for the sensor so that you can check power usage of devices that pull intermittently, such as dishwashers. Really aided my understanding of how power worked in my house getting one.
 
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