GeyserWise product

ST1 said:
What Temp do you guys Set your Geyser wise to 55 Degree's Via a Timer is still chowing to much Electricity.....
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Gaz{M} said:
I don't see how geyser temperature can affect electricity usage much, unless your system is old, leaking or poorly insulated. A standard SABS geyser loses 2kWh per 24 hours if left unused. This is roughly R4 worth of electricity per day. Over a month, the maximum you would lose is of the order of 30 x R4 = R120.

It follows that, yes, a higher internal temperature would increase the heat loss ever so slightly as there is a steeper temperate gradient between your roof cavity air temp and the water temp. But the above heat loss is at rated temperature of 60C which is what most people use.

If you are heating your water to 50C or even 45C, it follows that you will use more hot water to achieve a comfortable shower/bath temperature. If your water is at 60C, then you use more cold water in the mix to achieve the same shower temp. Using more water at 45C means your are consuming more electrical energy anyway to heat this larger volume of water.

The bottom line is, your family is using too much hot water, showering too long, your shower head is old and wasteful (get a 6L/min one) or your system is poorly insulated or leaking. One of the biggest culprits is hand washing one dish or glass or spoon at a time every time something is dirty, throughout the day, and thus running the hot tap for a few seconds until it warms up for every item.
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According to the latest health standards, you should not be setting the temperature below 60 degree C as already pointed out. Energy savings are far more related to how the family uses hot water than most other factors. As pointed out above, you need to start identifying where and how hot water is being used by the family.
Check the washing machine. Does it require both a hot and cold water connection? The dish washer? How often does it run? You should wait until it is full before running it. Drawing hot water in the kitchen. How far way from the geyser is the kitchen? How much water is drawn before the hot run hot in the kitchen? Usually, geysers are placed close to the bathrooms, with fairly long pipe runs to the kitchen. In our old house, we were drawing 5 litres of water out of the geyser before any hot water reached the sink in the kitchen. I solved this issue with a secondary in line water heater in the kitchen, which meant water wastage was reduced and much less water was drawn out of the geyser.

Check out the geyser itself. What is its rating? Does it comply with the standard as mentioned above? You may find that a rather poor geyser was installed even if it is SABS approved. Install a geyser blanket anyway. It makes a huge difference if the geyser is one of the lower rated ones. Insulate ( lag) ALL the water pipes leading to and from the geyser as far as you possibly can. Insulate the cold water pipes as well as the overflow and pressure release piping, everything.

Then get to grips with family behaviour. Start changing that behaviour by using the geyser wise system to make hot water available only at certain times of the day. Force them to learn to use water sparingly and share the little that is available. And do not believe those that claim using timers and systems like geyser wise do not help, they do but it takes a total family commitment to get the savings you hope for. The size of the geyser also plays a role. What size is the geyser? If it is too small for the family you will draw a lot of water and end up using plenty to reheat the water regardless of the temperature you set it. Then the only way out is to go hotter, reducing the amount of hot water drawn when showering/bathing. And also note that there will be an optimum setting for winter and summer.

I run our geyser at 70 degree C. Totally insulated every single pipe in sight (A mixture galvanized and copper piping).

There is no single right answer. Each home and family is unique in its design and water usage pattern and you need to spend some time finding the optimal savings point that suits your family. And then accept the savings you get or start considering alternatives such as Solar, heat pumps, gas heating etc.
 
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MightyQuin said:
Turning your geyser on and off does not save you electricity.
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It does save some electricity especially in winter if you switch the geyser off most of the night but lagging on the pipes at the top of the geyser is what saves me the most. We have 3 geysers so I have managed to reduce electricity by 400kWh per month (only about 50kWh without lagging).
 
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russellw1 said:
It does save some electricity especially in winter if you switch the geyser off most of the night but lagging on the pipes at the top of the geyser is what saves me the most. We have 3 geysers so I have managed to reduce electricity by 400kWh per month (only about 50kWh without lagging).
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?
 
300L solar geyser with the Geyserwise Max. Excellent setup.

Overall, my bill is down about R1,200 PM. Thus includes since changing the Hob to gas.
 
anyone using a 12vdc / 220vac pump with their geyserwise & solar geyser system? if so which pump is better suited?

the problem I've noticed recently since my GF has been staying with me over weekends is that there appears to be a layer of luke warm water on top of hot water so that when she takes a quick shower - it's luke warm and when I shower after her - it's hot!

not sure if this is an effect of low water pressure or what?
 
That's unlikely. Hot water will always rise above lukewarm water.
 
sounds like residual water in cold pipes. can take a while for the hot water to get to the actual tap depending on how far the geyser is from your shower.

i have this issue because my geyser is about 12m from my bathroom and its outside on the roof . thats a lot of cold pipes to travel through !
 
jones123 said:
sounds like residual water in cold pipes. can take a while for the hot water to get to the actual tap depending on how far the geyser is from your shower.

i have this issue because my geyser is about 12m from my bathroom and its outside on the roof . thats a lot of cold pipes to travel through !
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no it's not that - I am aware of residual cold water in the hot water pipe but this only takes a few seconds and it's cleared out. my outside solar geyser is less than 5m from shower head.

your issue can easily be solved by a minor plumbing change. get a plumber and put all your hot water pipes on a closed loop with a small pump.

or you could install one of these:

http://www.watercon.co.za/our-products/water-saving-products.html
 
spiff said:
anyone using a 12vdc / 220vac pump with their geyserwise & solar geyser system? if so which pump is better suited?

the problem I've noticed recently since my GF has been staying with me over weekends is that there appears to be a layer of luke warm water on top of hot water so that when she takes a quick shower - it's luke warm and when I shower after her - it's hot!

not sure if this is an effect of low water pressure or what?
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I think they have a specific model for solar water systems, the cheapest one I recall they said is not compatible.
 
alanB said:
Your geyser is never on for the whole day, if it was you would come home a hole in the ground after all the water boiled and the thing exploded :wtf::crylaugh:

The first part of this article explains how a geyser works. http://offgriddiy.co.za/converting-your-geyser-to-solar-heating/
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hmm thanks - firstly it's a solar geyser so technically it's on all day and my solar geyser is not an al cheapo - it has duplicate pressure & safety features and in summer time, gets to well over 100 degrees. it's been running for more than 5yrs hassle & maintenance free other than cleaning the collector glass panel.

if your geyser explodes it's because it's a cheap piece of shirt and or poorly installed by an incompetent plumber!
 
spiff said:
hmm thanks - firstly it's a solar geyser so technically it's on all day and my solar geyser is not an al cheapo - it has duplicate pressure & safety features and in summer time, gets to well over 100 degrees. it's been running for more than 5yrs hassle & maintenance free other than cleaning the collector glass panel.

if your geyser explodes it's because it's a cheap piece of shirt and or poorly installed by an incompetent plumber!
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I was replying to the post below, but neglected to quote it (thought I did).

mercury12 said:
Having your geyser on for an hour a day vs leaving it on for the whole day doesnt save electricity?
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