Going solar and keeping the conventional geyser.

[Saba'a]

You guys are talking big money, so probably the wrong place to ask, but those 150l Geyserwise Kits, are they any good? My budget is bit tighter than the rest of you okes.
I see they got a big price hike. Last year they were going for about R13k, now they're between R15k and R18k. Eskom price hike probably driving the price.

I am considering solar conversion as an alternate to the full PV but is it worth it as I have 3 geysers.

Better to invest funds in solat panels rather. This is my issue/s.

 

[itareanlnotani]

a) You can put DC thermostats in the geysers, and run directly off panels, thats one relatively cheap option.
b) Other is panels -> inverter -> geysers over ac.

c) Other is completely replace with solar thermal, but thats expensive.

These days with solar panels where they are pricewise, i'd lean toward option a or b.

 

[W@P]

This was an ok day for me regarding the geysers on PV. It took 1h 50min to heat 400L of water. Some eskom in there as well.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Maybe R2 per day, if I use it.But that’s a very rudimentary calculation.

I’ll never go induction/electric stove again.

So by comparison the induction costs me R1 or so a day.

Which will become “free” once Solar.

Conventional Electric is kak I fully agree, induction is awesome.

 

[Saba'a]

a) You can put DC thermostats in the geysers, and run directly off panels, thats one relatively cheap option.
b) Other is panels -> inverter -> geysers over ac.

c) Other is completely replace with solar thermal, but thats expensive.

These days with solar panels where they are pricewise, i'd lean toward option a or b.

Option b my preference.

 

[SauRoNZA]

a) You can put DC thermostats in the geysers, and run directly off panels, thats one relatively cheap option.
b) Other is panels -> inverter -> geysers over ac.

c) Other is completely replace with solar thermal, but thats expensive.

These days with solar panels where they are pricewise, i'd lean toward option a or b.

Option C is exactly where I was at with the intention to do before I go solar and lower the base requirement.

Now I reckon Option B first and see how it goes and then do Option C down the line if it makes more sense.

 

[itareanlnotani]

So by comparison the induction costs me R1 or so a day.

Which will become “free” once Solar.

Conventional Electric is kak I fully agree, induction is awesome.

I prefer cooking with gas, although I am aware it does introduce nasties into the house (not talking about the usual carbon monoxide issues, burning gas isn't that great for particulates either - pm2.5 etc).

Cooking with electric is harder to judge heat i find, and less consistent. I've had a variety of electric hobs over the years - induction, plate etc.

Other biggie is that the significant other cooks more than me, and she prefers gas by far. The 6 burner smeg's I have are great

Gas stoves can generate unsafe levels of indoor air pollution

An accumulating body of research suggests gas stoves are a health risk.

www.vox.com

 

[itareanlnotani]

Option C is exactly where I was at with the intention to do before I go solar and lower the base requirement.

Now I reckon Option B first and see how it goes and then do Option C down the line if it makes more sense.

I did option C at 2 of my houses.

Forgot option D - Heat pump.

I'm not bothering for the next place i'm doing, decided to go heat pump, as I have more than enough solar pv to go around even in winter, and i don't really care about power.

I would suggest that rather for you @SauRoNZA

 

[SauRoNZA]

I prefer cooking with gas, although I am aware it does introduce nasties into the house (not talking about the usual carbon monoxide issues, burning gas isn't that great for particulates either - pm2.5 etc).

Cooking with electric is harder to judge heat i find, and less consistent. I've had a variety of electric hobs over the years - induction, plate etc.

Other biggie is that the significant other cooks more than me, and she prefers gas by far. The 6 burner smeg's I have are great

Gas stoves can generate unsafe levels of indoor air pollution

An accumulating body of research suggests gas stoves are a health risk.

www.vox.com

See my opinion is the exact opposite.

Gas is impossible to judge, not nearly as granular and differs very much from one pot or pan to the next.

Induction on the other hand I know EXACTLY what to set it to for whether I’m doing and it’s always exactly the same.

Every time I use gas it is a constant battle of up and down and it drives me insane.

I already have top class cookware thar supports it as well and really wouldn’t want that damaged/marked by gas either.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I did option C at 2 of my houses.

Forgot option D - Heat pump.

I'm not bothering for the next place i'm doing, decided to go heat pump, as I have more than enough solar pv to go around even in winter, and i don't really care about power.

I would suggest that rather for you @SauRoNZA

Well yeah Option C is a heat pump anyway with the thermo dynamic part on top of the roof to push it further.

But yeah a heat pump retrofit upgrade to the existing geyser setup may also be an option.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I just have to say I’m glad I posted this thread and it lead to so much discussion.

I fully expected to be told I’m crazy and that the recommended way of offloading non-essentials to Eskom permanently is what I should be doing instead.

Glad others got some value out of it as well.

 

[itareanlnotani]

See my opinion is the exact opposite.

Gas is impossible to judge, not nearly as granular and differs very much from one pot or pan to the next.

Induction on the other hand I know EXACTLY what to set it to for whether I’m doing and it’s always exactly the same.

Every time I use gas it is a constant battle of up and down and it drives me insane.

I already have top class cookware thar supports it as well and really wouldn’t want that damaged/marked by gas either.

I have good cast iron cookware. Thick, and keeps the heat.
Gas is better with good pots. Aluminium gets too hot to quickly, and the cheap stuff here is appalling quality.

Thats why I bring in my own stuff from China whenever I fly back from there. (Well, pre-covid, now I'm stuck here!)

 

[SauRoNZA]

For reference just for the capital equipment, still need to factor in wiring/installation. Theoretically peak 16kw pv power.

Oh don’t worry I’ve done a whole lot of comparisons and check the market regularly.

So much so for someone who doesn’t have solar myself yet I’ve advised many on whether their own quotes are insane or not…there are a lot of questionable operations out there that’s for sure.

Not quite ready to go DIY with this one but will happily augment it with my own DIY and Smart Home features.

 

[itareanlnotani]

I just have to say I’m glad I posted this thread and it lead to so much discussion.

I fully expected to be told I’m crazy and that the recommended way of offloading non-essentials to Eskom permanently is what I should be doing instead.

Glad others got some value out of it as well.

I always throw my 2 cents in, and have done for as long as the Eskom forum has been around.

I probably have the most experience with Solar, as I'm one of the early "pioneers" here, Arthur and I probably have the oldest running systems.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I have good cast iron cookware. Thick, and keeps the heat.
Gas is better with good pots. Aluminium gets too hot to quickly, and the cheap stuff here is appalling quality.

Thats why I bring in my own stuff from China whenever I fly back from there. (Well, pre-covid, now I'm stuck here!)

Yeah good cookware isn’t a problem.

In fact my cookware probably costs more than the inverter I’ll need at this point.

I’ve mostly switched to 3-ply stainless steel but also still have a lot of cast iron.

 

[itareanlnotani]

For reference just for the capital equipment, still need to factor in wiring/installation. Theoretically peak 16kw pv power.

Be careful that the inverter is listed as certified on the Cape Town inverter list. EVEN if you aren't in Cape Town.
You want something that will pass NRS certification, so only pick certified equipment.

You can google the spreadsheet link, its not too hard to find.

Cape Town is ahead of most other muni's in that respect - as they have the most to lose and put up the most roadblocks.

Other muni's follow what they do.. eventually, so don't buy something that you might have to change at some point as they go tough, can't be connected to our systems.

 

[TheChamp]

a) You can put DC thermostats in the geysers, and run directly off panels, thats one relatively cheap option.
b) Other is panels -> inverter -> geysers over ac.

c) Other is completely replace with solar thermal, but thats expensive.

These days with solar panels where they are pricewise, i'd lean toward option a or b.

Any links to the DC elements/thermostats that can be retrofitted to the geysers directly?

 

[CranialBlaze]

I have good cast iron cookware. Thick, and keeps the heat.
Gas is better with good pots. Aluminium gets too hot to quickly, and the cheap stuff here is appalling quality.

Thats why I bring in my own stuff from China whenever I fly back from there. (Well, pre-covid, now I'm stuck here!)

I’m sitting with 30 year old AMC classics, I moved in with induction and chucked it out a month later.

I love the instant heat change I get with gas, the induction was just too finicky, who the eff thought it could be a good idea to make a completely touch controlled service with zero indication of what anything’s doing, and an insensitive one at that.

Maybe it was a kak one, but I still was not about to replace nearly indestructible old days quality pots with over priced modern day mass produced in China ****.

Also don’t get how terrible and inefficient induction is for charging, but it’s an absolute baller for cooking, why have phones not stolen whatever makes pots actually not toss away half the energy.

 

[itareanlnotani]

I’m sitting with 30 year old AMC classics, I moved in with induction and chucked it out a month later.

I love the instant heat change I get with gas, the induction was just too finicky, who the eff thought it could be a good idea to make a completely touch controlled service with zero indication of what anything’s doing, and an insensitive one at that.

Maybe it was a kak one, but I still was not about to replace nearly indestructible old days quality pots with over priced modern day mass produced in China ****.

Also don’t get how terrible and inefficient induction is for charging, but it’s an absolute baller for cooking, why have phones not stolen whatever makes pots actually not toss away half the energy.

China has good stuff too, but its generally too expensive for our local market, as we have a crap currency.

So importers bring in cheap crap, as thats what people can afford.

I live(d) in China, and buy the stuff that local Chinese people buy for their apt's, its good quality stuff, and pretty much the same price as the cheap crap is sold for here, but vastly better quality.

Customs just loves me, as I fly in with suitcases full of random stuff for my house, and even with them gouging 20% on top of everything over 5k zar, I'm still quite happy, as its good quality, and still cheaper or on par with the absolute crap stuff is sold here for.

Builders / CTM etc are making huge margins on that stuff. I should really start importing more and selling it...

 

[CranialBlaze]

So looking into the geyser element and found

Energy Efficient Geyser Element - Solar Advice

Swap your energy inefficient electric geyser element with this PTC element and save up to 25% on your electricity bill. Features 25% Energy Savings Tested t ...

solaradvice.co.za

Think it was mentioned though, so at 2k, why would I buy this when a normal 2kw element is a quarter of the price.

If it’s really that much better than I’ll drop the cash, but if the only difference based on the information they providing is the efficiency then based on current thermal patterns with my geyser it’s basically going to save me 6-8 minutes per geyser warm up.

There has to be a better reason than that to justify the cost given solar would be the primary source of powering the heating…???