Heat pump, Good Idea?

wingnut771 said:
Not if you have 450l of storage from 3 geysers.
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Don't get me wrong, that is actually in the pipeline for me. I will be adding a second geyser in series with my current one. I have 10 to 15kwh of power that i don't use a day from the inverter.

So after a spell of 4 days of little to no sun, it will take me 1 day to heat both geysers to full temperature. Then every other sunny day, I use some 5 to 6kwh which the geyser array can supply on its own with no inverter assistance.
 
denmendez65 said:
I have a Geysertech system, which has a similar idea to Geyserwise without all the mods. Its true what you say and I love it, but heat pumps have their place and if I were to choose between the 2, funds not being considered, I would have a hard time deciding personally.
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Okay, we definitely agree - if funds not being considered, I would be all for it.

My point though was that if you are interested in getting water to X degrees at the lowest cost, this isn't the way to go. It's not like it changes any other qualitative parameters.
 
denmendez65 said:
Don't get me wrong, that is actually in the pipeline for me. I will be adding a second geyser in series with my current one. I have 10 to 15kwh of power that i don't use a day from the inverter.

So after a spell of 4 days of little to no sun, it will take me 1 day to heat both geysers to full temperature. Then every other sunny day, I use some 5 to 6kwh which the geyser array can supply on its own with no inverter assistance.
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Tomtomtom said:
Okay, we definitely agree - if funds not being considered, I would be all for it.

My point though was that if you are interested in getting water to X degrees at the lowest cost, this isn't the way to go. It's not like it changes any other qualitative parameters.
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Yeah, my system with 4 panels cost me 10k. If I got someone to install, probably 15k.
 
denmendez65 said:
Yeah, my system with 4 panels cost me 10k. If I got someone to install, probably 15k.
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Nice, roughly the same for me but only 2 panels. If I understand the Geysertech option it's like the newer Geyserwise MWS, high voltage MPPT so doesn't require a second element? That's a win and not a problem if roof space is not a factor. imo the Geyserwise AC/DC element is overpriced and overengineered, probably because it's a niche part internationally.
 
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Tomtomtom said:
Nice, roughly the same for me but only 2 panels. If I understand the Geysertech option it's like the newer Geyserwise MWS, doesn't require a special DC element? That's a win and not a problem if roof space is not a factor. imo the Geyserwise AC/DC element is overpriced and overengineered, probably because it's a niche product internationally.
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Yeah, it does not require any change to the existing element or thermostat. Just use whatever element you have or get off the shelf.

They do installs with 2 high voltage panels, same as the Geyserwise. I wanted more cloud cover heating, so I chose 4 340W panels that still allow me to be within the spec of the controller rather than 2x370W high-voltage panels. Otherwise, 2 would have worked fine for most days.

The 4 panels allowed me to get through the 3/4 days of cloud cover last week or the week after that. If I had 2 I don't think I would have made it (I could be wrong).
 
denmendez65 said:
Yeah, it does not require any change to the existing element or thermostat. Just use whatever element you have or get off the shelf.

They do installs with 2 high voltage panels, same as the Geyserwise. I wanted more cloud cover heating, so I chose 4 340W panels that still allow me to be within the spec of the controller rather than 2x370W high-voltage panels. Otherwise, 2 would have worked fine for most days.

The 4 panels allowed me to get through the 3/4 days of cloud cover last week or the week after that. If I had 2 I don't think I would have made it (I could be wrong).
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How much solar are you wasting with those 4 panels?
 
Tomtomtom said:
At R 2.50 / kWp I am considering buying a couple of panels just for decoration.

Not long now before it's cheaper than a sheet of IBR.
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Yeah, one 340W panel cost me 800ish rand. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things. That's 1 month of Eskom fees for the geyser alone.
 
denmendez65 said:
Yeah, one 340W panel cost me 800ish rand. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things. That's 1 month of Eskom fees for the geyser alone.
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Show me something that costs 800 rand and lasts over 25 years with such ROI. There is little to nothing.
 
denmendez65 said:
Yeah, one 340W panel cost me 800ish rand. It's nothing in the grand scheme of things. That's 1 month of Eskom fees for the geyser alone.
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New or second hand? I'm expecting if it hasn't already started, a wave of 2022-era panels will be flooding the market as people just gratuitously upgrade for a bit more power/m2 and improved aesthetics or whatever.
 
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