Heatbox Solar Geyser

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prejoh

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Hi all

So I have been looking into a number of solutions for about 9 months, but in the end have not bought any solar water geyser solutions due to cost. Now that the Eskom rebate has fallen away the average price of a 300l solar geyser installation is between R40 000 - R62 000.

I was looking at SolarHart, SolarTherm, and also some of the cheaper solutions. Then when I looked at the financing options they were crazy, i.e. in the range of 22%.

My other concern around solar water geyser is that you need to change your habits as a family if you want to maximise your efficiency. I.e. Only shower in the morning or at night, not both, otherwise if you shower at night then cold water flows in that cools you tank and the only way to have a warm shower in the morning is to use the element at night to heat it again.

I have a family of 5 and trying to coordinate showering would become impossible. Also my current house only has a normal 150 l geyser which is not big enough.

Then out of the blue about a week ago the Heatbox Solarent option flyer was dropped. In a nutshell you pay R2000 upfront and then R299 for 60 months. The cash cost of the system installed is 14000 so you are in affect paying 10,5% interest. During the 5 year term they also come to service it once a year free of charge.

It is flat plate 150 l solar water geyser system. The system has a 10 year warranty and the geyser contains no element. The idea behind the system is that it acts as a prefeed system to your current electric geyser.

This has been the vary solution I have been looking at as I already have a 150 l geyser in the roof (standard Kwikot electric) and the 150 Heatbox geyser would prefeed this electric geyser with hot solar water. So if someone showers at night then instead of cold water flowing into my electric geyser, rather 150l of hot water from the solar geyser would flow in.

1) So in a nutshell, does my idea of prefeeding water have any flaws?
2) Does anyone have experience with this system or any horror stories?

I have linked to the website

http://solarent.com/solar-water/heatbox/
 
Never a bad idea to add solar hot water heating, especially in SA.

One issue is that both Kwikhot is incredibly badly insulated, much like most products on the market here.
You lose most of your heat there.

The one linked also looks extremely poorly insulated too.
Ensure that you over insulate everything. Family of 5 on a 150L is crazy though. I budget 100-150L per person on my own installs.

Use your bond to finance if you can't afford it, its the cheapest loan capital you have available.

Their site lies a bit though, it claims that a geyser will turn on and use electricity once water is in use. [ http://solarent.com/solar-water/savings/ ]
Thats not what I've seen in any geyser I've looked at. All the geysers I've ever seen use a thermostat to control the heating element.
Once the water hits lower than the thermostats set temperature, then the heating element kicks in.

Their site also says 12999 till 15th December for install, which seems ok, albeit not amazing.

As for your install -

Your issue is that your Kwikhot will still turn on and use electricity to maintain the water temperature within the tank.
The pre-feed thermosyphon won't impact that until someone takes a shower.
Once someone takes a shower, it will only then start filling the kwikhot tank with (hopefully) warmer water from the thermosyphon tank.
It will reduce your bill, but not as much as replacing with a properly sized system would.

Ideally, you want at least 500L of hot water storage for your needs (family of 5). Whether you can afford that is another matter though!
 
lsheed_cn said:
Never a bad idea to add solar hot water heating, especially in SA.

One issue is that both Kwikhot is incredibly badly insulated, much like most products on the market here.
You lose most of your heat there.

The one linked also looks extremely poorly insulated too.
Ensure that you over insulate everything. Family of 5 on a 150L is crazy though. I budget 100-150L per person on my own installs.

Use your bond to finance if you can't afford it, its the cheapest loan capital you have available.

Their site lies a bit though, it claims that a geyser will turn on and use electricity once water is in use. [ http://solarent.com/solar-water/savings/ ]
Thats not what I've seen in any geyser I've looked at. All the geysers I've ever seen use a thermostat to control the heating element.
Once the water hits lower than the thermostats set temperature, then the heating element kicks in.

Their site also says 12999 till 15th December for install, which seems ok, albeit not amazing.

As for your install -

Your issue is that your Kwikhot will still turn on and use electricity to maintain the water temperature within the tank.
The pre-feed thermosyphon won't impact that until someone takes a shower.
Once someone takes a shower, it will only then start filling the kwikhot tank with (hopefully) warmer water from the thermosyphon tank.
It will reduce your bill, but not as much as replacing with a properly sized system would.

Ideally, you want at least 500L of hot water storage for your needs (family of 5). Whether you can afford that is another matter though!
Click to expand...

Thanks Isheed

I guess my issue is can the system beat the R299 cost a month, if yes then it would make sense as I would be saving even more in the long run
 
A fully installed 300L kwikot Indirect solar geyser with flat plate collectors will set you back around R34 000 inc VAT at insurance rates. You could also just retrofit an existing electric geyser with EVT tubes for around R14 000 inc VAT.
 
lsheed_cn said:
One issue is that both Kwikhot is incredibly badly insulated, much like most products on the market here.
You lose most of your heat there.
Click to expand...
Do you know of a well-insulated alternative brand? I have a 150l kwikot... I'm looking into getting a evacuated-tube solution with an additional 150l geyser. Maybe I can get a good geyser as the 2nd 150l for now, then replace the kwikot with the better option when it pops
 
Inevitability said:
Do you know of a well-insulated alternative brand? I have a 150l kwikot... I'm looking into getting a evacuated-tube solution with an additional 150l geyser. Maybe I can get a good geyser as the 2nd 150l for now, then replace the kwikot with the better option when it pops
Click to expand...

+1. My kwikot also starting to drip. Anode probably never been changed in 8 years. Been looking online for a higher quality replacement but it seems kwikot owns the market.
 
Bump

Was looking into a solar geyser system and this seems like an affordable solution.

Anyone installed a Heatbox?
 
prejoh said:
Now that the Eskom rebate has fallen away the average price of a 300l solar geyser installation is between R40 000 - R62 000.
Click to expand...

What's the deal with the Eskom rebates? I thought some government department is taking it over?
 
Napalm2880 said:
What's the deal with the Eskom rebates? I thought some government department is taking it over?
Click to expand...
A few months back I did some Googling and found an email address that's the contact point for the rebates.
I asked about rebates and the reply I got went something like "the program is off for now, we'll let you know when there's a new rebate program"
 
found the email...
"Good morning
The SWH rebates previously offered via Eskom ended on 30/04/2015. No SWH incentives are available currently and DoE will communicate immediately any SWH incentives become available.
Khanyiso"
 
akescpt said:
to what comrade did all that money go? 1b election fund?
Click to expand...
I heard "a story from a guy" that Eskom doesn't care about driving us to use less energy. On the contrary, they want us to use more energy so they can make more money. All they ever wanted was to prevent us from breaking Eskom during the daily peak demand periods (06:00 to 08:00 , 18:00 to 20:00).
Now that they seemingly have that under control, there's no reason at all for them to keep the incentive program running.

...until, of course, the next time the demand starts exceeding their ability to supply and then we'll all be on the merry-go-round again.
 
website looks good.

a friend tell me that you must go for at least 300 liters solar. Interesting they don't use a pump, that does not last.

If the price is good get one.
 
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