HotBot

[SauRoNZA]

Read this man's words.... this is why timers work effectively.
Using a smart switch is an added bonus, say for example if you go to Joburg for a week and then when you get on the plane to go back to Cape Town you can turn the stuff back on from the convenience of your phone so that when you get home a hot shower awaits. That's what I did when I used to live in CT.

Its not rocket science either. If you're smart enough to debate on this forum, you're smart enough to put together some code and create your own solution like this.

Exactly.

Before solar when we went away overnight everything turns off automatically when we left the house and on the way back I simply tell the car to turn on the geyser and magic happens so we get home to hot showers.

No wastage while we are away and no problem getting home and needing to wait for it to still warm up.

 

[TechFTW]

Public Service Announcement
TechFTW sent me 2 PMs regarding this thread. My reply was that any debate falls within consultation and my fee for that is 330 Euros.
So clearly a company shill, or the actual owner of the company, and has realized we are not stupid.

I DMed you to try to engage you like a fellow human, as it was clear that anything I said on this forum would just be trolled. Case in point.

And once again, I have absolutely nothing to do with the company. Happy to disclose my identity privately.

 

[B-1]

The only place to really save is the standing heat loss. You can lose 1-3kwh a day from that so if the system is smart enough to only heat the water just before you need it you can save a few kWh a month.

That being said you can do the same thing with an R600 CBI astute or one of the other smart isolator/breakers without needing a subscription service.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Nope


It's even simpler than that.
On a geyser the inlet is at the bottom and the outlet at the top.

We were discussing the case of a leak though, which could happen anywhere.

Still not convinced the leak principle can be universally applied to a geyser though.

 

[TechFTW]

We were discussing the case of a leak though, which could happen anywhere.

Still not convinced the leak principle can be universally applied to a geyser though.

In order for this principle to not apply, there would need to be some way for the geyser to allow air in to replace the lost water.

This could happen if the leak is very big in one of two ways: air seeps in via the leak itself, or the pressure of water exiting via the leak exceeds the threshold for the vacuum breaker to activate.

However, as leaks start small and grow over time, this is avoidable as long as it is detected early.

I'm guessing there also a certain amount of leakage that is unavoidable even with a shutoff valve, as the pressurized geyser normalizes to atmospheric pressure through the leak. This should be minimal though and easily dealt with by the drip tray.

 

[Snyper564]

This is all just over engineering. The saving if any is lost in the subscription model.

If this could be bought out right might have been worth it, now it could cost you more

 

[TechFTW]

This is all just over engineering. The saving if any is lost in the subscription model.

If this could be bought out right might have been worth it, now it could cost you more

Personally I think that the shutoff valve is not that valuable. Leak detection is far more valuable, as if you can detect early then you can prevent damage / close water supply manually to prevent damage.

For this crew, who seem to be technically proficient, you can probably buy an off the shelf wetness sensor and pipe into Home Assistant or similar.

I get that you don't think the subscription is worth it Whether with HotBot or not, I think leak detection is worth investing in - you're not just losing water, but all the thermal energy contained within.

 

[Snyper564]

Personally I think that the shutoff valve is not that valuable. Leak detection is far more valuable, as if you can detect early then you can prevent damage / close water supply manually to prevent damage.

For this crew, who seem to be technically proficient, you can probably buy an off the shelf wetness sensor and pipe into Home Assistant or similar.

I get that you don't think the subscription is worth it Whether with HotBot or not, I think leak detection is worth investing in - you're not just losing water, but all the thermal energy contained within.

I have insurance for any leaks

 

[TechFTW]

I have insurance for any leaks

That will cover you for damage, but not sentimental loss or reimbursement of wasted energy / water.

 

[semaphore]

That will cover you for damage, but not sentimental loss or reimbursement of wasted energy / water.

You're clearly trying to justify your shitty purchase.

 

[TechFTW]

You're clearly trying to justify your shitty purchase.

Err, no. I'm trying to justify the value of leak detection no matter how you get it. If you've had a burst geyser flood your living room, you'll get it.

 

[semaphore]

Err, no. I'm trying to justify the value of leak detection no matter how you get it. If you've had a burst geyser flood your living room, you'll get it.

It's called a flood tray for a reason, and I've had a geyser burst. You're not special.

 

[TechFTW]

It's called a flood tray for a reason, and I've had a geyser burst. You're not special.

Nope, it's called a drip tray. Perhaps you're confused with your hydroponics? Call your insurer and ask them how big a problem this is if you don't believe me.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Err, no. I'm trying to justify the value of leak detection no matter how you get it. If you've had a burst geyser flood your living room, you'll get it.

Don’t install it above your living room then.

Also, it’s why insurers insist on drip trays these days.

 

[Snyper564]

Don’t install it above your living room then.

Also, it’s why insurers insist on drip trays these days.

this...

 

[semaphore]

Nope, it's called a drip tray. Perhaps you're confused with your hydroponics? Call your insurer and ask them how big a problem this is if you don't believe me.

My Insurer covered all damage thanks, you're just a company shill.

 

[ands45]

CBI astute is under R500 and any half-decent DIY guy can install it for free.

Exactly, I have done both my geysers with these. Did it myself, took around 10 minutes per geyser and I only paid R430 each. Also this Hotbot model doesn't really work if you want to make the most use of solar as it sounds like it would come on at shower times in the morning and evening.

 

[PRP]

Exactly, I have done both my geysers with these. Did it myself, took around 10 minutes per geyser and I only paid R430 each. Also this Hotbot model doesn't really work if you want to make the most use of solar as it sounds like it would come on at shower times in the morning and evening.

How do you measure the water temperature with the Astute?
I just purchased the new Geyserwise with Wifi as I found it to be the only "Out the Box" safe solution to control the Geyser based on its temperature with a mechanical safety cut off.
My idea is to heat the water during the day to 75DegC with with Solar and use it as an energy store. Only heating again in the early mornings to 50Deg if needed.

 

[D4N_CPT]

I have a new subscription model if anyone is interested.

R49 per month and I will send you a report of how much you saved on anything that you choose. R100 activation fee. Baseline is R99 per month, thus a minimum saving of R50 per month is guaranteed.

For an additional R750 activation fee I will monitor your light circuit and give you a summary at the end of every month of when the lights were not turned on (savings, my man, savings everywhere). With a free shutoff, uhm smart relay, uhm A.I. relay, I will even shift the use of your lights in the daytime/peak time to avoid loadshedding the whole country over*.

*Loadsheding will only be elevated if we get 70% take-up, until then, it is a "best-effort" service

Also excited about our future plans to provide you with your own personal AI (in your DB box) that will let you know at the end of every month how much energy you did not use, while your stove is off. This bad-boy will also limit you to one element at max 90 degrees Celsius Fahrenheit during peak times. The planned monthly savings on this is HUGE (I have one at my home already and promise this to be true- saving thousands every single week) it will even save you dough on your gas-only units*.

*Gas-only savings calculated based on Defy 600 electric consumption figures

 

[ands45]

How do you measure the water temperature with the Astute?
I just purchased the new Geyserwise with Wifi as I found it to be the only "Out the Box" safe solution to control the Geyser based on its temperature with a mechanical safety cut off.
My idea is to heat the water during the day to 75DegC with with Solar and use it as an energy store. Only heating again in the early mornings to 50Deg if needed.

That's one piece I am missing so potentially "waste" a small amount heating more than needed in the morning. I also set both geysers to max temp so they fully heat during the day, then have 1 set to do a quick top up in the morning for showers. As I don't know the temp is a bit of a guess, but with the warmer weather now, I just do around 25 mins and that seems to do the trick. The with the astutes it is pretty easy to manage the loads, as you can setup a smart scene that the 1 geyser only uses power if the other one isn't using power. So essentially just set 1 block of time in the middle of the day for both and they will won't be using power at the same time. It works pretty well and is very reasonable