How many kWh do you use on average per month?

[RedViking]

I have no numbers to back me up but I think it's cheaper with an electric kettle. The gas kettle takes really long to boil (maybe 2-3x as long as electric kettle).

My feeling is that it might be cheaper to cook on electric vs gas overall, because I use a 9kg gas bottle up in 2 months of cooking (stove top and oven is gas), which works out to R140-R160/month, depending on gas prices and I'm not seeing even that amount of saving on my electric bill since changing from electric to gas.

The only pro I see is being able to cook during loadshedding.

 

[1am7h30n3]

The only pro I see is being able to cook during loadshedding.

And the instant heat response from gas compared to electric, that's so nice.

 

[Snyper564]

Which induction cooker you have?

One of the AEG induction hobs, wanna get a Bosch one when we redo the kitchen

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Timer generally doesn't save power if it's not for multiple days unless you have bad insulation.

Allowing the temp to get too low will also cause issues like legionaires.

It actually does, depending on how often you open the hot water and what the threshold is for the temp to drop before the geyser turns on.

If you turn it on for 2 hours, twice a day, that should get you through the day with decent savings.

I've measured it. Have my schedule set to turn on between 05:00-06:00 and 10:00-20:30.

Timer off:


Timer on:



All spikes close to or above 4 kWh is the geyser switching on. I could easily get away with 18:30-20:30 for the evening slot, but leave it running all day from 10:00 to make use of the solar.

Remember every time you turn on anything except cold water for anything more than like 30 second, the geyser will switch on because of the cold water entering it, especially in winter...

 

[Johnatan56]

It actually does, depending on how often you open the hot water and what the threshold is for the temp to drop before the geyser turns on.

If you turn it on for 2 hours, twice a day, that should get you through the day with decent savings.

I've measured it. Have my schedule set to turn on between 05:00-06:00 and 10:00-20:30.

Timer off:
View attachment 1307182

Timer on:

View attachment 1307184

All spikes close to or above 4 kWh is the geyser switching on. I could easily get away with 18:30-20:30 for the evening slot, but leave it running all day from 10:00 to make use of the solar.

Remember every time you turn on anything except cold water for anything more than like 30 second, the geyser will switch on because of the cold water entering it, especially in winter...

Then your insulation is bad, there have been quite a few studies on this, geyser timer if insulation is good is negligible.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Then your insulation is bad, there have been quite a few studies on this, geyser timer if insulation is good is negligible.

Insulation is the next thing on my list, I agree that it also adds to efficiency.

But the principle remains the same. You don't insulate the entire pipe (that would mean digging through your walls), only the small section leading out of and into the geyser. As soon as you start using geyser water, it's replaced with cold water, which triggers the geyser to switch on.

With good insulation, you don't need to run the geyser all the time. By trial and error you can work out how long, as well as the frequency, you need to run it. Single people could even get away with running it an hour or two every two days. A smart timer can do this...

 

[axsis]

2 People - 270-330kwh per month. Electric Geyser, mostly cooking on a gas plate, small fridge (need a bigger one lol). Renting but should probably sort out a timer and insulation on the geyser it seems...

 

[porchrat]

4 people - about 350 - 380kWh p/m depending on the season

Electric stove, thinking of moving to gas. Insulated geyser.

 

[W@P]

Insulation is the next thing on my list, I agree that it also adds to efficiency.

But the principle remains the same. You don't insulate the entire pipe (that would mean digging through your walls), only the small section leading out of and into the geyser. As soon as you start using geyser water, it's replaced with cold water, which triggers the geyser to switch on.

With good insulation, you don't need to run the geyser all the time. By trial and error you can work out how long, as well as the frequency, you need to run it. Single people could even get away with running it an hour or two every two days. A smart timer can do this...

I have my 2 x 200L geysers on CBI Astute timers to turn on at 13:00 and off at 16:00 running off PV and then I set the one Astute to power on the one geyser at 06:00 for 30 min now in winter otherwise the water is just just not hot enough.

I live alone.

 

[Pak Fa Fui]

Any good tips and products for geyser insulation

 

[noxibox]

I would expect someone who is not home all day to save nothing from turning off the water heater during the day. The water is barely going to cool down during the day anyway.

Some people clearly save money by turning it off. It is simple enough to test for yourself before spending money on a timer. The two homes where I tried it had no geyser blankets and no insulation on any pipes. Same goes for other family who had no savings.

I have no numbers to back me up but I think it's cheaper with an electric kettle. The gas kettle takes really long to boil (maybe 2-3x as long as electric kettle).

My feeling is that it might be cheaper to cook on electric vs gas overall, because I use a 9kg gas bottle up in 2 months of cooking (stove top and oven is gas), which works out to R140-R160/month, depending on gas prices and I'm not seeing even that amount of saving on my electric bill since changing from electric to gas.

We do save a bit, but we switched to gas because it is nicer to cook on a gas stove and the convenience of being able to cook regardless of whether there is electricity. Even if gas did cost a bit more we'd still prefer to use it for cooking. Prior to the current high gas prices we were saving a lot more though.

Then your insulation is bad, there have been quite a few studies on this, geyser timer if insulation is good is negligible.

There has to be some major heat leakage for it to make a noticeable difference, because otherwise the total energy input is pretty much the same whether the water is heated a bit at a time whenever it cools or allowed to cool all day then heated back up.

 

[noxibox]

Any good tips and products for geyser insulation

Wrapping the pipes may help. Blankets don't really do anything unless the hot water cylinder has poor insulation. In my experience they make absolutely no noticeable difference in the amount of heat loss.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

There has to be some major heat leakage for it to make a noticeable difference, because otherwise the total energy input is pretty much the same whether the water is heated a bit at a time whenever it cools or allowed to cool all day then heated back up.

The key thing is how often you open your taps. I've also noticed that a lot of people leave their mixers in the middle (warm), so every time they open it then it drains the geyser even if they don't need warm water. This is highly inefficient. Small things like this makes a big difference over time.

Unfortunately you can only really gauge whether a timer will be more efficient for you with proper monitoring - not stuff like checking your prepaid meter, but something like an efergy or your solar logging. But these cost more than the timer itself. You can make a timer work for you with some trial and error though, by setting the schedule to coincide with your usage habits...

 

[BBSA]

Must I add the units of energy I comsume from gas energy consumption?

 

[Jladan]

Have you posted your system on here yet ?

Nope where is the place to that?

 

[W@P]

Nope where is the place to that?

All of our systems have been posted right here in this subforum. You can create a new thread with your system details and of course some pics.

 

[Snyper564]

All of our systems have been posted right here in this subforum. You can create a new thread with your system details and of course some pics.

Eskom and Electricity: Load Shedding

Eskom and Electricity: Load Shedding

mybroadband.co.za

 

[SauRoNZA]

I would expect someone who is not home all day to save nothing from turning off the water heater during the day. The water is barely going to cool down during the day anyway.

Some people clearly save money by turning it off. It is simple enough to test for yourself before spending money on a timer. The two homes where I tried it had no geyser blankets and no insulation on any pipes. Same goes for other family who had no savings.


We do save a bit, but we switched to gas because it is nicer to cook on a gas stove and the convenience of being able to cook regardless of whether there is electricity. Even if gas did cost a bit more we'd still prefer to use it for cooking. Prior to the current high gas prices we were saving a lot more though.


There has to be some major heat leakage for it to make a noticeable difference, because otherwise the total energy input is pretty much the same whether the water is heated a bit at a time whenever it cools or allowed to cool all day then heated back up.

It actually cools down significantly.

Mine which is fully insulated in a geyser blanket will dip to as low as 30-degrees on average when there is no showering or bathing in the mornings.

Geyser goes on at 6:30 and off again at 08:00.

This is exactly where the power is saved because without the timer now it would be turned on an off by the thermostat all day to maintain its 65-degree setting.

So if you time it correctly according to your usage time it’s easy to find the savings.

Also you are guaranteed of your costs as it can’t run for longer than you’ve set it to so your maximum usage is preset.

For the two sessions of 1 1/2 hours per day mine rarely ever maxes out the load of 3.12kW * 3 = 9,36

If I just leave it on all day every day it will often peak to 12+ kW.

So to say it doesn’t save you money is really a misnomer as you are guaranteed a saving through the sheer fact the time it runs is limited. You may just fine on the very odd day here and there you have slightly cooler water, but it’s never cold.

 

[Alton Turner Blackwood]

Around 160kWh in summer and 220kWh in winter because then the geyser needs more help from Eksdom. That was when I still lived with the wife and two teenage daughters.

This is at my house where my wife and kids are. Solar geyser and gas stove.

At my flat where I live, I couldn't care less how much I'm using.

The electricity meter is broken since I've moved in and I've given up on the agent sorting it out. This month I'm buying two heaters because the ****ing flat never gets sun so it's always freezing inside.

 

[richjdavies]

It makes me so proud to see people actually getting the facts right about geyser timers...

It's a great day to be alive!

Ps -- the "research" mentioned ages ago was poor... It didn't involve using any hot water!!