Optimal geyser timer settings?

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smb3

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Anybody know what are the recommended geyser settings on a timer?

At the moment I am running 3 'blocks' 4-6am , 9-11am, 5-7pm. I'm wondering if this is correct or whether there are different settings that I could implement?

The main reason is that I have had a spike in electricity usage (600 units -> 900 units) for the last 3 months and I think this might be one of the issues?
 
A timer does not save you electricity. It just shifts your load around. So change that 5-7pm block to be either earlier or later.

Spike in electricity in last 3 months = winter :p
 
Sinbad said:
A timer does not save you electricity. It just shifts your load around. So change that 5-7pm block to be either earlier or later.

Spike in electricity in last 3 months = winter :p
Click to expand...

Ah yes ... winter :p
 
A timer will only save you a significant amount if all your hot water usage is concentrated around one particular time, and you have the geyser off for the rest of the day. Standing losses are proportional to the temperature of the water in the geyser, by letting it cool down between use you are reducing the standing losses. IMO your three blocks will not save you anything significant. A geyser blanket, pipe insulation and low flow fittings are the best option for reducing your electricity consumption.
 
Personally, I've found the biggest saving for me with a geyser timer has been to stop the geyser switching on between high usage times whenever the s/o washes her hands / dishes.
My timings (based on our household needs) are something like this:
6am - 9am (for morning showers / washing dishes)
11am - 12 noon (top up)
3pm-5pm (pre-peak load times warm up for night time requirements)
8pm-9pm (only used in winter - top up after the days use - don't need it in Summer as the water coming into the geyser isn't as cold).

Edit: I was sceptical at first, but the timer has definitely saved me money.
 
My biggest saving was to put a gas installation in the kitchen so the Domestic isn't constantly switching the tap on causing the geyser to switch on constantly.
I have a solar HP geyser and the timer is set for 4-5:30am and 9:30-10:30pm.

Also its a 200L with 3KW element vs old 150L with 3.5KW element.
 
smb3 said:
Anybody know what are the recommended geyser settings on a timer?

At the moment I am running 3 'blocks' 4-6am , 9-11am, 5-7pm. I'm wondering if this is correct or whether there are different settings that I could implement?

The main reason is that I have had a spike in electricity usage (600 units -> 900 units) for the last 3 months and I think this might be one of the issues?
Click to expand...

Mine is in 2 blocks.

6-7am (for morning shower and if Maid needs it during the day)

4-6PM For wife and daugter (bath / shower)

Works perfect for us and even if there is loadshedding, those times miss it.
 
Be careful,some geysers were not designed to operate like this and you could be setting it up for failure (thermostat).Gone through 3 geysers in my lifetime , stopped doing this now.
 
The only real application for a timer is to shift load during the high peak times.

So have it switch off between 6-9 am and then again between 4-8 pm. Wont save money but will help the grid, when they start doing individual load shedding then this will really help you.

The only real way you would save money using the timer is if you did the following:

2 hours before you shower : Geyser on
Just before shower : Geyser off

Then keep it off till 2 hours before you shower, that way you don't heat up water you wont use.

There are other issues with doing that, so I wouldn't do it anyway. Basically you can't really save money with a timer.


If you really want to try save a tiny bit of electricity then turn it off between 11am and 2pm on days where no one is home.
 
I had to set my evening cycle longer as well for the winter, showers became colder over the last month.

150 liter
5:30 to 7:00
12:30 to 13:00
17:00 to 20:00
 
DMZ said:
A timer will only save you a significant amount if all your hot water usage is concentrated around one particular time, and you have the geyser off for the rest of the day. Standing losses are proportional to the temperature of the water in the geyser, by letting it cool down between use you are reducing the standing losses.
Click to expand...
I still didn't save any money.
 
To expand on what I said earlier - what I've found is that with the wife / domestic doing dishes and washing hands with hot water during the day, we're constantly putting cold water into the geyser and making it re-heat the water. With the timer, there's no re-heating until just before shower times and so on.
This has definitely helped with the bill.
 
K3NS31 said:
To expand on what I said earlier - what I've found is that with the wife / domestic doing dishes and washing hands with hot water during the day, we're constantly putting cold water into the geyser and making it re-heat the water. With the timer, there's no re-heating until just before shower times and so on.
This has definitely helped with the bill.
Click to expand...

This is your imagination.
Whether you heat 1 litre every hour for 10 hours, or 10 litres once, it's the same amount of energy.
 
I religiously check my electricity usage every Sunday.
Before we adjusted the geyser we used 32 units a day on average.
I then set the geyser down to 50º from 72º and set the timer for 18:00 to 21:00, we shower at night and have a dishwasher.
On Fridays we have the geyser on from 12:00 to 14:00 for our domestics that come on that day.
The average readings dropped to 26 units a day which in our case amounts to R6 a day or R182 per month.
Interestingly enough if I switch the geyser off altogether it drops another 2 units a day.
So for a sake of R60 odd per month, switching to a gas or solar is pointless.
 
Batista said:
Be careful,some geysers were not designed to operate like this and you could be setting it up for failure (thermostat).Gone through 3 geysers in my lifetime , stopped doing this now.
Click to expand...

And how to then explain do geysers work? They are constantly switching on and off BTW, a timer is just limiting the times and duration during the day.

I always laugh at these comments but perhaps you should buy a better quality geyser next time.
 
smb3 said:
Anybody know what are the recommended geyser settings on a timer?

At the moment I am running 3 'blocks' 4-6am , 9-11am, 5-7pm. I'm wondering if this is correct or whether there are different settings that I could implement?

The main reason is that I have had a spike in electricity usage (600 units -> 900 units) for the last 3 months and I think this might be one of the issues?
Click to expand...


Its very dependant on your usage patterns, the insulation of your geysers, the thermostat heat setting and its condition.

If you do notice a drastic decrease in your electricity with a timer then it would be because of a faulty thermostat. You could first turn down your temperature.

Factors like size of geyser (150L,200L, etc) and your usage pattern (shower, bath, etc) also need to be considered.

Simple things like insulating the first 1m of pipes into/out of your geyser will help. A geyser blanket can also improve your usage but is not a guarantee and useless on a well insulated geyser.

Another option is to switch to solar where a timer actually makes a difference. Just last week I had my solar geyser installed and went for a 200L one. The timer helps because its set in the morning 4am-6am (I shower at 4:45am) to make sure there is hot water in the morning and then again at 3pm-5pm to make sure we have hot water at night (I shower again at 8pm) for overcast days. We have a 2000W element compared to your standard 3/4000 Watt you find your normal geyser. This also reduces electricity consumption.

If you are interested in going solar but don't have the cash, consider the rent-to-own offers. Its working out the same as buying it on my credit card and then paying it off over 5 years. Beauty is the saving on my electricity bill covers the monthly rental and its mine after 5 years.
 
I recently moved into a house that has a Geyserwise unit fitted.

Now this seems to make much more sense to me that a dumb timer because it has a thermal probe fitted so it will only warm the water up to 55 degrees and then stop and allow it to cool by 5 degrees before firing up again to get it to 55 etc.

So combined with the 3 daily schedules it won't just stay on indefinitely for those full periods and especially in summer it will hardly switch on at all.

Needless to say I can't comment on it's efficacy just yet and will be hard to compare as I've just moved to a bigger house with air conditioners and things fitted as well so tricky to formulate the difference, but I think the thermal probe will go a lot further than just a timer.
 
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