Pitfalls to look out for when installing solar power

spiff said:
Just don't buy cheap shyt and get it installed by professionals.

My solar geyser used to be boosted by eskom, but I hate eskom so when the drought hit Cape Town, while they were installing my jojo tanks, I installed a Dewhot 16l constant temp gas geyser, plus 2 x 19kg bottles to boost the SG water this occurs mainly during the coldest months of winter. The rest of the year the SG gets way more hotter than is needed.

During winter if the SG temperature drops below 50°C there's an inline temperature bypass valve, this diverts SG water to the GG which boosts it back to 60°C then back to the main house supply. This setup reduces the amount of gas needed to reheat the water.

We've never run out of hot water ever! no matter what time of day or night it is, no matter how many showers or baths we have per day or night, cloudy or clear weather, loadshedding or not.

Pros:
Hot water 24/7/365
no electric element repairs / costs
no waiting for geyser to heat up
no waiting for heat pump to heat up
no timers required
no eskom required
no solar pv required
no worries about battery charge
battery power can now be used for more important things at night
no heat pump repair costs
no heat pump down time
near zero maintenance for both geysers


Cons:
(I can't think of anything cause it just works 100% all the time, but will mention the following)
Gas delivery once or twice a year
Gas inspection once a year. (insurance)
1 x 9v ignitor battery for gas geyser once a year

My hot water. heating, cooking is off grid - fark eskom!

What's going to happen when your heat pump is broken or in for repairs?

Why anyone would waste solar charge time or battery power to heat water - when a simple bespoke solar / gas water heating system installed professionally as mentioned above is more than adequate is beyond me.
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gas geyser cons:

Can’t be near a window
Can’t be near a drain
Can’t be near an ignition source (Aircon)

I had to send it back for refund.
 
I'm looking at installing a DAB pressure pump so good on the power a friend showed me. Its needed where u live but with solar I was tempted to do a gas geyser. Solar produces so much extra and placing the geyser on a timer also helps so I ended up with a 150L
Ie turns on at 8am ends at 5pm
 
mypetcow said:
The point is that the solar geyser is as near as makes no difference a scam and that while you pay less for it than for a heat pump you end up using Eskom electricity to heat the water anyway. It’s pretty much like donating that money to the whosever sells you the solar geyser and getting nothing in return. Why?

You shower in the morning.
The geyser partially fills up with cold water.
The temperature in the geyser is below the set temperature of the thermostat.
The heating element will turn on.
Why?
Because at 6am when you shower the sun isn’t as high in the sky to adequately heat the water.
By 7am the water is hot again (thanks Eskom)
The whole day when you’re not using the geyser the water is kept hot by the sun. (Minimal gain here)
6pm you get home.
You make dinner and wash your dishes by hand (a dishwasher would be more efficient but not the point here)
Now it’s night and the the geyser is below the set temperature again.
The electric element turns on and heats the water again.

The minimal daytime heat loss savings never justify a solar geyser. It’s a scam.

So if you care about saving money and don’t feel like constantly servicing your solar geyser just get a heat pump. Yes it’s more expensive but unlike a solar geyser it actually does something to save you money.
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You put a timer on it.
 
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