Solar system - what lifestyle changes have you made

[Steijn1]

I have my solar farm for almost 70 days now and I was wondering how your solar setup changed your life?

What changes did you make to your lifestyle because of the solar install?

For us, we had to figure out how the time delay function on the washing machine and the tumble dryer worked. Never used beford but now we schedule them.
Tumble dryer will run from about 11am.
The washing machine will start at about 13h00 so that it just finished when my wife gets home. She doesn't like clothes lying in the washing machine for long periods.

Only the dishwasher doesn't have a delay start and I am not sure when is the best time to run it.

What changes have you made?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Dishwasher only runs during day time.

Apart from that, none. Did become more energy conscious though, especially at night...

 

[Saba'a]

Only thing is trying to run dishwasher and washing machine during the day.

Delay timer? Hmm will see if mine has a timer or buy ones soon.

Any smart wifi washing machines or dishwashers that are not over priced?

 

[Steijn1]

Dishwasher only runs during day time.

Apart from that, none. Did become more energy conscious though, especially at night...

True.
I have 2 x 5.12KWH batteries so I still have to be a little careful when the PV disappears.
Plan is to expand that to 4 batteries.

 

[Steijn1]

Only thing is trying to run dishwasher and washing machine during the day.

Delay timer? Hmm will see if mine has a timer or buy ones soon.

Any smart wifi washing machines or dishwashers that are not over priced?

Wifi could be interesting

 

[Lupus]

I have my solar farm for almost 70 days now and I was wondering how your solar setup changed your life?

What changes did you make to your lifestyle because of the solar install?

For us, we had to figure out how the time delay function on the washing machine and the tumble dryer worked. Never used beford but now we schedule them.
Tumble dryer will run from about 11am.
The washing machine will start at about 13h00 so that it just finished when my wife gets home. She doesn't like clothes lying in the washing machine for long periods.

Only the dishwasher doesn't have a delay start and I am not sure when is the best time to run it.

What changes have you made?

You could use the power of the sun to dry the clothes in a different way

 

[Steijn1]

You could use the power of the sun to dry the clothes in a different way

True and we still do. The afternoon washing will go on the line for drying. Tumble dryer doesn't run daily.

 

[Snyper564]

Our entire house is essential side, including oven and induction stove. My wife wanted our life impacted as little as possible with solar, the only real change we made was running the dishwasher after 7am barring that everything else remains the same.

This is one of the reasons our system was over specd and specifically went with the 8kw sunsynk.

So the oven is run in the evening as usual but I bake alot midday now guilt free. Think I used about 100-150kw extra in Jan because of this.

 

[AchmatK]

Our entire house is essential side, including oven and induction stove. My wife wanted our life impacted as little as possible with solar, the only real change we made was running the dishwasher after 7am barring that everything else remains the same.

This is one of the reasons our system was over specd and specifically went with the 8kw sunsynk.

So the oven is run in the evening as usual but I bake alot midday now guilt free. Think I used about 100-150kw extra in Jan because of this.

I'm in a similar position.

We live in an electric age and while we have gone with energy efficient appliances and lights, we do not want to give up any of the convenience that comes with it.

Oven and stove are both gas, geyser is evacuated solar, wood burning fireplace for winter heating, underfloor heating in the bathroom and lounge, 3 x aircons, tumble dryer for winter, dishwasher, etc. Everything on essentials but never need to run everything together.

Underfloor heating only turns on if temp is below 18° which is not often as the fireplace would be on on most winter days. Aircons are mainly only on individually and not together. Bedroom aircon runs at night but then the lounge aircon would be off and vice verse during the day. And this normally in summer only. Unless we need to heat the place quickly while we get the fireplace going.

Dishwasher only runs during the day.

 

[neoprema]

I just came here wondering what a Salor is.

 

[Saba'a]

Our entire house is essential side, including oven and induction stove. My wife wanted our life impacted as little as possible with solar, the only real change we made was running the dishwasher after 7am barring that everything else remains the same.

This is one of the reasons our system was over specd and specifically went with the 8kw sunsynk.

So the oven is run in the evening as usual but I bake alot midday now guilt free. Think I used about 100-150kw extra in Jan because of this.

While my batteries not up to spec will not be able to be offgrid. I only have 7kw at 0.5c thus only 3.5kw.

Plus my geysers running straight from panels/grid with no evacuation nor heat pumps to assist

Will get 2 batteries for 14kw at 0.5c (i.e. 7kw) and then focus on more panels.

But no real life changes. This was more in case of electricity outages and scoring some cost savings.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

While my batteries not up to spec will not be able to be offgrid. I only have 7kw at 0.5c thus only 3.5kw.

Plus my geysers running straight from panels/grid with no evacuation nor heat pumps to assist

Will get 2 batteries for 14kw at 0.5c (i.e. 7kw) and then focus on more panels.

But no real life changes. This was more in case of electricity outages and scoring some cost savings.

0.5C is the discharge rate, has nothing to do with capacity.

It just means that your battery will only be able to deliver half the power at any point in time. You still have the full capacity available...

 

[Steijn1]

I just came here wondering what a Salor is.

My bad.
How do I fix it?

 

[Snyper564]

My bad.
How do I fix it?

@bwana I think

 

[1am7h30n3]

Lifestyle changes? Well before installing solar, the first thing I would do when walking into my house was to check if I had power and then either sigh of relief or not... Now I just know there's power.

I do tend to try and cook something using electricity when it's a bright sunny day and I know that my batteries are already charged. Not that I limit my cooking at other times, more of a "hey what extra power can I use to take advantage of this excess".

 

[Tinuva]

For us, we didn't change much.

Dishwasher still runs on eco mode during the night. In cape town our panels only get enough sun for it after 9am and winter...lol.

The only time we really reach the DoD on the batteries before sun in the morning is when we run an aircon overnight, otherwise there enough battery for the dishwasher and the base load.

What I did spend a lot of time on changing, is automate timing for the geysers and pool pump to run. The DoD got automated too, to only let discharge what we can recharge during the day even with other stuff running.

Other than that, life is mostly still the same.

 

[Steijn1]

For us, we didn't change much.

Dishwasher still runs on eco mode during the night. In cape town our panels only get enough sun for it after 9am and winter...lol.

The only time we really reach the DoD on the batteries before sun in the morning is when we run an aircon overnight, otherwise there enough battery for the dishwasher and the base load.

What I did spend a lot of time on changing, is automate timing for the geysers and pool pump to run. The DoD got automated too, to only let discharge what we can recharge during the day even with other stuff running.

Other than that, life is mostly still the same.

Mind sharing the broad strokes of the timer settings you use for the geyser and pump?

 

[Tinuva]

Mind sharing the broad strokes of the timer settings you use for the geyser and pump?

Sure.

I have solar forecast setup in home assistant, which knows the size, direction and angle of my array to predict the amount of solar power can potentially generate on a day.

The pool pump then only go on if the generation for the day is predicted high enough and the time also differ a bit.
For this house, the following works:
Above 25kWh left at 9am = 8 hours run time
22-25kWh left at 9am = 7 hours run time
20-22kWh left at 9am = 7 hours run time
18-20kWh left at 9am = 6 hours run time
etc.
If the office aircon is on, the pump will only run 3 hours because after that the aircon starts pulling more power, generally we run it on very hot days.
If the battery didn't charge fast enough, the pump will turn off on one of the hours after 12 to allow some faster charging on the batteries.

Basically I sacrifice the pool pump first based on a bunch of factors, some days it will not even turn on.

The geysers is well a different one, I just let them run from 12 when the most sun is out. Plan is to make it earlier after the next panel upgrade. Since they are on non-essential, if the grid is down, I can't turn them on, but home assistant will keep on retrying until the grid is back on.

Geysers only run once a day in summer. In winter, only the one will turn on for a morning shower if the average outside temperature is below 18 degrees for the past 12 hours. This was a nice save realising the hotter days only need to run middle of the day and next morning showers are fine.

 

[Steijn1]

Sure.

I have solar forecast setup in home assistant, which knows the size, direction and angle of my array to predict the amount of solar power can potentially generate on a day.

The pool pump then only go on if the generation for the day is predicted high enough and the time also differ a bit.
For this house, the following works:
Above 25kWh left at 9am = 8 hours run time
22-25kWh left at 9am = 7 hours run time
20-22kWh left at 9am = 7 hours run time
18-20kWh left at 9am = 6 hours run time
etc.
If the office aircon is on, the pump will only run 3 hours because after that the aircon starts pulling more power, generally we run it on very hot days.
If the battery didn't charge fast enough, the pump will turn off on one of the hours after 12 to allow some faster charging on the batteries.

Basically I sacrifice the pool pump first based on a bunch of factors, some days it will not even turn on.

The geysers is well a different one, I just let them run from 12 when the most sun is out. Plan is to make it earlier after the next panel upgrade. Since they are on non-essential, if the grid is down, I can't turn them on, but home assistant will keep on retrying until the grid is back on.

Geysers only run once a day in summer. In winter, only the one will turn on for a morning shower if the average outside temperature is below 18 degrees for the past 12 hours. This was a nice save realising the hotter days only need to run middle of the day and next morning showers are fine.

Awesome.
I am impressed.
Time to start getting into home automation.
Thanks

 

[Pax]

My lifestyle changes..............
Well, since Solar, my lifestyle became different from before, waiting through power cuts:

• Started off with a Mecer pure sinewave inverter and deep cycle batteries in Jan 2021
• Mecer’s alarms cannot be switched off, so getting tired of getting up and make it shut up every time Eskom pulls their stunts, I bought a Growatt inverter in March ’21.
• May ’21 added solar panels, and all was well
• July ’21 decided to upgrade to a Li battery and got a Hubble
• Sept’21, the Hubble could no longer hold a charge overnight. My installer was overseas, and I contacted Hubble, but they refuse to assist an end user, rendering their warranty useless if the installer is no longer around
• Oct’21. Got hold of installer and after threats, get him to exchange the Hubble for a Pylontech
• Nov ‘21 to Feb ’22 -try to get the Growatt to communicate with the Pylontech with constant communication between Growatt supplier, my installer and others to get it to work properly and changing settings as they say, yet never actually doing what it should. Even had special communication cables made up.
• Feb’22, one day the Growatt simply switched off and would not work at all. Sent to my supplier, who sent me a message from the importer saying motherboard is broken and will cosy me R5000 to repair, as it is “clearly user abuse.”(!!!!!!!!!!) I call them out and give them 24 hours to honour the warranty or come explain in court how I, the user, had abused and broken the unit. Next day, I get a message that the unit works 100%, they just want to keep it for 3 more days for testing.
• I get fed-up with companies who try to avoid their warranty obligations and buy a Kodak inverter. Due to some circumstances, it gets installed last week only.
• No matter how the installer sets it up, it remains in battery mode and refuses to feed from the PV or utility nor even charge the battery.
• Installer is due back………..

That is where we’re at. Surely most systems seem to work as intended. I must be cursed! (LoL) Yet, lifestyle changes, for sure!