Truth About Switching Geysers Off?

Zoomzoom

Zoomzoom

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Hi,

There is a lot of conflicting information out there - some say switch your geyser off for some hours per day will save and others (including Eskom) say doing that actually increases power use. Then the municipality wants to put a timer on your geyser so it only goes on for a few hours (at their time not what suits you!) and that is supposed to save electricity but does it?

Does anyone know what the real story is?
 
Zoomzoom said:
Hi,

There is a lot of conflicting information out there - some say switch your geyser off for some hours per day will save and others (including Eskom) say doing that actually increases power use. Then the municipality wants to put a timer on your geyser so it only goes on for a few hours (at their time not what suits you!) and that is supposed to save electricity but does it?

Does anyone know what the real story is?
Click to expand...

Your one mistake about the municipal timer is that you believe them say its for saving electricity, it isn't. It is for moving the load to outside the peak times. More electricity available for the stoves and whatnot that people use during peak time, less electricity used at that time for heating bath/shower water...
 
Its easy, test it. I tried it makes almost zero difference to your bill.
The problem is this, if you leave it off for a few hours, you now have to heat up 150 L tank from ambient temperature 20 deg C up to about 60 deg C. So it takes a long time, however, if you keep it on the geyser only runs for a short period. The longer its running at maximum power, the more it uses.
Try it with a kettle. Put 1 Litre of cold water into it and run the kettle. Time it. Then, leave the kettle to cool down for about 10 minutes, turn it on. Time how long it takes. Thats pretty much what your geyser is doing.
 
The longer you leave it off the more electricity you save. Leave it off permanently and it uses zero electricity. :p

(Sorry, couldn't resist. Actually, there is no noticeable saving. The physics is elementary. It takes x amount of energy to raise y amount of water by z degrees. Your geyser's ability to retain water temp is the one variable you can slightly control, eg through insulation.)
 
Last edited:
supersunbird said:
Your one mistake about the municipal timer is that you believe them say its for saving electricity, it isn't. It is for moving the load to outside the peak times. More electricity available for the stoves and whatnot that people use during peak time, less electricity used at that time for heating bath/shower water...
Click to expand...

Exactly what she said.
 
It doesn't make much of a difference. Wrapping it in that pink stuff to make it hold the temperature better does help
 
It seems to help me. If I leave it on it uses 20 watts a day during the winter. We turn it off in the mornings and turn it back on about 4 pm. Use just over 10 watts a day. That's total household consumption.

Could be I haven't figure out the timer thing. And max setting is only 45 degrees
 
The biggest lie is the statement:
"save electricity"

Switching off the geyser and letting the water get cold will cost you more in the long run to heat it back up to your temp.

their is a mathematical formula " specific heat capacity of water " that will show you what it costs to heat up water from low temp > high temp, instead of maintaining temp.

You will see it's better to leave the geyser on @ it's max temp (70°) setting.

Insulation will improve your geysers heat retention abilities.

Or get a solar geyser with gas backup - that way you use zero electricity.
 
We installed a Gas Geyser the last time it needed to be replaced and it solved so many problems for us. We always have hot hot water and the whole household can shower one after each other without a problem. The gas is shared with the stove so it is hard to be exact but we are definitely saving money and hardly ever have to buy gas compared to always needing to get more electricity.

We were turning our electric geyser on and off and we tested it for us it did save 6-8 units a day but that would vary for your usage and depending on many factors like geyser size and insulation. Just don't forget to switch it back on, no fun. You will have to test it for yourself to be accurate.
 
It depends on how you use it. If it's used during the day as well as morning and night, leave it on.
If you're going to be away for a day or more, turn it off.
No cost saving from turning it off really if it's in daily use IMO.
 
Given I'm in a rented house and have no access to the bill or a convenient meter to watch consumption I can't 'test it for myself' which is why I asked.
 
crackersa said:
It seems to help me. If I leave it on it uses 20 watts a day during the winter. We turn it off in the mornings and turn it back on about 4 pm. Use just over 10 watts a day. That's total household consumption.

Could be I haven't figure out the timer thing. And max setting is only 45 degrees
Click to expand...

45 is dangerous. It doesn't kill legionella
 
crackersa said:
It seems to help me. If I leave it on it uses 20 watts a day during the winter. We turn it off in the mornings and turn it back on about 4 pm. Use just over 10 watts a day. That's total household consumption.

Could be I haven't figure out the timer thing. And max setting is only 45 degrees
Click to expand...
Those figures can't be right. The 20 watts, and 10 Watts per day you mention is impossible. even a normal light bulb would use more than that. Do you perhaps mean Kilowatts?
 
crackersa said:
It seems to help me. If I leave it on it uses 20 watts a day during the winter. We turn it off in the mornings and turn it back on about 4 pm. Use just over 10 watts a day. That's total household consumption.

Could be I haven't figure out the timer thing. And max setting is only 45 degrees
Click to expand...
It's not recommended having your geyser below 45 degrees, especially if you are turning it off, you are basically turning it in to a insulator for bacteria
supersunbird said:
Your one mistake about the municipal timer is that you believe them say its for saving electricity, it isn't. It is for moving the load to outside the peak times. More electricity available for the stoves and whatnot that people use during peak time, less electricity used at that time for heating bath/shower water...
Click to expand...
 
Zoomzoom said:
Given I'm in a rented house and have no access to the bill or a convenient meter to watch consumption I can't 'test it for myself' which is why I asked.
Click to expand...

Do you have access to the geyser or the electrical cable leading to it? If so, you can attach a clamp-on meter to it to see exactly what kind of daily consumption you have. Hardware stores should have them.
 
crackersa said:
It seems to help me. If I leave it on it uses 20 watts a day during the winter. We turn it off in the mornings and turn it back on about 4 pm. Use just over 10 watts a day. That's total household consumption.

Could be I haven't figure out the timer thing. And max setting is only 45 degrees
Click to expand...

10W? Is that geyser meant for ants?
 
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