Deez

Hi Rehaan The final set up includes: the Paloma 20l geyser that has effectively replaced 1 of my 200l geysers; Gas stove, which has replaced by electrical stove; Supported by 2 x 48kg gas cannisters. In summary, I am very happy with my choice for the following reasons: Paloma is a very good brand and the unit is quiet, requires minimal maintenance and you are able to set the temperature very easily via a panel inside the house. Setting the temp lowers decreases your gas consumption. The time taken for the water to heat up at the tap in on average 3 - 10 seconds. The cost of each is 48kg gas cannister is approxmately R1300 and I get on average 1.5 to 2 months utilisation which represents a saving on my utility bill. The water pressure is not as great as the electrical geyser but that only bothers my wife - not me :-). I have also installed a bore-hole with a booster pump so I am completely off the grid for water. There have been no issues with the water pressure for the gas heater. The configuration we went for is definitely the correct option. Hope this helps. Regards, Deez

Thanks Buyeye I have decided for now to go with the 20l Gas Heater to have an alternative heating source for long outages. We are currently experiencing lots of long outages due to faults at Houtkoppen sub. I am going to change the elements on my 2 remaining geysers down to 3kw and will connect that to the next phase of my PV Array + inverter/battery set up.

Hi Ryan, I am 100% on your page. My geyser is covered by insurance but I am considering using the pay out to convert to gas. I also have 4kw of installed PV cells with a 5kw Deye inverter. Option 1 - Replace geyser and convert to Solar Replace Geyser with a 200l Kwikot geyser (covered by insurance). Replace 4kw element with a 2kw electric or PTC element. Install a GeyserWise or GeyserWorx system to "smart" control the geyser and switch seamlessly between DC and AC as required to maintain temperature. I understand that this wont get me completely off the grid but it will allow me to maximise the investment of my PV installation. Costs Geyserwise = approximately R10k - lets say R11.5k with installation. GeyserWorx = R9.3k with installation (add in a another R2k for a AC/DC element - still confirming with GeyserWorx whether this is required.) Ongoing electricity usage will only be determined once installed and measured over a period of time. Option 2 - Remove geyser completely and put in a Gas Geyser Remove burst geyser and install a 20L forced fan gas geyser Utilise the R6k pay out from the insurance comp to contribute towards costs of gas system. Complete decoupling from Eskom. Costs Approximately R18k - R20k installed with a decent Paloma or Bosch geyser. Therefore all in about 12k taking the insurance payout into consideration. Cost of Gas to change a 48kg bottle every 2 to 3 months (R1350). Conclusion In my situation the installed cost works out to pretty much the same for both options with the gas heater slightly more expensive. The swinger will be the ongoing cost of gas vs the electricity utilisation I suppose. Not a clear winner in my opinion except it you want to off the grid completely.

@RyanG So if I understand your thread correctly, you would advocate putting in the new 2.2kw Geyserwise PTC element with a 200l geyser?

Yeah main reason they provide is that a 2KW wont heat up the 200l geyser.

Hi The 3 geysers cover different areas of the house. The main 200l geyser covers the main bedroom and the kitchen. As luck would have it, my 200l electric main geyser just burst! So I am deciding between replacing it with an electric geyser, retrofitting with a solar installation (either PV or evacuated tubes) or going gas. It's interesting that every installer I have spoken to cautions against putting a 2 kw element in a 200l geyser! I am leaning towards the PV installation with a Geyserwise/Gesyerworx system that will allow me to utilise electricity to get the required temps on cold/overcast days. Thanks for the feedback.

Good Day Fellow Members I am looking to replace or retrofit my existing electric geyser and am busy with research so I would appreciate any feedback provided. 1) Objective Ensure supply of hot water for prolonged outages (> than 4 hours caused by load shedding) as our infrastructure grid has deteriorated and we experience regular, long delays. Cut electricity costs. I would prefer to utilise my current geyser and convert it instead of replacing it completely (unless there is a cost effective alternative). 2) Geyser Specs I have 3 x 200l geysers but for now I am looking at just converting 1 of them unless there is a cost effective way to do all 3. These are Kwikot geysers so I assume that the element is the standard 3kw. 3) I am going to install a solar system next week with the following specs 6 x 400W Solar Panels 5kw Deye Inverter 5kvA Li Batteries I have researched numerous solutions including gas geysers, integrated solar geysers and retrofitting the current geyser. I have also followed numerous threads on this forum but I am still undecided. Any advice with possible configurations will be appreciated. Thanks! Deez