Jatho

Wow great effort man I never would have thought about replacing with an ESP module, I suppose not an open heart surgery everyone would be comfortable with but definitely worth giving it a go if you have good soldering skills and can flash ESP modules, really like that the power monitoring works as well (and this module is rated to comfortably handle geyser loads)

The Sonoff with external really is a good option and not too much of a hack to put together, did it for my geysers about a month ago and was very worthwhile has definitely made a difference with my consumption, all in I think it cost me about R475 per geyser.

Was wondering when someone would post about the update Its awesome problem with the GX is its pretty slow and a little annoying that you have to rotate the screen to landscape and can only allow access from one device at a time.
The new VRM portal gives you all of that info in a much cleaner look along with some additional fields which is great, also love how it now displays your production and consumption as well as the utility usage for the stipulated period.
Wonder if they'll give the GX the same face lift 

Thanks for the pointers, My geysers and oven are connected through a Carlo Gavazzi energy meter so when mains fails power is cut to these devices anyway, I also have other automation's that detect mains failure and cut power to things like my pool pump, toasters, kettles etc... I've got it pretty streamlined to the point where if we have load shedding during the day my batteries usually charge up to 100% because the load is that low (around 260w) I actually end up manually just switching the pool back on, I also only start things like the pool pump if mains power is available, if it isn't it waits until it is.
 
 

I suspect it's because you want to use the surplus power to heat water, and you're more likely to have 1.5kw surplus than to have 3kw surplus. Even if you have an array big enough so that you do have 3kw surplus at some point in the day, you will have that peak for a much shorter time. Since water heats more or less linearly over time and you have all day... using a smaller element is the ticket.
The second one you put on a time switch and connect it to the grid. If the water isn't hot enough by the time time timer switches on, it takes it the rest of the way on the second element (or both at the same time if you put it in late afternoon).

Thanks for all the advice guys, version 2 is done, tested and working as it should just need to wire it in, was a pretty tight fit in the box 🙃
 

Thanks for all the advice guys, version 2 is done, tested and working as it should just need to wire it in, was a pretty tight fit in the box 🙃
 

Thanks for all the advice guys, version 2 is done, tested and working as it should just need to wire it in, was a pretty tight fit in the box 🙃
 

Thanks for all the advice guys, version 2 is done, tested and working as it should just need to wire it in, was a pretty tight fit in the box 🙃
 

Thanks for all the advice guys, version 2 is done, tested and working as it should just need to wire it in, was a pretty tight fit in the box 🙃
 

https://esphome.io/cookbook/power_meter.html
Have a look at that, I built one and compared the readings to an Efergy and it was spot on, they're cheap to build using a nodemcu.

https://esphome.io/cookbook/power_meter.html
Have a look at that, I built one and compared the readings to an Efergy and it was spot on, they're cheap to build using a nodemcu.

I agree with all of the posters here re running DC products on DC power.
I'm in the router industry we are one of the distributors for things like TP-LINK, Mikrotik, Ubiquiti etc... so I can confidently say I know the stuff well
Your best bet from a price / performance point of view is to get a 12v battery and charger and then run all of the 12V stuff directly off the battery, for other voltages get step up or step down converters, these are quite cheap and readily available.
I have around 120ah worth of batteries which run 4 routers, my home automation Intel NUC (have a step up to 19v for this although it does run off 12v but I've done this more for power filtering), efergy energy monitor, fibre router, 2 x outdoor routers for a ptp link,  it is capable of keeping this equipment up for days.
Most routers are either 9V or 12V, the 9V routers can almost all run at 12V without issue, products like Mikrotik have a very broad input voltage range of anywhere between 9v and 56v so can run on a plethora of battery configurations.
Its not a good idea to increase the capacity of the UPS you will have charge & heat issues they are not built to be expanded (well not the small entry level units), UPS in general are not designed for this type of work, they are designed to keep things like PC's powered up until a generator / inverter kicks in not to power a host of devices for hours. Unfortunately this is the perception and tons of people are rushing out and buying UPS' to act as inverters and with the frequency and level of load shedding we're faced with it is damaging the UPS and they're not even seeing their 1 year warranties out.
I'm happy to share pics of my setup and offer advise, I've been running on batteries for over 10 years with no issues. 
 

I've also been running Home Assistant and love it, I've got quite a lot of automations and things hooked up but have recently started putting quite an effort into automating more, some of my examples.
Warning me if garage door is open after I leave or if it is opened between 10pm and 6am
Monitoring for mains failure which I'll later use to turn off plugs for kettles, toasters etc... when I have installed an inverter so that I can ensure we're not smoking the thing
Monitoring if doors are not locked
Warning if water tank levels are critically low (or high)
Monitoring water flow / usage
Switching pool on and off
Switching lights on based on ambient conditions
Turning fans on based on temperature and so on...
I have mostly sonoff's, nodemcu's with ESPhome, TP-LINK and Tuya lightbulbs and will soon get some Shelly dimmers.
 
 

For PylonTech I think we can extract code from the repository below.  I'm currently running ICC but I'm thinking of developing something open source that supports axpert and pylon techs, has a small control panel and can submit data via MQTT to home assistant or smart things.  Then people don't have to pay 3k+ for ICC which becomes unresponsive in various situations.
https://github.com/celsworth/lxp-pylon-utils

I started off on a Pi but then when I realised that I was going to move from a "test" environment to live and given that it controls most of my house I didn't want to risk running it on a Pi and SD card so I moved over to an Intel NUC I7 also running as a VM (Proxmox), big performance boost and solid hardware. I've automated backups to my Google drive so its a pretty reliable setup.

I've also been running Home Assistant and love it, I've got quite a lot of automations and things hooked up but have recently started putting quite an effort into automating more, some of my examples.
Warning me if garage door is open after I leave or if it is opened between 10pm and 6am
Monitoring for mains failure which I'll later use to turn off plugs for kettles, toasters etc... when I have installed an inverter so that I can ensure we're not smoking the thing
Monitoring if doors are not locked
Warning if water tank levels are critically low (or high)
Monitoring water flow / usage
Switching pool on and off
Switching lights on based on ambient conditions
Turning fans on based on temperature and so on...
I have mostly sonoff's, nodemcu's with ESPhome, TP-LINK and Tuya lightbulbs and will soon get some Shelly dimmers.
 
 

I agree with all of the posters here re running DC products on DC power.
I'm in the router industry we are one of the distributors for things like TP-LINK, Mikrotik, Ubiquiti etc... so I can confidently say I know the stuff well
Your best bet from a price / performance point of view is to get a 12v battery and charger and then run all of the 12V stuff directly off the battery, for other voltages get step up or step down converters, these are quite cheap and readily available.
I have around 120ah worth of batteries which run 4 routers, my home automation Intel NUC (have a step up to 19v for this although it does run off 12v but I've done this more for power filtering), efergy energy monitor, fibre router, 2 x outdoor routers for a ptp link,  it is capable of keeping this equipment up for days.
Most routers are either 9V or 12V, the 9V routers can almost all run at 12V without issue, products like Mikrotik have a very broad input voltage range of anywhere between 9v and 56v so can run on a plethora of battery configurations.
Its not a good idea to increase the capacity of the UPS you will have charge & heat issues they are not built to be expanded (well not the small entry level units), UPS in general are not designed for this type of work, they are designed to keep things like PC's powered up until a generator / inverter kicks in not to power a host of devices for hours. Unfortunately this is the perception and tons of people are rushing out and buying UPS' to act as inverters and with the frequency and level of load shedding we're faced with it is damaging the UPS and they're not even seeing their 1 year warranties out.
I'm happy to share pics of my setup and offer advise, I've been running on batteries for over 10 years with no issues. 
 

Hah! I'm a long time Toyota fan and I've had two Corollas in the last 20 years. I think it is unfair to compare a Corolla to any Voltronic... 😛
 

While I personally like GoodWe hybrids, there's a couple of things that you have to double-check before each order:
Some of the GoodWe hybrids have a very weak backup side. Inverter is rated for 5000VA for example, but the backup side is rated for 2300VA only and that really sucks. GW5048-EM is an example. GoodWe inverters can't be stacked (or paralleled) in order to build a system with a higher backup power. You can have 2 or more hybrids in a house and they will work together, but once the grid goes down, they will not cooperate and therefore you have to manually split your essential loads between the inverters. Not very convenient. While some models are still designed for a standard 48V battery, the new 3-phase hybrids require high-voltage battery (180-550V). Later you will find, that in order to build such a HV battery bank, you have to buy at least 10kWh of lithium which is not cheap. But there's also a lot of good things about the above GW machines. For example, most of them don't have fans, so they are silent and just humming. Everything is easy to set-up and the installation itself is a quick process even if you're rookie.
 
There's a tons of info on Victron stuff on the forum, so I'd like to mention just the biggest differences in design philosophy:
The main portfolio of Victron gear standardizes around 48V battery bank, which is cheap to star with and cheap to upgrade over the time. Also, Victron gear can be stacked/paralleled, so if you need to have massive backup power, you can. Victron is like a Lego, so you can combine a separate MPPTs, inverters, monitoring devices and control panels in order to build a tailored PV system. There's plethora of settings that you can tune and play with. And there's a nice community where you can get help and advice when you're lost.  
Both vendors earned their place on the solar market, but each of them is targeting a slightly different customer segment.

victron vs axpert on this forum is like coke vs pepsi. 
they both do the job, but there are fans of each sitting in a corner waiting to pounce on a post like this to tag team
For me it comes down to ease of scaling. With victron the inverter, charger and management device are split up, and can all be chained together if you want to grow the system.
Axpert has it all built into one device, making it easier and cheaper to expand. but if one of those components caves in you need a whole new device.
Personally i like Victron, i can add more stuff as i need it, and if one breaks i can just replace the one part. but it comes at a greater cost though. NOTE: this is my personal preference
Support.... well, you will get support for both on this forum.

Technically everyone has a experience with a BMS, your phone has one protecting it from becoming a fireball, unless you own a Samsung Note 7

Hi Guys,
I have just completed the installation and just can't believe its done! Unfortunately it is already dark and I will thus only be able to switch on tomorrow morning. I can't wait and just had to share this with all you wonderful oaks out there. I have attached a few pictures to give you an idea of what I have done with the installation. I also have to thank everyone on the forum for all your assistance and support, all the good advice and just for being available at all times!!!! Without the forum I really don't think I would have been able to do it alone!  THANKS GUYS !!!!!!!!