Good day forumites! 

We're in the process of selling our house, just accepted an offer, and the house we are interested in buying doesn't have a solar installation.

I'll eventually get advice here on doing a solar installation when we move in. The area has piped gas and the current owner has replaced the geysers with solar geysers, stove is run off gas but oven is electric. I have no idea what the electric consumption looks like. 

My first question though relates to the pool. I've seen a number of adds for solar powered pool pumps. Has anyone tried these yet? 

Apart from the pump we also can't stand a cold pool. Our current pool has an inverter heat pump as well as those black solar heating panels. Does anyone know if you can run a heat pump on solar power? 

Ideally I'd like to be able to run both the pool and heat pump independently from whatever system I end up going for for the house. 

My feeling though is that this is a bit of a pipe dream considering how much power the heat pump would require. 

All the things you are wondering about CAN be done. The question is if they can be done at a price you can afford.

My advice would be to buy a little inverter/battery combo to keep some absolute essential up for load shedding. Also some of those LED globes with a little battery built in, that carry on working when the power goes down. That will mean you're not left in total darkness.

Then look at the ratings plate on the all the devices, figure out what they draw, and watch your electricity bill for a couple of months and get an idea of the total consumption. Then size a PV system or systems to suit. Then see how it fits with your budget. Remember that the current electric consumption won't be the same as yours. They have different habits and requirements than you do.

Having a PV powered heat pump for your pool, or a separate small system that will power that device, is a good idea because it will take that load off of the system that is powering your house. 

As an alternative, you could consider a pool blanket. Get one with a roller because they are fragile. They may also cause some chemical imbalances in the pool, but if you keep an eye on stabiliser levels and use unstabilised chemicals you should be OK.

3 hours ago, Arzy said:

Good day forumites! 

We're in the process of selling our house, just accepted an offer, and the house we are interested in buying doesn't have a solar installation.

I'll eventually get advice here on doing a solar installation when we move in. The area has piped gas and the current owner has replaced the geysers with solar geysers, stove is run off gas but oven is electric. I have no idea what the electric consumption looks like. 

My first question though relates to the pool. I've seen a number of adds for solar powered pool pumps. Has anyone tried these yet? 

Apart from the pump we also can't stand a cold pool. Our current pool has an inverter heat pump as well as those black solar heating panels. Does anyone know if you can run a heat pump on solar power? 

Ideally I'd like to be able to run both the pool and heat pump independently from whatever system I end up going for for the house. 

My feeling though is that this is a bit of a pipe dream considering how much power the heat pump would require. 

As you have been using a heat pump perhaps indicate what size heat pump would you use. As this could be the item using the most power one would start at looking what panels and inverter can be used for this and then add the load for the house.

Country? SA or not.

7 hours ago, Bobster. said:

All the things you are wondering about CAN be done. The question is if they can be done at a price you can afford.

My advice would be to buy a little inverter/battery combo to keep some absolute essential up for load shedding. Also some of those LED globes with a little battery built in, that carry on working when the power goes down. That will mean you're not left in total darkness.

Then look at the ratings plate on the all the devices, figure out what they draw, and watch your electricity bill for a couple of months and get an idea of the total consumption. Then size a PV system or systems to suit. Then see how it fits with your budget. Remember that the current electric consumption won't be the same as yours. They have different habits and requirements than you do.

Having a PV powered heat pump for your pool, or a separate small system that will power that device, is a good idea because it will take that load off of the system that is powering your house. 

As an alternative, you could consider a pool blanket. Get one with a roller because they are fragile. They may also cause some chemical imbalances in the pool, but if you keep an eye on stabiliser levels and use unstabilised chemicals you should be OK.

Saw a pool blanket on viewing the property so that's there at least. 

Will definitely be doing a basic installation for the house should we be successful in getting it and have a feel for the power consumption. 

No intention of going off grid at this stage but will really like to be able to get through load shedding at least. 

4 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

As you have been using a heat pump perhaps indicate what size heat pump would you use. As this could be the item using the most power one would start at looking what panels and inverter can be used for this and then add the load for the house.

Country? SA or not.

Guessing a range of 5-9kw heat pump will be fine in terms of size. 

Yes, in SA

10 hours ago, Arzy said:

Saw a pool blanket on viewing the property so that's there at least. 

If it's one of those solar blankets that looks like heavy duty bubble wrap. then this may be all you need. I used to have one, and when we took it off on summer evenings the pool would be steaming.