Magetsi Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 Hi everyone, I'm sharing my experience with reducing reliance on Eskom for hot water heating while using solar panels. Solar Power and Winter Woes I started with a 2.7kW solar panel system, which worked great in summer, keeping my Eskom bill low (around R300-R500). However, winter brought challenges. With additional guests and heavy geyser usage, my bill skyrocketed to R2,000 for 500 units. I realised adding more panels or battery wouldn't help as the geyser draws the most power at night when there's no sun. Enter the Heat Pump After research and discussion on forums, I decided to try a used 4.7kW ITS heat pump. It's been a game-changer! My average daily usage this winter dropped from 28kW (with the 3kW geyser element) to just 4-7kW! The biggest advantage is that the heat pump works even on cloudy days, i could never turnon gyeser when the sun was producing around 1Kw. I'm sold on the technology and plan to replace this used unit with a new one when needed. Heat Pump Questions Gauge Reading: My ITS heat pump has a gauge that moves towards the yellow section when running. It never exceeds 65 degrees or 2.75 on the scale. While I understand red is bad, I can't find information on interpreting this gauge reading. Could someone explain its purpose? Metallic Sound: When the water temperature reaches around 49 degrees, a metallic sound seems to come from the compressor. Is this normal? I'm new to heat pumps and haven't witnessed one in operation before. I hope my experience helps others to make informed decisions about reducing Eskom reliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 (edited) 1 hour ago, Magetsi said: Hi everyone, I'm sharing my experience with reducing reliance on Eskom for hot water heating while using solar panels. Solar Power and Winter Woes I started with a 2.7kW solar panel system, which worked great in summer, keeping my Eskom bill low (around R300-R500). However, winter brought challenges. With additional guests and heavy geyser usage, my bill skyrocketed to R2,000 for 500 units. I realised adding more panels or battery wouldn't help as the geyser draws the most power at night when there's no sun. Enter the Heat Pump After research and discussion on forums, I decided to try a used 4.7kW ITS heat pump. It's been a game-changer! My average daily usage this winter dropped from 28kW (with the 3kW geyser element) to just 4-7kW! The biggest advantage is that the heat pump works even on cloudy days, i could never turnon gyeser when the sun was producing around 1Kw. I'm sold on the technology and plan to replace this used unit with a new one when needed. Heat Pump Questions Gauge Reading: My ITS heat pump has a gauge that moves towards the yellow section when running. It never exceeds 65 degrees or 2.75 on the scale. While I understand red is bad, I can't find information on interpreting this gauge reading. Could someone explain its purpose? Metallic Sound: When the water temperature reaches around 49 degrees, a metallic sound seems to come from the compressor. Is this normal? I'm new to heat pumps and haven't witnessed one in operation before. I hope my experience helps others to make informed decisions about reducing Eskom reliance. I have the same model for 13yrs now and no metallic sounds up to 60 degrees. I used to go to 60 which is maximum but yrs ago set it to 56 as it takes quite more time for the last 4 degrees. I have never checked the gauge but it might simply be the actual temp in the condenser. Glad to see you just as impressed as I am with mine. Edited July 30 by Scorp007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobster. Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 1 hour ago, Magetsi said: Hi everyone, I'm sharing my experience with reducing reliance on Eskom for hot water heating while using solar panels. Solar Power and Winter Woes I started with a 2.7kW solar panel system, which worked great in summer, keeping my Eskom bill low (around R300-R500). However, winter brought challenges. With additional guests and heavy geyser usage, my bill skyrocketed to R2,000 for 500 units. I realised adding more panels or battery wouldn't help as the geyser draws the most power at night when there's no sun. Enter the Heat Pump After research and discussion on forums, I decided to try a used 4.7kW ITS heat pump. It's been a game-changer! My average daily usage this winter dropped from 28kW (with the 3kW geyser element) to just 4-7kW! The biggest advantage is that the heat pump works even on cloudy days, i could never turnon gyeser when the sun was producing around 1Kw. I'm sold on the technology and plan to replace this used unit with a new one when needed. Heat Pump Questions Gauge Reading: My ITS heat pump has a gauge that moves towards the yellow section when running. It never exceeds 65 degrees or 2.75 on the scale. While I understand red is bad, I can't find information on interpreting this gauge reading. Could someone explain its purpose? Metallic Sound: When the water temperature reaches around 49 degrees, a metallic sound seems to come from the compressor. Is this normal? I'm new to heat pumps and haven't witnessed one in operation before. I hope my experience helps others to make informed decisions about reducing Eskom reliance. I've had a heatpump (though not an ITS) for 13 years now. It's been reliable, and, as you note, heat pumps are far more efficient than a geyser element. I'm told mine can't be repaired if it packs in. That's because the new ones use different gasses (mine uses the old R90), which means they have different compressors and motors. From what I've seen they can get the water hotter (mine doesn't go past 60, which is actually fine) and they have better control via a smartphone app. They do need servicing, but this is pretty much cleaning out the strainer and removing any debris that has gathered around the fins. Because of the location of mine, I don't have much problem with the latter. A blanket on the geyser and insulating the hot water pipes also helps. The system loses less heat, so takes less heating, though this is now a small gain after the big gain you have already made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magetsi Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 41 minutes ago, Scorp007 said: I have the same model for 13yrs now and no metallic sounds up to 60 degrees. I used to go to 60 which is maximum but yrs ago set it to 56 as it takes quite more time for the last 4 degrees. I have never checked the gauge but it might simply be the actual temp in the condenser. Glad to see you just as impressed as I am with mine. Thanks. I guess I can ignore the gauge then and enjoy the heat pump. The metallic sound is not too loud. Its just something that you hear after a while and you have to pay attention in order to hear it possibly because of the age of the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 2 hours ago, Magetsi said: Thanks. I guess I can ignore the gauge then and enjoy the heat pump. The metallic sound is not too loud. Its just something that you hear after a while and you have to pay attention in order to hear it possibly because of the age of the unit. You should be getting a error code for some faults. I have to say that I got a high gas pressure error when in fact it was the pump on its way out. This error came up as an early warning over 6 months before the pump finally would not pump. Ensure that you have a strainer fitted to prolong the life of the pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magetsi Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 Thanks, i will check on that. I didnt know what a strainer is, but now I know. I will check and ensure that it is installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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