Greglsh Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Hi all, new to the forum. Hoping to learn a little as I go. This is my setup currently, I have 1 x 150l kwikot geyser in the "guest/kid" bathroom which also supplies the kitchen be it 15m away. I also have 1 x 150l kwikot geyser in the en-suite. There are 2 adults (wife and I) and 1 child who is 3. So daily routine with hot water is as follows, 3 year old normally has a bath in guest bathroom at around 5:30 to 6pm. Small amount of hot water used in kitchen for food prep. Wife and I shower either at night or morning, in summer (we live in Durban) sometimes both. Sometimes child showers with one of us so that cuts down on the bath use. Sorry for the long story, just want to give the facts. I want to lower our electricity bill, we currently spend about R850 a month. I am not sure if I can afford to sort out both geysers at once, but was thinking of retrofitting the geysers. Here is where one of the issues is. We have a huge Jacaranda tree in our garden which covers the one side of the house ( main en-suite bathroom side) to "trim" this tree back will cost between R5000 and R6000 . So here is my idea. On the guest bathroom, retrofit with vacuum tubes and geyserwise system for a 150l geyser. Then either trim the tree and do the same on the other geyser, or do a heatpump for that geyser or do a PV retrofit and have the panels about 20m from the geyser away from the tree. What are your opinions and thoughts (sorry for the long story) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Hi Greg. I had a geyser feeding the house. Distance to the kitchen about 10-15m, feeding one bathroom next to the kitchen. So I put in a 50l geyser for kitchen and one bathroom, as the 10-15m wastes a lot of hot water, and cold water, before it is warm enough and therefor electricity. For the rest, retrofit the 150l geyser with EV tube or heatpump, and when the geyser pops, use the insurance monies to upgrade the geyser to 200l or bigger. Leave the tree alone unless is becomes a danger during a storm that branches may fall on the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greglsh Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 I have a gas geyser connected to the kitchen, I think it is a 15l/min. This thing eats gas, I have a gas stove and I have a 19kg gas bottle, when I was using the gas geyser the gas bottle would last about 3 to 4 months. Since I have turned off the gas geyser the 19kg bottle lasts a year. Do you suggest retrofitting both 150l geysers with tubes/heatpump or just the one. The one under the tree would have to be a heatpump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Greglsh said: Do you suggest retrofitting both 150l geysers with tubes/heatpump or just the one. The one under the tree would have to be a heatpump. Both is a wee bit expensive, but it is nicer, if not for the tree. Therein suggesting one large one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greglsh Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 Does anybody know if you can run 2 150l geysers off one heat pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewinder Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 @Greglsh. I run 2 geysers of my heatpump. It is because they are in SERIES. So the heatpump circulates the hot water through both. The heatpump is the big 7.2 kW one, so it heats both up very quickly. Both the geysers are also retrofitted with EV tubes. 1 set of 24 tubes for both geysers. The only negative is that the number of tubes (24) I have, is too few I think, as my water (350 l) only goes to 48 Deg on a clear day. Would like it to be a bit higher, so the heat will last through the night for that early morning shower as well, and not kick the heatpump in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Cameron Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Sidewinder HI COULD YOU GIVE A SKETCH OF THE PIPE WORK FOR 2X GEYSER & THIS COMBO HP / WV TUBES. I HAVE ONE GEYSER ON A PV ELEMENT FOR UNDER FLOOR HEATING BUT NEED TO USE SOME OF THAT HEAT IN THE OTHER GEYSER AS THERRE IS QUITE A BIT OG SURPLUS EVEN THOUGH I ALSO CHARGE BATTERIES FOR BACK UP POWER FOR THE HOUSE SO NEED TO COMBINED ALL THIS HEAT INTO TWO 150L GEYSERS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerrie Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 On 2019/03/25 at 7:42 AM, Sidewinder said: Both the geysers are also retrofitted with EV tubes. 1 set of 24 tubes for both geysers. The 24 tubes are probably not enough for 350Ltr of water, that’s allot of water. I have a 200Ltr ev tube geyser and it comes with 20 tubes, your ratio 24/350 = 14,5Ltr per tube compare to my standard purchased geyser 20/200 =10 Ltr per tube. I would say you need at least another 10 tubes to to achieve higher temperature. Also if your water loose too much temperature during the night the insulation on pipes might also be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewinder Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 The hot water pipes all have lagging on them. 22mm. Yes, I have come to the same extra (12) tubes, i'll be ok for winter. Just waiting on lockdown to finish before tackling.. I want to also insolate the 2 geysers as well, to retain even more heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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