Hi All,

Putting out this question to hear ideas/options.

I am looking to help out my parents. My main goal is to reduce electricity useage

They currently have an old verticle 150l low pressure kwikot geyser but it is nearing its last legs

That household has 6 people, (4 adults and 2 kids under 8).

The kids are still covered by the flatlet with bath in the evenings (and not too much can be done about that for now). But on the other bathroom, 4 adults shower and there are day/night shifts. Meaning showers in the mornings and evenings.

My plan was to get the geyserwise with solar input (there are some free panels which put me on this initial idea). Visited Plumblink here in PE today and they said that set up wont work well on a low pressure geyser and would not heat effectively.

If they would likely be replacing the geyser anyway (maybe go larger than 150l thats currently there), would this geyserwise option still be the best options.

Heating with solar in the day which would at least help with some of the heating.

Next option would be a heat pump that while costing more would also provide a reduction in electricity useage.

Plumblink suggested an elon system, that you select on a dial AC / DC (I suppose this is selecting Eskom and panels).

Any ideas/comments appreciated to the closest to set and forget would be great.

1 hour ago, Garthox said:

Visited Plumblink here in PE today and they said that set up wont work well on a low pressure geyser and would not heat effectively

I can't see why low pressure or high pressure geysers would respond differently to GeyserWise PV.

5 minutes ago, frivan said:

I can't see why low pressure or high pressure geysers would respond differently to GeyserWise PV.

I also couldnt understand it, I had tried a google search this afternoon but wasn't able to find anything stating that.

My comments on the rest of the initial post:

Your goal is probably to reduce electrical consumption from the grid.

Personally I like vertical geysers.

One 150l geyser will work hard for 6 people.

With hot water usage in the morning, there will be grid usage. You want to manage the temperature of the geyser to minimise this.

I would definitely go for Geyserwise PV, but add four panels. I don't know the Elon system but I don't see remote display with the temperature.

A heat pump reduces energy consumption but doesn't give free energy. PV heating for a geyser is the best return on investment.

You can consider a second geyser to have more storage and reduce hot water runs.

You can also disconnect the AC supply to the geyser. Love and hot water supply should have limits.

12 hours ago, frivan said:

Love and hot water supply should have limits.

😆

I can recommend this product. It Consumes less than 750 Watt to heat your water it uses heat pump tech and has a backup element for emergencies byproduct is cold air you can duct into a room heats 200 Litre water equivalent to a 3KW 200 Litre geyser. We have had a lot of great feedback from consumers that own this product.

It will easily integrate with existing solar storage systems due to its low baseload.

Power Forum Renewable Energy Store | By Powerforum.co.za

200 Elite Magneto Thermo Tank

Thermal Low Pressure Integrated Heat Exchange System By replacing the traditional water geyser element with a heat exchange system you can produce 3kW with 750W of energy consumption. Heat pump system

On 2025/09/08 at 7:48 AM, Powerforum Store said:

I can recommend this product. It Consumes less than 750 Watt to heat your water it uses heat pump tech and has a backup element for emergencies byproduct is cold air you can duct into a room heats 200 Litre water equivalent to a 3KW 200 Litre geyser. We have had a lot of great feedback from consumers that own this product.

It will easily integrate with existing solar storage systems due to its low baseload.

Power Forum Renewable Energy Store | By Powerforum.co.za

200 Elite Magneto Thermo Tank

Thermal Low Pressure Integrated Heat Exchange System By replacing the traditional water geyser element with a heat exchange system you can produce 3kW with 750W of energy consumption. Heat pump system

I had looked into this as opposed to a geyser/heat pump option.
But this last line on the EMS website with regards to the warranty based on the location from the coast put me off this.

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8 minutes ago, Garthox said:

But this last line on the EMS website with regards to the warranty based on the location from the coast put me off this.

That would be a big no no. Take for instance a reputabe geyser manufucturer: "Kwikot geyser warranties are standard across all areas, including coastline regions, with most Kwikot electric water heaters offering a comprehensive 5-year warranty, primarily covering the inner cylinder and major components"

I ran a 4kw heatpump off a cheap 3.6kw inverter and 4 panels for nearly 2 years. The heatpump was set to start at 9AM and switch off at 4PM, and as long as it was sunny, I got a free geyser full of hot water every day. The heatpump was bought second hand for R4k, and installed by myself and a friend. Added benefit is that if you add a bit of battery capacity, you have some electricity to tide you over during loadshedding/ outages at night.