Hi

 

Is this product worth it. I am only starting on the solar path. I have 1.2 Kw of micro inverters (for now aiming at 2.4Kw soon) and no battery. What my aim is is to get the geyser to heat during the day when I have solar power and stay off during the night. I was thinking of a simple timer to do this, but the problem is if the solar production is bad or the water is to cold it would be a schlep to have to climb up and change the timer. With the Geyserwise you can just force the geyser to turn on using the control panel. Is anybody using these and are they worth it. Any other ideas, except Solar geyser, for now.

Hi Greglsh

Welcome to the forum! I have two "Geyserwise Max" units, the oldest unit having been installed over 5 years ago. I am very happy with these units and have had absolutely no problems with them. One unit is installed on a Solar Geyser and another on a regular Geyser - both result in a significant electricity saving.

The level of savings depends a lot on your typical pattern of using hot water, and how you program the unit.  The Geyserwise is most effective when programmed to heat up the water an hour or two before you typically need it and to not re-heat it during/just after using the hot water. The only "negative" comment on the system is the user-interface is a bit fiddly to program. 

5 minutes ago, NigelL said:

Hi Greglsh

Welcome to the forum! I have two "Geyserwise Max" units, the oldest unit having been installed over 5 years ago. I am very happy with these units and have had absolutely no problems with them. One unit is installed on a Solar Geyser and another on a regular Geyser - both result in a significant electricity saving.

The level of savings depends a lot on your typical pattern of using hot water, and how you program the unit.  The Geyserwise is most effective when programmed to heat up the water an hour or two before you typically need it and to not re-heat it during/just after using the hot water. The only "negative" comment on the system is the user-interface is a bit fiddly to program. 

Hi Nigeil

 

Thanks for the feedback, I also saw another unit called Easiwise that looks like it does the same sort of thing. I think I will go for one of the Geyserwise units and see how it goes.

2 hours ago, Greglsh said:

What my aim is is to get the geyser to heat during the day when I have solar power and stay off during the night.

Okay wait, to pay the price of a geyserwise  for that function is a waste. Install a normal timer of R350 excl in your DB and you dont have to climb nowhere, you can override the timer by the push of a button should you need to. 

If you have good pv during the day while the geyser is on , it will be utilized to reduce your bill and if not, you will draw all the power from the grid an pay for it. 

I personally think using a geyserwise for this is a total overkill.  

I just received some today, for the same application, pressing the "Manual" button brings on the element outside of the preset times. 

Hi Jaco

That does sound like a good oprion, where did you get those from, are they double space in the DB. What make are they so I can search for them online.

Thanks for the info.

27 minutes ago, Greglsh said:

Hi Jaco

That does sound like a good oprion, where did you get those from, are they double space in the DB. What make are they so I can search for them online.

Thanks for the info.

yup, double the usual breaker size and they come with the same clips for easy install.

I have loads of them around the plot for lights, water tanks, geysers, outbuildings etc.

I have had to replace to 2 of them in a span of a year though...

Edited August 21, 20197 yr by stoic

1 hour ago, stoic said:

I have had to replace to 2 of them in a span of a year though...

Hi Stoic, please tell me more, I am buying these to test as the normal CBi's battery only last a couple of months. 

Did you loose two in a year from buying them, or you lost two old ones in a span of one year? 

1 hour ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

Hi Stoic, please tell me more, I am buying these to test as the normal CBi's battery only last a couple of months. 

Did you loose two in a year from buying them, or you lost two old ones in a span of one year? 

It was the same one that i had to replace.

One was installed when i bought the place, and then about 6 months later it failed again.

... it was connected to a 4kw geyser though.

15 hours ago, Jaco de Jongh said:

Okay wait, to pay the price of a geyserwise  for that function is a waste. Install a normal timer of R350 excl in your DB and you dont have to climb nowhere, you can override the timer by the push of a button should you need to. 

Keep in mind that a Timer switch will not give you the ability to easily set/control and display the Geyser temperature.

Edite: I previously used a Timer Switch (MajorTech MTD8 or similar) on the Geyser, but these usually only lasted a year or two before needing to be replaced. 

Edited August 22, 20197 yr by NigelL

1 minute ago, NigelL said:

Keep in mind that a Timer switch will not give you the ability to easily set/control and display the Geyser temperature. 

I guess 1% of home owners has the luxury of doing that, even myself with my geyser connected to my solar system, still have to rely on a thermostat. 

27 minutes ago, NigelL said:

Keep in mind that a Timer switch will not give you the ability to easily set/control and display the Geyser temperature.

Edite: I previously used a Timer Switch (MajorTech MTD8 or similar) on the Geyser, but these usually only lasted a year or two before needing to be replaced. 

Hi NigeIL

 

What goes wrong with the MajorTech ones, is it the internal battery or do they just go faulty?

I think what is happening here unless I am mistaken is that if the timer is not rated correctly you are essentially burning it out, i.e if it is 10A/15A and put it on a 4kw geyser that is too much?

In my experience it was always the relay contactor that stopped working. The display and programming features still show up as normal, but the relay no longer operates.

The small relays used in Timer switches (and "Sonoff" type devices) are not able to withstand long-term daily operation of high-power loads - even when the loads are within their current rating.

Edit: It is not just MajorTech - it is also TopTronic.

Edited August 22, 20197 yr by NigelL

37 minutes ago, NigelL said:

Edit: It is not just MajorTech - it is also TopTronic.

I had a CBI once. In that one it wasn't the relay. I got the idea it was something else. Before it failed it started making a clicky noise once a second, almost as if the ticking clock inside is overwhelming the power supply and the internal relay is barely held closed. I eventually figured the timer doesn't save enough money to pay for itself, and didn't bother replacing it when it did fail. This will be different for others, but I have a prefeed system, hot water in a thermosyphon setup feeds an electric tank. I still need to keep the electric tank hot even if I have lots of hot water in the other tank. A timer saves less than 2kWh a day (way less... that is the standing loss).

Edited August 22, 20197 yr by plonkster

2 minutes ago, plonkster said:

Before it failed it started making a clicky noise once a second, almost as if the ticking clock inside is overwhelming the power supply and the internal relay is barely held closed.

Interesting observation! These timer switches generally use a very cheap "transformerless" type of power supply. This PSU usually has an X-class capacitor connected from Live, via a resistor, to Neutral. It then rectifies the lower voltage developed across the resistor to usable DC supply.

The power available from this PSU is therefore totally dependent on the capacitor value. The capacitance, and hence PSU output power, can degrade over time since it runs quite hot due to the constant power dissipation (even when not operating the relay). This will eventually result in the relay being unable to operate but the lower voltage control circuit/LCD will still appear to work fine.  I must check if I still have any of my old timer switches and see if this is the actual fault...

3 minutes ago, NigelL said:

This PSU usually has an X-class capacitor connected from Live, via a resistor, to Neutral. It then rectifies the lower voltage developed across the resistor to usable DC supply.

A capacitive dropper in other words 🙂

This is a brilliant observation. If the capacitor was drying out (it will depend on the type used of course, drying out is usually an electrolytic thing), then it will gradually pass less charge through to the rectifier (it essentially passes through a small bit of charge on each cycle before it charges up and becomes high-impedance) and eventually starve the circuit downstream.

So this really makes a lot of sense. Not sure why it would go one-second-clicky... who knows.

I have a geyserwise which I found in the house I bought a year ago. Now it has an error message E1 after electrician workedbon my DB board. How do I fix the error? 

E1 is an earthleakage possible element  fault, circuit fault or loose neutral wire

Hi

I have 2x geyserwize max installed 3yrs ago after lightning damaged the previous control. I had to replace one recently which developed a problem which acts like a  bad connection on the pcb.

On 2019/08/22 at 1:07 PM, ___ said:

A capacitive dropper in other words 🙂

This is a brilliant observation. If the capacitor was drying out (it will depend on the type used of course, drying out is usually an electrolytic thing), then it will gradually pass less charge through to the rectifier (it essentially passes through a small bit of charge on each cycle before it charges up and becomes high-impedance) and eventually starve the circuit downstream.

Capacitors that dry out are electrolytic capacitors. These are used on DC circuits.

The series capacitor you are referring to won't be one of these since it needs to cope with AC.

On 2020/11/13 at 5:41 AM, Richard Mackay said:

Capacitors that dry out are electrolytic capacitors. These are used on DC circuits.

The series capacitor you are referring to won't be one of these since it needs to cope with AC.

Hi, so my power supply started making this clicky sound this morning. Must I just replace the whole box or is it just one component that needs to be replaced?