solar geyser suggestion + installers in east of JHB

[Dex_]

Hi All,

I was hoping for some consolidated info and opinions,

I currently have a 200L geyser sitting in my roof, i want to put in a solar geyser this year and was considering my options. What is the opinion on the best solution all round, in terms of usability and cost effectiveness? should i be looking to retrofit the current geyser or should i be looking at a new one all together and what is the opinion on the different types, with panels, with evacuated tubes etc?

lastly any suggestions on reliable suppliers/installers and what to look out for?

Thanks

[pvdw22]

Hi Dex. I have been using solar geysers fir 12 years now. The first thing you have to keep in mind with solar geysers is that the secret of there efficiency lies in capacity. You will need 1.5x solar capacity if compared with electrical geyser. In your case a 300L setup (like mine) in solar will do a great job.

Regarding setup I prefer 2 smaller geysers in series rather than 1 big geyser. The pre feed configuration works very well.

Making a call between tubes and flat panels I think is more a choice of looks than efficiency. Any one of these 2 when correctly sized will work perfectly. I use both and both perform good.

Last suggestion if I may. If I have to start all over again I will most probably go for a gas geyser. The initial setup/install is cheaper but I find the advantage in the gas to be efficient even when we have a week of rain. The problem with rain now in SA is that is goes with load shedding. In this scenario your geyser is cold because of rain/cloudy weather and then when you want to use the backup element stage 2 or 4 surprise you with no grid. In those cases gas keeps on working for you.

[Dex_]

On 2020/01/11 at 7:02 PM, pvdw22 said:

Hi Dex. I have been using solar geysers fir 12 years now. The first thing you have to keep in mind with solar geysers is that the secret of there efficiency lies in capacity. You will need 1.5x solar capacity if compared with electrical geyser. In your case a 300L setup (like mine) in solar will do a great job.

Regarding setup I prefer 2 smaller geysers in series rather than 1 big geyser. The pre feed configuration works very well.

Making a call between tubes and flat panels I think is more a choice of looks than efficiency. Any one of these 2 when correctly sized will work perfectly. I use both and both perform good.

Last suggestion if I may. If I have to start all over again I will most probably go for a gas geyser. The initial setup/install is cheaper but I find the advantage in the gas to be efficient even when we have a week of rain. The problem with rain now in SA is that is goes with load shedding. In this scenario your geyser is cold because of rain/cloudy weather and then when you want to use the backup element stage 2 or 4 surprise you with no grid. In those cases gas keeps on working for you.

thanks for your feedback  frankly i think with it just being me and my wife a smaller geyser will be perfect, i often shower at gym anyway, there are some weeks where i end up showering at home like twice.

i considered a gas geyser, but they aren't cheap and then you still need to purchase gas, i feel with a solar geyser my break even will be way sooner and besides for issues or an occasional service the system will run for free.

[PJJ]

16 minutes ago, Dex_ said:

i considered a gas geyser, but they aren't cheap and then you still need to purchase gas, i feel with a solar geyser my break even will be way sooner and besides for issues or an occasional service the system will run for free.

Perhaps you should consider a heatpump?

Your existing solar system could then be used to power it, 1KW of electrical energy could provide the equivalent of a 3.5KW element, also not cheap, but given that you already have the solar generation it might be worth the consideration?

[Dex_]

18 hours ago, PJJ said:

Perhaps you should consider a heatpump?

Your existing solar system could then be used to power it, 1KW of electrical energy could provide the equivalent of a 3.5KW element, also not cheap, but given that you already have the solar generation it might be worth the consideration?

 i have thought about this, or even changing my geysers element and running it off the system, i feel like it will be more to juggle though (timing and power outtages etc), i also don't really want to stress the system more than i need to. have you gone this route?

[FixAMess]

I have a 150l geyser and tubes, retrofit. It works perfectly, but as above, one needs to increase the amount of water , a 300l geyser is good for a family of 4.

If only the 2 of you, 200l will be enough,  we use 150l for 2, 1 bath and 1 shower....

In summer I get temps of 70C on a N facing roof, in winter 45-50C.

The cost was approximately R15K , all in. I used a geyserwise system to control temp and pumping etc.

I had a flat panel, threw it out in favour of the evacuated tubes, much more efficient in my setup.

Hilton did my solar water, tube setup, he's reliable and knowledgeable. Hilton Melck. [email protected]

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by FixAMess

[PJJ]

1 hour ago, Dex_ said:

 i have thought about this, or even changing my geysers element and running it off the system, i feel like it will be more to juggle though (timing and power outtages etc), i also don't really want to stress the system more than i need to. have you gone this route?

I haven't yet however I am really considering it, my flat plate collector is also somewhat damaged and I have a small 150L geyser with 4 adults taking showers all over the place, so I can't really plan my hot water consumption that well, which is where a heatpump shines (Excuse the pun)

IIRC you have a Axpert setup so it might be a little of a chore for you to add it to your setup, but I am sure with a Sonoff flashed with Tasmota and some ingenuity you could implement something that could turn the heatpump off whenever you have a grid failure.

The upsides for me are:

- Lower power consumption vs element

- Use existing excess PV power to power the unit

- Ability to actually heat the water from the battery bank without spending a boat load of money on batteries.

- Less worries around hail/EV Tubes overheating or a circulation pump failing

If you where in a pinch, say you had 0 Eskom power and it was cold/cloudy outside thus hamstringing your EV tubes you could theoretically heat your geyser using your battery bank without breaking much of a sweat. the ITS heatpump I see does 3KW worth of heating for 750W worth of electrical energy. 

 

[Gerrie]

On 2020/01/10 at 2:25 PM, Dex_ said:

I currently have a 200L geyser sitting in my roof, i want to put in a solar geyser this year and was considering my options

My experience, Last year this time I decided on installing a solar geysers and was not sure what to install. After some thought and googling, I decided I am not removing my existing 150ltr geyser and will leave it purely as a backup. I did not want to modify it to solar because at the time I was skeptical about solar and thought I would rather install a seperate solar geyser and still have my old geyser should the solar disappoint me.

Also the cost would basically be the same for keeping my existing 150ltr geyser and then just adding a solar geyser.

I ended up fitting my solar geyser by myself as I am a tradesman and prefer to do things the way I like it and I then also understand the system better. It worked out about R13K for 200ltr ev tube geyser + additional piping + pressure regulator and ball valves to shut any of the two geyser. So for R13k I now have two geysers. I am happy with this solar geyser performance and had no need yet to use the old spare.