Unless you have a smart meter I assume they don’t know what your daily usage is. So every time they do “know” (quarterly when readings taken or estimated) they will make your calculation and average it over the quarter. So assuming when averaged your daily usage is always >>2.5kWh it means you...
It’s better but would be nice if you made clear that your headline Summary applies to stepped controllers and not proportional ones.
I have a new installation in London where we have put a web based monitor with 3 current sensors on it: PV generation, grid power and power into the immersion...
I once had a dishwasher that I put on hot fill only and it worked very well. Speeds up the cycle.
Am still getting lots of private messages asking for kits. Please can I repeat that I am no longer doing kits as my design will be available as a commercially built unit. Can’t give a date yet.
Why only 3kW per day? Most people use more hot water than that, maybe 6kWh. Are you very abstemious? If hot water is effectively free with a controller it makes sense to convert dishwasher and washing machine to hot fill to limit the time their elements need to come on at times there is...
Very comprehensive but needs more work. I have not checked through it all carefully but it may be about right for stepped controllers. But there is something wrong with your maths for proportional ones as even if you only put ¼ of your total generation into water heating you will displace around...
I accept the principle that paying for a Ford rather than a Rolls Royce is fine if you are prepared to accept some performance compromise in return for a lower price. But what you don’t want is a Ford that never actually moves forwards, but only goes in reverse. Some of these stepped...
Not at all. If you use it with a 3kW element you may well import a lot to heat your water. And with a 1kW element there is the added cost of element plus not a lot of actual PV generation transferred to that element. See all the posts on page 51. These switched type systems, particularly ones...
That will be solved when my unit comes commercially available soon. And don’t need the expense of a 1kW element. But it is still slightly cheaper to make your own from design ideas here if you have the skills.
Nice in theory but in practice quite difficult to design hence all the good ideas...
My house is wired that way and its never been much of a problem. It is even the same ring main as the TV uses and the TV never complains about any interference from the SSR.
I’d say don’t do it this way if you value your marriage and your mental health. You will end up always worrying about whether is should be 500W or 1000W and what time to set and beating yourself up for getting it wrong. And, like some friends of mine, the couple will argue about it constantly...
No more expensive than ones like yours, once cost of adding a 1kW element is added in. If there is any small extra cost it would easily pay back in a year due to increased power into the immersion. But all other proportional designs that I know of are significantly more expensive because they...
These people are claiming far more than they can deliver. As I said before, even if you track the export properly by using proportional control you only get about £50 - £60 off your annual gas bill, assuming a 3-4kW PV system and an efficient gas water heating system (no pilot light, short pipes...
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