Switching on Immersion heater.

[infinity]

This is a great idea, but how long would it really take to payback the outlay of all the gadgets required to install one of these devices?
Quite possibly many years.

 

[liquidity]

I reckon I spend £1/day on hot water heated by the central heating boiler during the late spring, summer and early autumn when the heating is no longer required. Dishwasher and washing machine are cold fill. If using PV could save half that money I would be surprised - peak hot water use is before 10am so the boiler runs from perhaps 06:00 to bring the water up the temp and then after morning showers to reheat the hot water tank. So perhaps I could save 40p day? And I can get meaningful PV energy perhaps half the days of the year? So saving 0.4 * 180 = £72/year? That's actually not too bad a return on investment - better than I would have predicted.

Happy to hear other people's thoughts on much they think they might save or if my logic is wonky.

One thing I probably should look into is a programmable thermostat for the hot water cylinder - 45-50 degree water is probably plenty hot for hand washing etc after 10:00 AM.

 

[danesol]

Can you buy any RF or Blue Tooth adapters to do this working on an SMA Inverter, when it isnt possible to get any direct cabling between Inverter and Immersion Heater switch ??

 

[brightasaspark]

HI - any advice welcomed on suitable relays or contactors with say 12 volt DC coils that I can use to switch 3kw immersion using multifunction relay output on SMA 4000TL.

Thanks - Great website

 

[jollygreengiant]

You may want to have a look at this porduct it may help you.

Have a look at www.totalpowershop.com and their TP-S610A power / energymanagement unit

It will monitor how much energy your house is consumingand how much power you are getting from your solar panels or any otherrenewable energy source. It will automatically switch on your immersion heater(and up to 2 other appliances) when enough surplus energy is being generated.

And its only £300!! It should pay for itself as well,although it may take a year or two to get the money back. And it will make surethat your home is not consuming anymore power than you want to. The controlunit will also record your energy production and consumption and download it toa pc.

 

[solarfred]

Actually the monitor is £300 and then you need 2 x transmitters plus 3 sockets so in fact the total cost would be £450+ vat unless I have that wrong?
You may be able to give quite good information as you have made two posts about this company??

 

[jollygreengiant]

The package includes
TWO 13 Amp UK 3 pin mains wirelessly controlled sensor sockets
TWO 10mm sensor clamps
ONE data lead
Full operating instructions
Software
ONE UK Mains Adapter for powering the control unit.

Everything that is needed.