Steibl heatpump installing a timer to maximise solar system
Submitted by timboon on Tue, 2017-12-05 20:31
Crew,
Had the big solar system installed now for a week or so so its time to maximise the investment and reduce the payback time....
I have a 300 litre Steibl heatpump that seems to rum sporadically day and night...
Ideally i want to have it run through the daytime period when the panels are producing power and remain off through the night...
Has anyone on here done the same?
What sort of timer set up have you had installed?
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
You can for sure. Generally
You can for sure. Generally a timeclock and contactor in your switchboard is the best option. Works much better with a element hws because of its high current and fast heating.
A heatpump generally only has a input of 700w so no as crucial ad on a element hws.
You also have to run a hws for a minimum of 16hrs a day to stop bacteria.
I personally have 2 heatpumps and solar on my house and have not bothered to put a timer in yet. Remember if you have a shower at night and its turned off good chance it wont be that warm in the morning!
Better of running stuff like poolpumps, AC, dishwasher, washingmachine etc etc
timboon
Posts: 2957
Date Joined: 14/11/10
I'm hearing you Vinesh, i
I'm hearing you Vinesh, i just find it a little odd that the HP kicks in sometimes late at night....
Our living habits are pretty structured its not like anyone has showers at midnight...
As far as running other appliances goes, dont have a pool, designed an energy efficient rammed earth house ( plus we live down south ) so no need for an AC....
Dishwasher will always get flicked on when its full and the missus uses the washing machine generally in the mornings only....
The pump from my rainwater tanks is a bit of a killer but again not much I can do about that....
I'll leave things how they are for 6 months anyway as i'm interested in seeing how much it knocks our bills around
Vinesh87
Posts: 2751
Date Joined: 02/04/11
Hp will kick in when it
Hp will kick in when it drops to a certain temp so yeh could kick in any time. Maybe 2 hrs after 1 shower or 1 hr after 2 showers. Will differ in summer and winter too.
Tank pump shouldnt be using to much power either. I assume just a pressure pump for your house? The biggest Davey pressure pumps only use about 800w and unless showering is only running for a few minutes here and there. Big bores are different though mine is 4kw!
Sounds like your bills wouldnt be very high to begin with!
timboon
Posts: 2957
Date Joined: 14/11/10
Our bills are around
Our bills are around $300-$350 bi monthly.....
Besides the day to day - fridge/freezer, TV, Heatpump, lights etc etc I call the oil heaters we use to heat the boys rooms if the fire warmth hasn't got there yet and the rainwater pumps ( we could just use town water which we pay bloody rates for regardless ) as kind of luxury items as we could do away with once the boys get to an age they can keep an extra blanket on....
I'll be interested to see how much our bills come down and for just over 5k for 6.5kw of panels and a 5kw inverter she seems to be running at max power nearly all day so giddy up....
Its a no brainer for me....