So now I have a solar PV system how do I make the most of it???

silverwhistle

Well, it looks like today is the first since March that I'll have to fire up the boiler to give hot water.T o put this in context I'm single and use an electric shower. My last 6 months bills for both fuels were £80 in total.

Now will the boiler fire up, will the pump work, did I switch off the pilot light or is it electronic; I can't remember.? Standby for the next thrilling instalment...

mickyduck

silverwhistle wrote: »

Well, it looks like today is the first since March that I'll have to fire up the boiler to give hot water.T o put this in context I'm single and use an electric shower. My last 6 months bills for both fuels were £80 in total.

Now will the boiler fire up, will the pump work, did I switch off the pilot light or is it electronic; I can't remember.? Standby for the next thrilling instalment...

I'm in the same position... two really bad generation days in a row so no surplus to the immersion....

orrery

mickyduck wrote: »

I'm in the same position... two really bad generation days in a row so no surplus to the immersion....

Indeed. I had just got a friend to install one and then the generation has fallen off a cliff!

I've set the c/h to fire up for 30 minutes every morning with the thermostat set for 45C, just in case the SolarImmersion hasn't delivered - we need x1 bath and x1 shower every morning.

silverwhistle

It worked, although the gurgling from the pipes was a bit alarming. On manual for the time being and, being single am definitely SWMBO!

My diverter is an iBoost, installed for £100 at time of install. For those doing their calculations on savings, well, haven't a clue, although see my comment above about bills (which are based on a zero SC tariff). Another minor factor is that the boiler hasn't been in use for 6 months, so hopefully there is a maintenance benefit as well as an efficiency one from avoiding cycling.

My next 3 months bill should also be reasonably low: with almost a month and a half of no gas usage. As for heating, that too should be low for the remainder of the quarter. The new wood-burner is still being trialled by me but warms the lounge and has also needed the doors open to the rest of the house on occasion. Before anyone comments, I appreciate the cost-benefit of a stove may well be negative on a purely financial basis! But with free wood, and free exercise splitting and sawing, I'm happy enough with my outlay.

JimLad

orrery wrote: »

Indeed. I had just got a friend to install one and then the generation has fallen off a cliff!

I've set the c/h to fire up for 30 minutes every morning with the thermostat set for 45C, just in case the SolarImmersion hasn't delivered - we need x1 bath and x1 shower every morning.

If i was you i would change this to come on in evening.

At the moment you are heating the water in the morning, and then the immersion wont have any work to do as your water is already hot.

If you have it in the evening, it will top up anything the immersion has done and the tank will still be hot the following morning for your bath and shower.

zeupater

Hi

Similar with the solar thermal system here too ... DHW gas last used in February, but after 5 mediocre followed by 2 poor days that's about it. Looking at the forecast for the next few days it seems that there's not much chance of warming the water column much at all, so it looks like it's time to bleed the air from the GCH DHW system here too ... off to check ...

zeupater

Top of cylinder toasty and MrsZ eager to run it all away (as usual !!) ....

Z

ChrisJD

JimLad wrote: »

If i was you i would change this to come on in evening.

At the moment you are heating the water in the morning, and then the immersion wont have any work to do as your water is already hot.

I guess that "every morning" means bright and early, just before the anticipated use.

orrery

JimLad wrote: »

If i was you i would change this to come on in evening.

At the moment you are heating the water in the morning, and then the immersion wont have any work to do as your water is already hot.

Well, I did think about evening, but there is always enough left to wash hands etc in the evening. I guess it is swing and roundabouts.

The morning is better for us because the heating finishes just before we start to run off water and at 45C you do need a full tank. It also gives less time for the heat to leak away and it runs alongside the c/h, so there is no overhead in firing up the boiler (in the evenings we use a log fire where we can).

If the SolarImmersion has heated the whole tank the day before to a good temperature then the thermostat on the tank will prevent the boiler firing anyway.

zeupater

orrery wrote: »

... at 45C you do need a full tank. ...

... If the SolarImmersion has heated the whole tank the day before to a good temperature then the thermostat on the tank will prevent the boiler firing anyway.

Hi

Agree .... I think that JimLad hadn't fully realised that if the thermostat set-points are taken into consideration to allow the solar to at least 'top-up' during the winter (which after all, is all that's going to happen the majority of the winter) then whatever time the GCH fires-up the cylinder temperature will be low enough for the solar to provide additional heat ....

HTH
Z