Choice of intelligent switches ?

zeupater

silverwhistle wrote: »

Interesting... I wonder how that varies from PV. My system went in mid-August and I didn't use GCH for hot water in Autumn until October (sometime.??.) and now haven't for a bit this spring (but expect to). Either way, over 6 months.. What does 'well over' mean in your situation?

From now on in my electricity import will also be going down.. A full year's experience will be enlightening: until then I'll leave the PVGIS stats to the enthusiasts!;-)

I also intend to get a wood burner this summer and already have the wood stacks in the back garden to prove it. Think I'll allocate some of the costs to my entertainment budget as I haven't got a TV and it'll be something to watch! Having a snug little lounge should reduce my gas bills significantly, particularly when you just want something to take the edge off the cold. As a skier I've loads of warm clothing but it's not quite the same, is it?

Hi

We usually need to 'top-up' the DHW temperature with gas from some time in Oct/Early November and stop again in March. Effectively, it starts with a burn about once a week, moving to every other day in mid-December .... to get an idea, last year this was posted on 6/11 ...

zeupater wrote: »

Hi All

Could have done with a bucket-load of sunshine today to feed the solar thermal, so although there's a promise of some tomorrow MrsZ's shower temperature threshold has been passed again ... just used GCH to heat the water - that's the second time this season (first was 14/10) ....

HTH
Z

... we're now up to around 3 or 4 days between using the GCH as the days get longer and are starting to see the solar thermal system raising the whole cylinder to reasonable temperatures.

Regarding the log burner, orrery is probably correct. The really cold winter a few years back killed off a couple of conifer trees in our back garden and seriously weakened another, the recent winds have simply shredded what was left .... this last couple of weeks have been akin to an intense fitness course, but the garden's looking good and there's enough wood ready to burn to enjoy the fruits of all the hard work again ....

HTH
Z

silverwhistle

orrery wrote: »

You do realise that a wood burner is an all consuming hobby, not a form of heating, don't you?

I'll have you know I have PV and a remote monitor on my phone, so I've been in training.

Thanks, zeupater, pretty well conforms to my experience so far. My neighbour's leylandii was _very_ big so I have a lot of wood to process now, to add to the random oak, holly, pittosporum, hawthorn kindling. So far just using a bow saw - I need a decent maul - and have learnt to use both arms to get even shoulder and boob development! As I'm a goalkeeper and hope to crew yachts this summer the upper body development is welcome and I don't pay gym fees!

zeupater

silverwhistle wrote: »

.... My neighbour's leylandii was _very_ big so I have a lot of wood to process now, to add to the random oak, holly, pittosporum, hawthorn kindling. So far just using a bow saw - I need a decent maul - and have learnt to use both arms to get even shoulder and boob development! As I'm a goalkeeper and hope to crew yachts this summer the upper body development is welcome and I don't pay gym fees!

Hi

We had 25 Leylandii which were all 30 to 40foot tall felled 7 years ago so know what's it's like ....

Using a 6/8lb maul, most of the logs will split pretty easily but the split logs will fly up to (a good) 10' (horizontally) as they are so lightweight. When you get down to around ground level, or where there's a major branch joint, the maul will just 'stop dead' and jolt your shoulder ... these logs are the best because you can turn it into a battle of wills, but do get a lump hammer to ensure that your will prevails ....

HTH
Z

silverwhistle

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

We had 25 Leylandii which were all 30 to 40foot tall felled 7 years ago so know what's it's like ....

Jeez! My neighbour had one of that size (or maybe a little bigger..).

I do have a log grenade, which got stuck... and a (now broken..) lump hammer. (The next one will be better quality!) Is the leylandii slightly easier to split when it's dried a bit? The wood grenade didn't seem to make much of an impression...

Incidentally, on the drying front: after a few weeks the exposed surface of a log was around 25% moisture, then bucking it the fresh face was off the scale (44+). Will this stuff be ready for next winter, I wonder...

Kernel_Sanders

orrery wrote: »

Proably not a good idea with a 110V transformer. I tried to remote it using one of those wireless on/off plugs, but the inrush current blew the box.

I sometimes use one to switch my 3kW/240v IH without any problems (apart from a burnt finger once due to holding the plug by the hot pin!). Can you confirm that the site box (one of those heavy yellow ones, I presume) blew because it was underrated and not due to R/C switching?

silverwhistle wrote: »

I'm single with 4kw installed, .....
I've just applied to join Ebico (with no standing charge)

mickyduck wrote: »

Im in a similar situation single with a 4 kW array

Me too (3.92), also been with Ebico ten years now. On Economy 7 with Equipower.

orrery

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

I sometimes use one to switch my 3kW/240v IH without any problems (apart from a burnt finger once due to holding the plug by the hot pin!). Can you confirm that the site box (one of those heavy yellow ones, I presume) blew because it was underrated and not due to R/C switching?

Sorry, it was the remote control box that blew, presumably with the in-rush current to the transformer - I must dismantle it to see if there is a fuse I can change.

Yes, it is a big yellow jobby. I have been using this on my immersion recently (whilst waiting to have a C/H boiler replaced) in order to ensure maximum contribution from solar - theoretically, it reduces the power from 3kW to 750W. However, I have spotted a problem with that...

The box is 3kVA but marked "intermittent duty 3 min on / 15 min off" (3 minutes on in every 18) so effectively only 500W long term dissipation. No wonder it was getting warm!

ChopperST

Having some problems with the thermal cut out in our immersion tripping with the Immersun. Thermostat is set to 60 with a secondary thermal cut out on the heater itself operating at 75. Happens every day.

Immersion is only 6 months old.

Has anyone else had any issues with Immersion diversion devices similar to this before I swap the thermostat to see if its faulty?

jimmyboy420

Can anyone suggest a set up (intelligent switch and tank and plumbing) that would work with a combi boiler? I don't currently have any tank at all, so I'd need the whole setup.

It seems it might be possible; but over-expensive for the savings made?

James

orrery

I've just bought one of these and installed it myself, so I'm posting a 'First Impressions'.

The box is a sturdy metal construction with a typical UK built small production run look - none of your mass market Chinese plastic highly production-engineered design here. The overall build quality is good.

All connections are along the top of the circuit board - a row of screw terminals which appear a little on the light side to me (not as chunky as I'd expected) but must be OK for the load.

Oddly, I couldn't find any CE approval marking on the documentation or box (at least after fitting).

Installation is quite easy, with running the cables being the main pain. I installed it in the airing cupboard with 16A flex (my immersion is on a 13A plug on a dedicated 16A circuit).

There's a brass earth block and three sets of connections - mains in (L&N), immersion out (L&N), a set of relay terminals (common, normally open and normally closed) and sensor (+&-). The relay is software controlled and can be used for various additional functions.

I extended the sensor connections by about 25M through the loft and down to the garage, to the distribution panel using a screened twisted pair data cable.

There's no set up required for basic operation and it started immediately - the only real set up is to check that the sensor polarity is right (if it is wrong, the immersion will turn on the more you import - which would be a really bad idea!) and setting the time.

Operation is quirky. The display shows the % power diverted but a power meter on the mains input cable shows that it doesn't supply any power until 5% is indicated - over if I set it to cut in at zero export level . The display light cuts out after a few minutes and can be turned on by pressing 'Enter' according to the manual - only it doesn't. I can find no reliable way to get the light back on - pressing and holding 'Enter' (to get in to the menu) does, then 'Escape' to get out of the menu, but that can lose the time setting. I've also had the display lose it, with random characters scrolling across.

Their tech support answered quickly and were friendly, but not very technically aware. They suggested that I remove the top of the box and put insulating tape around the edge of the display (but didn't know why) - presumably to stop any static jumping into the display board. When asked about the % export they suggested that I move the sensor nearer the meter, as though the current measurement will be different at a different part of the same wire!

Having said all that - it works! I installed last Sunday and have had hot water ever since, which is excellent! My main problem is that my immersion appears to be too short and is only heating the top of the tank (the SolarImmersion has completed the heating job by mid-day from a cold tank and the immersion has cut off). This only gives enough water for my shower, but not enough left for SWMBO's bath. Even then, we've only had to turn on the water heater for about 30 minutes in total over 4 mornings, so a good saving there already.

Now I need to start looking for a longer immersion heater!

A note about the relay contacts - the unit can be set to run a second load (the relay switches the immersion live over to the second load). This waits for the 1st load to switch off, then switches the connection over to the second load for a pre-set maximum period, before checking back with the 1st load). Theoretically this could go to a storage heater too. Alternatively, the relay can switch in a 'destratification' pump to mix the water up in the tank. These functions are set in the menu.

Note also that the price shown - currently £199 has VAT added when you try to buy it.

Dave_Fowler

ChopperST wrote: »

Having some problems with the thermal cut out in our immersion tripping with the Immersun. Thermostat is set to 60 with a secondary thermal cut out on the heater itself operating at 75. Happens every day.

Immersion is only 6 months old.

Has anyone else had any issues with Immersion diversion devices similar to this before I swap the thermostat to see if its faulty?

I can't think of any reason why the 70C thermostat should trip out before the 60C one just because you're using the Immersun. Either the 70C one is tripping out at under 70C or the 60C one is faulty and allowing the water to heat up to over 70C.

Dave F