SolarImmersion

travellerboy

ChopperST wrote: »

Would be interested to know how you've done this?

Exactly as EricMears stated, two units - a transmitter and receiver. Place the probe under the installation and bingo you will know the tank temperature on the receiver unit. Mine works up to 30m away.

matty2767

Dave mentioned there were two types of switch. Of which type is the iboost?

Thanks

Matt

Dave_Fowler wrote: »

There are two main types of switching devices:-

Those which proportionally control their output to match the spare PV power and those which switch on the full load when there is sufficient spare power available to drive the full load.

Usually the second type can be purchased and installed by the home owner. The disadvantage is that if, say, you have a 3kW immersion heater and only have 2.9 kW spare then none of it will be diverted to the immersion.

The proportional type would divert 2.9kW. You would therefore be able to use any spare power up to the 3kW power of the immersion. These switching devices cost more, but offer potentially more savings. They need to be installed by a competent electrician. Because of my background in electronics and electrical installation I was able to design and build my own version of this.

Dave F

ChopperST

Thanks to Eric and Travellerboy.

Mine is an unvented cylinder so is pre insulated. I will have a look and see if there is a spare rod to put another thermostat though thats a good idea.

EricMears

ChopperST wrote: »

Thanks to Eric and Travellerboy.

Mine is an unvented cylinder so is pre insulated. I will have a look and see if there is a spare rod to put another thermostat though thats a good idea.

Twin thermostat pockets are comparatively rare I'm afraid.


A pre-insulated cylinder usually has a sprayed on coating that you could cut away carefully with a sharp knife. Insert probe into slit then add some more insulation outside that area.

travellerboy

ChopperST wrote: »

Thanks to Eric and Travellerboy.

Mine is an unvented cylinder so is pre insulated. I will have a look and see if there is a spare rod to put another thermostat though thats a good idea.

Just push a screwdriver of roughly the same diameter as the probe thro the insulation core. No need to over complicate, it works a treat !

Dave_Fowler

matty2767 wrote: »

Dave mentioned there were two types of switch. Of which type is the iboost?

Thanks

Matt

From my understanding the iboost is a proportional type of controller.

Dave F

niel477

Hi there,
I have a combi boiler. Can solarimmersion work with it? Also do I require a tank to feed hot water into the boiler?


Thanks

EricMears

niel477 wrote: »

Hi there,
I have a combi boiler. Can solarimmersion work with it? Also do I require a tank to feed hot water into the boiler?


Thanks

'Solarimmersion' (or similar products) will only work if you have a hot water tank with immersion heater. Most combi boilers are used to supply hot water without an intermediate storage tank although it is in fact possible to use a combi boiler as a 'simple system boiler' and have a stored hot water tank in that system.

GEEK11

I am an electronics geek and have been watching such devices with interest. Harmonic interference is becoming a problem with the devices that use Phase Angle technology, check before you buy as it may cause problems in the future.

binsy

I dont really want to get into the arguement of exactly what is saved where. But I can tell you having installed the above switch (£255 inc installation) my hot water has been heated by gas twice in the last month. I fitted a 1 Kw immersion (I have a 2.5kw system) which I needn't have changed.
The Solic uses every watt that you pour into the grid and puts it into my hot water, in my head I wanted to stop draining power into the grid and have some cost savings. With the solic I know that as long as I am using less than I am producing the immersion is on.Other systems I looked at I had to be producing 1Kw spare for the immersion to click on. This one is truly the bees knees.
It's about 7kw to heat my tank, with a 1Kw element its not brilliant (hence I should have left the 3 Kw one in) but it's better than using an alternative fuel to heat my water when I can make it for free.
(Payback 3 years tops)