Solar iBoost

Le_Kirk

Trying to help a neighbour who has one of these fitted as part of their PV array. It appears to have been wired in a particular way and the person who fitted/wired it said they would have to change the wiring every summer/winter changeover for MONEY. Beats the point of money saving and using solar energy if you are paying for wiring changes!!

I have the manual and can see the two different ways of wiring it and have the competency to do it (which is why the neighbour asked me) but I would like to ask if anyone has one installed in conjunction with a hot water tank with a double immersion AND Economy 7 electricity only. Have you wired the system to divert the excess solar energy to the longer/lower immersion element and the mains power to the shorter/top element or the other way round? How does that work in winter when there is less excess solar energy?

brightontraveller

Le_Kirk wrote: »

Trying to help a neighbour who has one of these fitted as part of their PV array. It appears to have been wired in a particular way and the person who fitted/wired it said they would have to change the wiring every summer/winter changeover for MONEY. Beats the point of money saving and using solar energy if you are paying for wiring changes!!

I have the manual and can see the two different ways of wiring it and have the competency to do it (which is why the neighbour asked me) but I would like to ask if anyone has one installed in conjunction with a hot water tank with a double immersion AND Economy 7 electricity only. Have you wired the system to divert the excess solar energy to the longer/lower immersion element and the mains power to the shorter/top element or the other way round? How does that work in winter when there is less excess solar energy?

Not sure what your trying to do save them the money they "have " to pay to have it done Cynic might be if you had the competency /knowledge you’d not need to ask ?
Basically it doesn’t matter they will invalidate there warranty 99.9 % of the time if a third party were to do it and not there installer :rotfl: another common trick in the bull that is "Green Energy"

Le_Kirk

I am trying to save them having to pay to rewire a system twice per year (let's leave the cost out of it for now and I am just trying to save the inconvenience) as they were told by a "competent" installer that they would have to do if they wanted to use the mains electric in the winter and the spare solar energy in the summer. This is not true, as there are two wiring schemes that allow either a short/upper or a long/lower immersion or both to be wired.

My question is about whether or not anybody with solar PV panels plus all electric heating (no gas in the village) plus economy 7 has successfully used the Solar iBoost and if so, how.

Thanks, though, for taking the trouble to reply.

shaun_from_Africa

Having Economy 7 doesn't make any difference to the iBoost as E7 only supplies low rate electricity at night, a time when the iBoost won't be operating.

If I recall correctly, when dealing with a twin immersion system, you simply decide which heater element you want controlled by the iBoost and that element is connected to the solar output from the unit and the other output (timer & boost) goes to the other element.

When it is connected in that way, I can't see why you would have to change the wiring during the year.

shaun_from_Africa

Le_Kirk wrote: »

as they were told by a "competent" installer that they would have to do if they wanted to use the mains electric in the winter and the spare solar energy in the summer. This is not true, as there are two wiring schemes that allow either a short/upper or a long/lower immersion or both to be wired.

I would query exactly how competent the installer actually was.

Irrespective of how you wire the system up, it is simple enough to use the mains supply to feed the heater at any time of the year. All you need to do is to use either the "boost" function or the timer function. Doing this will heat up the water from the mains supply whether or not there is any sun.

Le_Kirk

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Having Economy 7 doesn't make any difference to the iBoost as E7 only supplies low rate electricity at night, a time when the iBoost won't be operating.

Agreed

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If I recall correctly, when dealing with a twin immersion system, you simply decide which heater element you want controlled by the iBoost and that element is connected to the solar output from the unit and the other output (timer & boost) goes to the other element.

Also agreed and the wiring schematic shows you can do that. My question relates to which of the elements to choose. In summer there is going to be plenty of "surplus" solar derived electricity so it makes sense to power the long/lower element and use the short/upper element for mains powered boost. In winter when you have less "surplus" solar derived electricity there is a danger that you would not heat enough of the water to provide for daily use and would be using more of the mains powered boost.

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

When it is connected in that way, I can't see why you would have to change the wiring during the year.

Neither can I, hence my comment about "competent" installer. To be fair he may be competent just not knowledgeable or experienced enough to advise the user.

brightontraveller

Number of ways to make both, singular or even switching (demand/supply ) as required between elements but and it’s a big one the installed system if I am understanding what you have posted and it is correct installers/company have chosen not to use methods instead installed the system so it requires a annual visit (fee to be paid) each time to do so ?

My belief is your proposing too modify installation so as too either do away with need for visit or that it be done automatically or make it so owner can do themselves ?
with that it will likely invalidate warranty (livable but not if they loose feed in dosh ) also unlikely you can issue appropriate certification its deliberately set up so those outside the industry who want too install/modify ( grey area ) etc system find it very hard (hence my comment if you had the knowledge etc ) I’d hazard a guess that the installer or any other would offer to install Iboost + so that yearly visits are not required but may well then be a new annual visit to check system / replace battery etc It’s a shark pool:rotfl:

Le_Kirk

^^^ I am only planning to use the facilities within the iBoost to use either the long/lower or short/upper element (or a combination of both) and it is a question of experience of users as to whether they use the long/lower element or the short/upper element on solar.

phil24_7

I would leave it connected to the main element and see what happens in the darkest and coldest times of the year. If it doesn't work as expected then look at ways of rectifying it (possible wiring it to a switch so that you can control what supply feeds the main element).

phil24_7

I always thought iBoosts (etc) were meant to be intelligent and use surplus energy to heat the water and mains electricity when there wasn't enough solar?!?!

shaun_from_Africa

phil24_7 wrote: »

I always thought iBoosts (etc) were meant to be intelligent and use surplus energy to heat the water and mains electricity when there wasn't enough solar?!?!

The iBoost has 3 modes of operation.
1/ Normal. This is its default mode of operation and when in this mode and if the water in the tank is not up to the temperature set, it will divert any surplus solar electricity to the immersion heater.
2/ Boost. This is a simple press button function. Each press of the boost button turns on the immersion for 15 minutes and it uses power from the grid.
3/ Timed. This is a simple immersion heater timer and again, it uses national grid power.