Those with solar - Appliances

waqasahmed

I was wondering how people went about this 

I go for the most efficient appliance I can get, within reason ie: I've got a D rated dishwasher (on the new scale), because I use it once a week or so. I have an E rated American fridge freezer because literally nothing better existed. Even now, the newer ones are made by Samsung and I'm not too trusting. Fridges are a bit of an anomaly however as they're on 24/7

That, and the Samsung is £1700. I got mine for £800 (Down from £1800 because it had a mark on it) so it'd only make financial sense if the Samsung also had the same mark

Do other people with solar panels just go for whatever's the cheapest, with the view that "It doesn't matter that it's energy intensive because it's cheap and we get that power from the panels"

OR

Do other people still think about appliances in the same way I do ie: as if you never had solar panels in the first place?

Certainly, the latter makes it harder to do cost payback based decisions given the jump to an A in efficiency takes a lot longer when a lot of that energy is "free" 

Exiled_Tyke

I take recommendations from Which and I do look for efficient products.  Although there are days in summer when I will have excess electricity there are plenty in winter when I'm only getting a kWh a day or less.  On top of that it's a (very) small environmental benefit to go efficient.  My favourite purchase in the last year was an ASHP dryer which in incredibly efficient and saves me from using other sources of heat on wet days.  

paul991

As im on fit i use a 700 watt kettle daytime and a 3kw when theres no pv, some of the more expensive appliances would take years for the difference to save enough to pay the extra price also I take the country of origon into consideration uk if possible

1961Nick

I always buy the most energy efficient appliances I can find The reasoning being that with batteries & Intelligent Octopus, I stand a much better chance of getting through a dark winter's day without using peak rate import. An additional benefit is that it lowers the likelihood of exceeding the battery inverter's 3kWh output. The 3000w kettle was replaced with a boiling water tap & that helped a lot. Over the winter 96% of my import has been at 10p & that includes plenty of daytime running of the air/air heat pump.

waqasahmed

1961Nick said:

I always buy the most energy efficient appliances I can find The reasoning being that with batteries & Intelligent Octopus, I stand a much better chance of getting through a dark winter's day without using peak rate import. An additional benefit is that it lowers the likelihood of exceeding the battery inverter's 3kWh output. The 3000w kettle was replaced with a boiling water tap & that helped a lot. Over the winter 96% of my import has been at 10p & that includes plenty of daytime running of the air/air heat pump.

This is a fair point. I've currently got two showers. One is a mixer. One is a 10.5 kWh electric shower 

I aim to get some piping in, and change the electric to a mixer. For now, it'll use gas but when it's on a heat pump, the mixer would still be the better option

Screwdriva

waqasahmed said:

Do other people with solar panels just go for whatever's the cheapest, with the view that "It doesn't matter that it's energy intensive because it's cheap and we get that power from the panels"

OR

Do other people still think about appliances in the same way I do ie: as if you never had solar panels in the first place?

Very pertinent question. I recently posted about an A++ rated AEG oven we purchased, despite the higher cost compared to cheaper, less efficient models. In a similar fashion, we expect to purchase a Siemens A rated built-in dishwasher to replace our less efficient Bosch (Spain) unit when it fails. 

Both appliances consume 540 watts or less per cycle, which is remarkably low, even when compared to their 5 year old predecessors, which consume 2X as much energy. This means that both can run on PV generated energy on most days without having to draw from the grid, further reducing the case for battery storage. 

As a side note, both appliances are "Made in Germany", which is in keeping with our efforts to avoid Chinese goods as far as possible, for geopolitical, ethical and environmental reasons.  

Raxiel

Funnily enough, while all our current appliances pre-date the solar, and they were almost all the most efficient available at the time.

There is one appliance that's been acting up and might need a replacement so I may well be looking again for the first time since the new system.

Our dishwasher came with the house and is at least 12 years old, probably more, it still does the job, mostly, but it's getting temperamental. A new inlet solenoid today didn't help, a new drain pump might, but if that doesn't work its probably something much more expensive and no longer economical to repair.

I'll still be after something with a high rating, for similar reasons to those already given. The impact having PV has on my choice of appliances though, is that while there's always an 'eco' mode, they still draw the same peak power, just over a shorter period. That means that unless there's a lot of sun, we still import a portion of it. An appliance that could modulate its power draw (particularly if it could smartly link to a PV system or smart meter) to avoid import would be attractive.

waqasahmed

Raxiel said:

Funnily enough, while all our current appliances pre-date the solar, and they were almost all the most efficient available at the time.

There is one appliance that's been acting up and might need a replacement so I may well be looking again for the first time since the new system.

Our dishwasher came with the house and is at least 12 years old, probably more, it still does the job, mostly, but it's getting temperamental. A new inlet solenoid today didn't help, a new drain pump might, but if that doesn't work its probably something much more expensive and no longer economical to repair.

I'll still be after something with a high rating, for similar reasons to those already given. The impact having PV has on my choice of appliances though, is that while there's always an 'eco' mode, they still draw the same peak power, just over a shorter period. That means that unless there's a lot of sun, we still import a portion of it. An appliance that could modulate its power draw (particularly if it could smartly link to a PV system or smart meter) to avoid import would be attractive.

Mine only pre dates solar by about a month or so. That's because I bought my house in July 2022, and bought a load of stuff

Then I got solar after that

Miele does have this 

https://www.miele.co.uk/e/solarsave-zpv000000000000000020001904800-f

 For some of their dishwashers. Whilst not directly what you're saying, it does at least pre use some water that's already heated by solar. It's the closest I've seen to it tbf

Though, for me, the price is way too expensive. My tumble dryer and washing machine in fairness are Miele but I got my washing machine for £600 instead of £2200 and the tumble dryer I wanted is one that's got reverse action, and is A+++-10% rated, so I got that instead of an LG, largely because I don't quite trust Samsung and LG when it comes to appliances.

If Hotpoint or similar made it then I'd go with them despite being a "budget" brand. I trust Hotpoint and Beko over Samsung / LG. That's how little faith I have in them lol

I did also manage to get my dishwasher for £200 instead of £330 which is also decent.

If I used my dishwasher daily, then maybe I'd think otherwise. Instead, I just bought loads of dishes, to essentially use the dishes, bang them in the dishwasher and then there's still a load more left in the drawer

If I used my dishwasher daily, maybe I wouldn't have as many dishes and maybe I'd get something a lot more efficient instead 

Raxiel

You could do something similar with a solar diverter and a thermostatic valve adding a bit of hot water from the tank I suppose (if the run was short enough). Would do well for keeping the drain outlet from getting gunked up.

Bosch (who made all our white goods) have a 'solar integration' system too, but as far as I can see it requires some proprietary inverter and home management system, and still only acts as a remote start.

We use our dishwasher a lot, it actually contributed to a notable portion of our usage in previous years. Last August we came to realise that if you don't mind giving particularly dirty plates etc a quick rinse under the tap before shoving them in the machine, the quick wash is good enough in 99% of cases and the things it misses might just take a little bit of attention when they come out.

We still have to run a full hot wash through it occasionally to sanitise it, but we've about halved the power draw, maybe better.

cm4ever

The dishwasher in our house predates the solar & battery storage and even predates the house!

His efficiency is sometimes questionable, but always produces good results, surprisingly for his age he is very adaptable and integrates well with the solar system. His ability to adapt to different ways of working is second to non   

Other household appliances are replaced as needed with power efficient models, but always with reference to their price and functionality offered.

A recent change to the fridge freezer, again pre solar, made a noticeable reduction in the house base load, which has had a bigger impact in the long run - our house base load is now down to about 60W at times of minimal activity.

Even though some don't see their merit, having the combination of a working IHD, some Tapo plugs and an inquisitive mind have already paid dividends and most of that power saving was pre solar install.

waqasahmed

cm4ever said:

The dishwasher in our house predates the solar & battery storage and even predates the house!

His efficiency is sometimes questionable, but always produces good results, surprisingly for his age he is very adaptable and integrates well with the solar system. His ability to adapt to different ways of working is second to non   

Other household appliances are replaced as needed with power efficient models, but always with reference to their price and functionality offered.

A recent change to the fridge freezer, again pre solar, made a noticeable reduction in the house base load, which has had a bigger impact in the long run - our house base load is now down to about 60W at times of minimal activity.

Even though some don't see their merit, having the combination of a working IHD, some Tapo plugs and an inquisitive mind have already paid dividends and most of that power saving was pre solar install.

Fridge freezers are a bit of an anomaly given they're on 24/7 tbf

That's my single biggest draw 
The other big draws I have is:

 my electric shower which is getting replaced, and my oven 

I'm also waiting for efficient monitors to come down in price considerably. I use three monitors for work, and it'd be good to have at least a 24" screen for all three 

I'd love to see more efficient TVs too. Samsung is getting there but HDR is still really quite inefficient. That's around 150w which is a lot imo

The other stuff I have is decent either way. It'd It'd be nice if my tumbler dryer was downgraded though. Currently that's A+++-10%