Water Meter system boiler vs combi

Kiran

ThisIsWeird said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I suspect, very strongly, that it cannot be a constant 5.6W, as that would be unacceptable in these green times.

Thanks for your calc, Kiran; again, if one wee controller consumes £14's worth, that would be completely unacceptable.

I really don't think it can be. I'll ask... :-)

After a couple of toosandfros, Danfoss have escalated my Q to their engineering dept. :-(

What they did say was, (a) they don't know where SF got their 5.6W figure, and it certainly isn't the 'standby' running consumption, and (b) until confirmed by tech, the fellow estimated an annual 2.1kWh, which would be around 45p? And also that it uses less power than an alarm clock.

That makes sense.

That'll teach me for taking technical info on face value, good to know it isn't that high. 2.1kWh/year seems very low though, that's an average of about 0.24W. In my head, that's probably about the amount it takes to keep the display on or the LED? I'm no electrical engineer though so hopefully they come back with an answer from their technical team 

Kiran

Steveotwo said:

Kiran said:

System if you want to future proof or you are likely to have multiple DHW outlets running at the same time, If you want the space back and only expect to be be drawing hot water form one place at a time. It's really user dependent. 

currently four of us but can't recall using the water at different time sin the last house, may change as the kids turn into teenagers I guess

That was my deciding factor, being a family of 4 and also having been in the situation of not being able to have a shower in the morning because something had broken down (extremely miserable existence getting ready on a winter morning, despite having other options the disruption to the morning routine when everyone is in a rush) That combined with free energy due to the PV and solar thermal but me firmly in the system boiler camp, but as I said everyone's individual circumstances and lifestyles dictate a different approach

Steveotwo

Kiran said:

Steveotwo said:

Kiran said:

System if you want to future proof or you are likely to have multiple DHW outlets running at the same time, If you want the space back and only expect to be be drawing hot water form one place at a time. It's really user dependent. 

currently four of us but can't recall using the water at different time sin the last house, may change as the kids turn into teenagers I guess

That was my deciding factor, being a family of 4 and also having been in the situation of not being able to have a shower in the morning because something had broken down (extremely miserable existence getting ready on a winter morning, despite having other options the disruption to the morning routine when everyone is in a rush) That combined with free energy due to the PV and solar thermal but me firmly in the system boiler camp, but as I said everyone's individual circumstances and lifestyles dictate a different approach

How much did you need to invest for a PV solar set up? 

Kiran

Steveotwo said:

Kiran said:

Steveotwo said:

Kiran said:

System if you want to future proof or you are likely to have multiple DHW outlets running at the same time, If you want the space back and only expect to be be drawing hot water form one place at a time. It's really user dependent. 

currently four of us but can't recall using the water at different time sin the last house, may change as the kids turn into teenagers I guess

That was my deciding factor, being a family of 4 and also having been in the situation of not being able to have a shower in the morning because something had broken down (extremely miserable existence getting ready on a winter morning, despite having other options the disruption to the morning routine when everyone is in a rush) That combined with free energy due to the PV and solar thermal but me firmly in the system boiler camp, but as I said everyone's individual circumstances and lifestyles dictate a different approach

How much did you need to invest for a PV solar set up? 

So i'll have to start with explaining that mine is a non standard type install in so far as I have an East West split array. This has its advantages such as I pick up decent generation early and I keep generating until the sun goes down rather than having a massive peak that you get with a south facing array and not being able to use all the generation without a larger inverter. So I have 21panels which is way more than a standard install. Mine with battery storage was in the region of £16.5k. You can probably get a meaningful installation with batteries for nearly half that. I took a gamble on exporting my excess to the grid to pay off the panels faster and also give me the option to put in split duct heating and cooling or charge an EV if I ever thought that would be viable

FreeBear

Steveotwo said: So lets say my boiler goes in winter what would my best move be combi or system?

In my opinion, a boiler swap and/or heating upgrades should be planned and scheduled to take place during the summer months. Gives you opportunity to research options and select the best one for you. Waiting for the boiler to fail just when you need it most means you are hostage to what ever is available at the time and higher labour rates.

Whilst there are companies out there advertising next day boiler replacements, it could still take them a week to complete the work - I had one of those companies install my boiler, needed three visits, and I still had to add a few finishing touches after the guy had left.

ThisIsWeird

Kiran said:

ThisIsWeird said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I suspect, very strongly, that it cannot be a constant 5.6W, as that would be unacceptable in these green times.

Thanks for your calc, Kiran; again, if one wee controller consumes £14's worth, that would be completely unacceptable.

I really don't think it can be. I'll ask... :-)

After a couple of toosandfros, Danfoss have escalated my Q to their engineering dept. :-(

What they did say was, (a) they don't know where SF got their 5.6W figure, and it certainly isn't the 'standby' running consumption, and (b) until confirmed by tech, the fellow estimated an annual 2.1kWh, which would be around 45p? And also that it uses less power than an alarm clock.

That makes sense.

That'll teach me for taking technical info on face value, good to know it isn't that high. 2.1kWh/year seems very low though, that's an average of about 0.24W. In my head, that's probably about the amount it takes to keep the display on or the LED? I'm no electrical engineer though so hopefully they come back with an answer from their technical team 

The 'standby' consumption will - should - be absolutely tiny, as it only has to keep the timing electronics running, and the display light will usually be off, I understand? The actual - unlit - LCD display uses literally next to now't; you can 'engage' segments just by touching the chip's contacts with your finger!

It'll draw more power when the display is lit, and for the momentary 'click' when the relay is energised. Otherwise, it's near-deed.