Edwards Solar Hotwater system

[Disco_owner]

I've been booked in today to have my edwards Solar hot-water system installed , It should hopefully be finished around midday.

The system being installed is an Australis series II. ( L32 305L )

what has triggered this is the high energy consumption for offpeak hotwater in our household.

I finally had enough of the continous tarrifs on the existing 125L electric hotwater system providing Hotwater for 4 x people in the household ,whom mind you was installed back in 2004 and still looks new but it was time for a slightly more efficient system.;)

I was speaking to a colleague at work who says that years ago these systems were a lot cheaper around $3k installed without a state or federal government rebate.

the price for the system I was quoted was up around $5155 , this was prior to RECs deduction , the RECs deduction of $1085 ( this apparently can slighly vary ) and $1300 state and federal government rebate works out to be roughly the same price as when there was no rebate earlier and these systems were installed for sub $3k.:confused:

cheers Khos

[PhilipA]

Khos, perhaps you should read this mate.
Edwards L Series 2 Solar Water Heaters Reviews Australia www.edwards.com.au (http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=49193&next=10)
Regards Philip A

[Disco_owner]

Khos, perhaps you should read this mate.
Edwards L Series 2 Solar Water Heaters Reviews Australia www.edwards.com.au (http://www.productreview.com.au/showitem.php?item_id=49193&next=10)
Regards Philip A

Going by the comments from people on the link you've provided We should be fine ;) there is only 2 person/s having showers in the morning , one of us works shift work so would be coming off night shift in the morning ,so he might have a quick shower in the afternoon . I've recently installed a 5 star rating shower head for saving on water so this would help with saving on hotwater . I suspect this setup would be a better option than installing a larger Electric hotwater system anyway say a 300L which would have cost around 1500.

there 305L useable hotwater in the tank and if it runs out of hotwater we would have a switch in the switchboard to manually boost up to 160L.

but that defeats the pupose .:wasntme:


Edit: I just hope I've made the right choice , there aren't many people raving on about this system:(

[PhilipA]

a larger Electric hotwater system anyway say a 300L which would have cost around 1500.


Mine cost me $700 2 years ago and costs $20-30 per quarter for the two of us on off peak 1. Never over $20 until the most recent bill which was 11% price increase.
I did a full study of options before I replaced my blown up one which lasted 23 years and then it was a no brainer, compared to instant gas( bottled for me) , instant electric.
I cannot have solar as you probably know from my location in the trees.
Heat pump is also expensive and would save me almost nothing based onn my costs and the projected running cost of the heat pump..

Just be sure you connect the booster to off peak 1 at 7 cents a kw hour .

When I looked for Edwards I was just looking to see whether it had a booster when those reviews popped up.
AND the reason was that I had lunch a couple of days ago with a friend who had just installed a solar system in a new house and was complaining that in winter the solar was useless and they had run the booster every time they wanted a shower.
He being an analytical type had estimated that they only got about 1/8 the solar intensity in winter in Foxground which is near Berry.
Regards Philip A

[Fluids]

In another life I used to sell & install Solarhart solar hot water heaters. We had one ourselves.

Here's the rub about the booster ... DO NOT connect it to the off-peak 1 power, connect it to normal available 24hrs/day power WITH a manual switch ... you decide when you need to boost, not the thermostat. Switch it on for 15-20min in the morning, if needed, then have a shower using the hot water only. It can heat for the rest of the day using solar energy.

With time of use metering for power now on most homes, anytime between 10pm in the evening & 7am in the morning is almost as cheap as off-peak 1 power. If it's connected to off-peak 1, you cannot turn it on if you need to boost. Connected to normal power, you can ... avoid turning it on between 2pm-8pm on a weekday !!!

... we currently use a mains storage electric 315L unit, and our quarterly power for hot water (on off-peak 1) is approx $50-70 ... family of 4. Never run out of hot water. We could use solar, out aspect is right ... but the payback period would be close to 20yrs, and most solar systems in reality may not last that long.

Kev..

[Disco_owner]

I know most hotwater system won't last for the payback period , but I was willing to give it a go , I'll take a picture of the install in the morning , the roof is almost north facing and no obstruction blocking the sun,I'm at a high point also so almost get maximum sun , also I'm also connected to Offpeak 2 for hotwater , the thermostat is set up to boost between 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm and then again from 04:00am till 06:00 am so theoretically we should always have hot water , I came home this evening and opened up the tap and had plenty of hotwater runnign out of the tap .:)

[101RRS]

A house I rented in Canberra 15 years ago had a solarhart and I found it worked well. Access to the morning to midday sun was restricted by a large tree but even so it was heated. On overcast days some heat still got in and it took about two days for the water to become luke warm.

The switch for the heater was manual and you soon learned when to turn it on and if there was extended cloudy weather when to have showers etc. I found it worked well and was very economical.

Why would you connect it to any sort of power system where the thermostat switches it on automatically - it will always be hot from electricity before the sun gets to do its work - if you do have it set - set the thermostat very low.

Garry

[Disco_owner]

In another life I used to sell & install Solarhart solar hot water heaters. We had one ourselves.

Here's the rub about the booster ... DO NOT connect it to the off-peak 1 power, connect it to normal available 24hrs/day power WITH a manual switch ... you decide when you need to boost, not the thermostat. Switch it on for 15-20min in the morning, if needed, then have a shower using the hot water only. It can heat for the rest of the day using solar energy.

With time of use metering for power now on most homes, anytime between 10pm in the evening & 7am in the morning is almost as cheap as off-peak 1 power. If it's connected to off-peak 1, you cannot turn it on if you need to boost. Connected to normal power, you can ... avoid turning it on between 2pm-8pm on a weekday !!!

... we currently use a mains storage electric 315L unit, and our quarterly power for hot water (on off-peak 1) is approx $50-70 ... family of 4. Never run out of hot water. We could use solar, out aspect is right ... but the payback period would be close to 20yrs, and most solar systems in reality may not last that long.

Kev..

Hi Kev ; I'm lead to believe that our edwards system is connected to Off-peak 2 ( as mentioned ) , from what I've read in the manual as I've mentioned earlier the thermostat kicks in between 04:00 pm-6:00 pm in the evening and again 04:00:00 am -- 06:00 am to boost during winter, I'm not sure if I should as you explained have a Manual override setting on it but in the meter box the switch has remaind unchanged , there are 2 settings M/S and OPHW

currently the Switch setting is on M/S , should the switch setting be on OPHW ???

[Disco_owner]

we seem to have continous running hotwater since saturday and haven't run out as yet possibly because
the OPHW switch was ON when it was intalled initially ( old 125L tank was on continous ) I since have
switched to the OFF position and see how it goes, but have been told if the water is lukewarm at night
I need to switch it back on so we have enough hotwater in the morning.:)

I've taken a metre reading from the OPHW meter and will update this post with how
much we're using in 7 days :angel:

Meter reading 1= 07069

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/08/108.jpg

[101RRS]

I would get a switch installed somewhere convenient like your kitchen or bathroom where you can turn power off an on to the heater. You will soon learn by trial and error the circumstances to turn it on or off - usually if the temp is getting down a bit later in the evening, particularly after a couple of dull days then turn it on so you have hot water in the morning.

Don't forget to turn it off first thing in the morning when you get up.

Garry

[Disco_owner]

I would get a switch installed somewhere convenient like your kitchen or bathroom where you can turn power off an on to the heater. You will soon learn by trial and error the circumstances to turn it on or off - usually if the temp is getting down a bit later in the evening, particularly after a couple of dull days then turn it on so you have hot water in the morning.

Don't forget to turn it off first thing in the morning when you get up.

Garry

G'day garry, the Edwards rep suggested a separate switch somewhere convenient inside, my thing is that if a separate switch is installed inside then the housemates will turn it on and leave it on :angel:
I think in time I'll learn how to use the system effectively so I know when to turn it on and leave it on and when to switch it off...

[Piddler]

We have a Dux unit 315l tank on the ground and panels on the roof. Electric boosted. I like the idea of not having 315kg of water sitting in one place on the roof.

They are made in the Southern Highlands of NSW and work very well here in Tassie. We are most happy with it.

As for running costs very good we can hook our unit up to tarrif 41 which is our cheaper tarrif for heating and hot water.

Very pleased. Cost around $3200.00 including frost valve. Then you can minus recs and other rebates (plus install).

Just another option for those considering

[Disco_owner]

We have a Dux unit 315l tank on the ground and panels on the roof. Electric boosted. I like the idea of not having 315kg of water sitting in one place on the roof.

They are made in the Southern Highlands of NSW and work very well here in Tassie. We are most happy with it.

As for running costs very good we can hook our unit up to tarrif 41 which is our cheaper tarrif for heating and hot water.

Very pleased. Cost around $3200.00 including frost valve minus recs and other rebates (plus install).

Just another option for those considering

I doubt that would have been a problem specialy with our roof having hardwood timber , being an older style house . our whole system cost around $2600.00 with rebates and REC's . was actually a really good deal i thought. see how we go with the savings and i will update this thread with the OPHW metre readings.

[Phantum]

Morning,

In the NT we had to get what is called a "one shot switch". It's a press button switch, when pressed the booster is on for about 1 hour to heat the water then turns off automatic. We got a solarhart with all the rebates we were out of pocket about $700, thats 3 years ago. We are moving to Bega very soon and need a new hot water system so I am hoping to get the same one shot switch fitted to the solar hot water. I will control when the booster is not the power company.:)

[harlie]

We have a Dux unit 315l tank on the ground and panels on the roof. Electric boosted. I like the idea of not having 315kg of water sitting in one place on the roof.

They are made in the Southern Highlands of NSW and work very well here in Tassie. We are most happy with it.

As for running costs very good we can hook our unit up to tarrif 41 which is our cheaper tarrif for heating and hot water.

Very pleased. Cost around $3200.00 including frost valve. Then you can minus recs and other rebates (plus install).

Just another option for those considering
Not a problem for any roof – have you any idea how much wind load is on the average roof during a good breeze – tonnes.
A split system also has to run an electric pump as apposed to thermo syphoning.

[harlie]

Hi Disco owner.
We have the same system you have installed (2 adults + 2 kids), I agree with comments about a switch, I don’t have one but use the circuit breaker in the meter box – over summer it was off for 5 months, when it rains during summer it can easily last 2-3days because the hot water usage is low. Winter this year it was turned on 8 times due to rain.

I found that the booster was running quite a bit when left on. Our water usage is both night and early morning and I found that the booster was running after morning showers (quite offen the overnight HW tarrif doesn't switch off - in QLD it is network load dependant not time) - as we are leaving the house for the day and the sun is just coming onto the panels.

I’m thinking of installing an X10 receiver to turn the circuit on at 4pm for 2 hrs (if its been sunny it won’t run) – the only annoying thing is getting home to a cold system – kids don’t have much patience.

Pretty sure you will never recoup the $ cost but hey, we’re doing our part, and we can’t really say how much power will go up.

[nice1guv]

I have a switch in the meter box connected to a timer.

It switches the booster on in the morning before we get up for a couple of hours and on again at the end of the day before we get home.

That way no matter what the weather is like the water is always hot.

It is still thermostatically controlled, so even when on the booster only heats if it needs to.

Couldn't be easier.

No manual switching on and off, no guessing if the water is hot, just set and forget - that's the way I like it. :D

[Disco_owner]

I've been outside again to take another metre reading from the OPHW metre ;

Meter reading # 2 = 07164

from the calculation if this is correct

7164 -7069 kw / 11 days = 8.64 kw per day on average , it's been 11 days since the first metre reading , we've had a couple of coudy days in syd in which case I had the booster switch to the ON position , but for 2 full days the booster was off and the panels were getting the water hot enough for washing and shower. I'm pretty happy with the energy saving/usage so far.

[harlie]

We find on most cloudy days we will still have hot water - there's still solar energy being trapped under the glass, that’s why I leave it turned off for such long periods, its really only seams to be rain that stumps the Edwards HWS.

[peter5111]

I don't think they are available anymore, but I had a Beasley system fitted when the house was built.

400L storage and 3 panels. A gravity fed, split system so the drum is in the roof cavity. Why gravity fed? It was the only option that had solar panel fittings AND slow combustion heat exchanger fittings. Water pressure problems are fixed by using a hot water booster pump. The pump keeps up with three (old school) water guzzling shower roses at the same time so I am pretty happy with it.

In summer the solar works and in winter the heater does the job.

Well, that was the plan. Heater still hasn't happened so I am just using the panels.

The house has flick mixers so I leave the electric booster off until the morning I need full hot on the mixer to achieve a decent shower. Then I turn the off peak booster on for 24 hours.