Well thought out answer - thanks. Heating water has to be the biggest cost for a family with small children, so that has been my focus. Once that has been achieved I may look at fridge freezer timer, but battery system is a big step and with stuff that has a finite life - but as you say maybe worth doing the numbers. The G'ment has started the export payment scheme, but that varies depending on supplier. I will cary on with trying to get a response from Dimplex, who knows, they may send me a unit for experimentation.
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Well thought out answer - thanks. Heating water has to be the biggest cost for a family with small children, so that has been my focus. Once that has been achieved I may look at fridge freezer timer, but battery system is a big step and with stuff that has a finite life - but as you say maybe worth doing the numbers. The G'ment has started the export payment scheme, but that varies depending on supplier. I will cary on with trying to get a response from Dimplex, who knows, they may send me a unit for experimentation.
Gareth J
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Keep an eye out for old units for experimentation purposes. They're cheap, reliable and simple. Hella ugly though, I get that!
Something simple to check is that your h/w tank is set as hot as your infrastructure/you can stand. It'll take more energy, bridge a dull day more effectively and loose heat more too, effectively warming up your house a bit. If your tank is in the bathroom, you could fit a thermosyphon rad which will dump more heat the hotter the water gets.
An off the wall idea for you. I have an old oil fired Rayburn. In the winter it's oil fired rest of the time, I put in an electric oven heater coil that takes dump load from a small wind turbine and (if I pull my finger out) some excess (after h/w) solar too. It's nice as it keeps the kitchen warm, warms plates and dries towels plusvus a big lump of cast iron.
Again, s/h units are pretty cheap but the ones to look out for are economy 7 agas, they're well insulated, all electric essentially giant night storage heaters. Watch out for the asbestos though!
Finally, how about some towel rails? Relatively cheap and easy to install and warming bathrooms/towels late afternoon might be nice.
Something simple to check is that your h/w tank is set as hot as your infrastructure/you can stand. It'll take more energy, bridge a dull day more effectively and loose heat more too, effectively warming up your house a bit. If your tank is in the bathroom, you could fit a thermosyphon rad which will dump more heat the hotter the water gets.
An off the wall idea for you. I have an old oil fired Rayburn. In the winter it's oil fired rest of the time, I put in an electric oven heater coil that takes dump load from a small wind turbine and (if I pull my finger out) some excess (after h/w) solar too. It's nice as it keeps the kitchen warm, warms plates and dries towels plusvus a big lump of cast iron.
Again, s/h units are pretty cheap but the ones to look out for are economy 7 agas, they're well insulated, all electric essentially giant night storage heaters. Watch out for the asbestos though!
Finally, how about some towel rails? Relatively cheap and easy to install and warming bathrooms/towels late afternoon might be nice.
Some good stuff there @johnser - I allready have obtained a pair of old storage heaters, a friend who is an electrician warned me they would be no good - too leaky. He was right, once hot they leak heat out everywhere, not what I want. The new ones don't leak heat, have fan and flap control (with dual supply), and you can even control them remotely.
In the winter the iboost extracts nearly everything from the pv, at least until the water is hot (allready installed a thermosyfon).
In the winter the iboost extracts nearly everything from the pv, at least until the water is hot (allready installed a thermosyfon).
Gareth J
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Yea, fair enough, the old ones are leaky.
I don't know where we're going wrong but there's rarely any spare for much hw between sept/mar, let alone extra after that!
If you had space, you could modify an old storage heater building it into an area with lots of extra, decent insulation and fan controlled release. Quite a bit of hassle though.
I don't know where we're going wrong but there's rarely any spare for much hw between sept/mar, let alone extra after that!
If you had space, you could modify an old storage heater building it into an area with lots of extra, decent insulation and fan controlled release. Quite a bit of hassle though.
Wedg1e
They call me Mr. Bodge-angles
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Good plan, especially in a 'compact' bathroom (as most in Britain are) - I have a fairly tall one piped into the CH loop. Towels hang on the lower rungs leaving the top section to warm the room. They do get dusty though (I guess the convected air pulls all the fluff, skin, pubes etc. off the floor
).Yes, too much!
Gareth J
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One final thought that sprung to mind, if you have a dishwasher, check the manual and see what it's inlet temp rating is. Lots can use up to 60C. If so and it's easy to get a supply to it, you've got another use for some h/w there. Of course you could just run it when it's sunny anyway but is worth doing in the winter too - cheaper to heat the water via fuel (depending on how lossey your boiler would be short cycling)
