Geyser on, geyser on. Does it save electricity?

[Derlyn]

Hello all

Please advise me or guide me to an info portal where I can find out if switching my geyser on and off every day saves electricity.

Additionally, if a geyser is designed to maintain a steady temperature, does cooling and re-heating shorten it's structural integrity?

We will be re-locating in two years so installing solar will be in the next house.

Thank you.

Hi Annetta

This is a subject that I am really passionate about, because heating water is one of the biggest power consumers in any household. It need not be.

I have saved many people a lot of money in the past, but there is no one size fits all.

GCE supplied the formula for heating water. That remains constant, however there are ways of saving electricity.

Your question about switching a geyser off and then on again when needed, in order to save electricity can work, irrespective of what anyone tells you, BUT, only under certain conditions.

Before even attempting to answer your query, more information is required.

1. How many people in the house ?
2. Do they shower or use the bath ?
3. When does each person normally shower. Morning or evening ?
4. What is the capacity of your geyser ?
5. What size element does it have. Kw's ?

You see, these are all variables that determine how much and when your geyser will need to be on in order to supply your needs.

Also, remember that If one needs to use cold water to cool down the hot water in the shower, you've wasted money by heating the water too much.
The less one needs to add cold water, the better. Adjust the thermostat down as GCE suggested. 45 degrees works a treat.

Until we started using an electric showerhead, which is still the cheapest way of heating water for showering ( quarter the price of gas ) we were saving about R400 a month by doing the following:

2 people. Both showering in the morning. Turn on the geyser an hour before the first person showers. Now here's the secret. Before the first person gets into the shower, turn off the geyser. Remember as soon as the first person showers, cold water enters the geyser, the thermostat closes and the geyser will now switch on, heating water that you aren't going to use. Leave the geyser turned off until tomorrow morning an hour before shower time. If you do this, you will save money.

Just as an aside, it costs me about R1.20 to have a 5 min shower using a 5 KW showerhead. My wife the same. R2.40 / day for both of us. That's about R75 / month for the 2 of us to have hot showers for a month. There is no cheaper way, period, unless you use a donkey and make a fire every day.

Peace out ... Derek.

[Annetta]

Thanks Derek for this comprehensive input.