Electric Ireland solar panels & EV charging?

Bufaluv

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I got price for under 5k for 2kW(8 panel) system from Solar Electric

I think the Electric Ireland offer is a joke. Some points:

• You need to be customer to use the HP option.
• If you move to Electric Ireland for this offer I would guess you don't get discounts you normally would if moving provider
• I talked to Electric Ireland before about this and they wanted people who take it up to show they have the ability to pay there bills over a period of time. So don't expect to move and sign up unless it has changed
• 5 euro extra per month for an app??? FFS
• You will end up pushing electricity back into grid, you are not getting any payback for this from Electric Ireland. SO they are taking your excess power and selling it on but you are paying them for it?????

I would look at Irish EV Owners Association offer of 10% off SolarElectric.ie

Just had Solar Electric in. Did you find them good?

Bufaluv

goz83 wrote: »

Certainly if you're home all day and using the power generated. The one I am considering is thermodynamics, because I know it will at least heat the water we need, but I am not even convinced by that tech.

Someone was trying to convince me that most of my electrical bills were coming from one electric shower and that I would be better off getting thermodynamic solar panels. Do you know anything about these?

Shefwedfan

Bufaluv wrote: »

Someone was trying to convince me that most of my electrical bills were coming from one electric shower and that I would be better off getting thermodynamic solar panels. Do you know anything about these?

Electric shower is one of a number high electricity users....along with dryer, immersion, cooker etc etc etc

Thermodynamic means you only get hot water and not generate electricity so they will push the electric shower angle

What they wont tell you is that the electric shower you have will probably be from the tank in attic. To swap around means running pipes and changing shower. Not an easy job.

I have found most of the "companies" who are doing solar thermal only are a shower of gangsters.

Shefwedfan

Bufaluv wrote: »

Just had Solar Electric in. Did you find them good?

I didnt get them out in the end, just had a chat on phone if I remember correctly. No issues with them, some other people have used without any issues.

Orebro

Bufaluv wrote: »

Someone was trying to convince me that most of my electrical bills were coming from one electric shower and that I would be better off getting thermodynamic solar panels. Do you know anything about these?

Surely that can't be right, unless you have lots of people in the house using it? Even then on night rate electricity it should be costing a pittance to run assuming you have showered by 8/9am depending on winter summer nightsaver hours.

Most people with electric showers have oil, gas or solid fuel heating so all the hot water in the tank gets wasted with electric showers, pumped only showers are far better, much better pressure and use the immersion in the warmer months.

Hardware stores are selling these without informing people of the fact that if you have a hot water tank then these electric showers won't use that water so a pumped only shower would be more suitable.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

Most people with electric showers have oil, gas or solid fuel heating so all the hot water in the tank gets wasted with electric showers, pumped only showers are far better, much better pressure and use the immersion in the warmer months.

Hardware stores are selling these without informing people of the fact that if you have a hot water tank then these electric showers won't use that water so a pumped only shower would be more suitable.

In fairness I have gas and an electric shower. Generally we use no gas between mark and October ,do no heating 300l of water for one shower. I find electric showers to be more economical than using gas.

March and October ? that's a well insulated house, I was using heat until End of April early May.

I can use the "sink" on the immersion and it heats plenty for shower with a little for the sink and bit of washing up if needed so no waste.

For the time the heat is on there's no need to use more energy to heat the shower.

It would be great if showers could have the option to heat the water or pumped only.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

March and October ? that's a well insulated house, I was using heat until End of April early May.

I can use the "sink" on the immersion and it heats plenty for shower with a little for the sink and bit of washing up if needed so no waste.

For the time the heat is on there's no need to use more energy to heat the shower.

It would be great if showers could have the option to heat the water or pumped only.

A standard semi D Built in 84, not great insulation !! But the new windows do help.

This was a particularly long cold Winter, I feel we'll be having more of these into the future and worse.

I noticed our open gas fire chews gas, I'm going to put a solid fuel stove in it instead. The Gas is quick and heats fast and looks nice but it's far too inefficient and the Bottled Gas is expensive, having said that a gas stove can be 80-85% efficient which is another option V 20% for open fire.

Orebro

Deleted User wrote: »

Most people with electric showers have oil, gas or solid fuel heating so all the hot water in the tank gets wasted with electric showers, pumped only showers are far better, much better pressure and use the immersion in the warmer months.

Hardware stores are selling these without informing people of the fact that if you have a hot water tank then these electric showers won't use that water so a pumped only shower would be more suitable.

Try telling that to a house full of girls (like mine!) when the hot water is gone and they have to wait for the immersion to do its thing. I'll stick with the electric shower thanks

(And like I said, the vast majority of showering would be done within the nightsaver hours so it is extremely cheap).

Not as cheap as using the hot water in the cooler months heated with the heating, but I'm not the one giving money to the companies unnecessarily haha :P :pac:

Perhaps if people have 2 bathrooms a electric and pumped only shower would be a good move or 2 showers.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

Not as cheap as using the hot water in the cooler months heated with the heating, but I'm not the one giving money to the companies unnecessarily haha :P :pac:

Perhaps if people have 2 bathrooms a electric and pumped only shower would be a good move or 2 showers.

Heating unnecessary water is crazy. Electric showers heat only the required shower. And use less fossil fuel than burning gas or oil

Seriously, I can heat the immersion on sink and it's enough for a shower and some sink water hardly a waste.

How do you heat water for sinks ?

Electric showers heat only the water required for a "shower" when you don't need the heating. The rest of the time then you're wasting a lot of electricity when the hot water tank is lying idle.

Orebro

Deleted User wrote: »

Seriously, I can heat the immersion on sink and it's enough for a shower and some sink water hardly a waste.

How do you heat water for sinks ?

Electric showers heat only the water required for a "shower" when you don't need the heating. The rest of the time then you're wasting a lot of electricity when the hot water tank is lying idle.

In that case surely using an electric shower for the few mins it takes, rather than having the immersion on for half an hour or more for a shower is far more economical?

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

Seriously, I can heat the immersion on sink and it's enough for a shower and some sink water hardly a waste.

How do you heat water for sinks ?

Electric showers heat only the water required for a "shower" when you don't need the heating. The rest of the time then you're wasting a lot of electricity when the hot water tank is lying idle.

Why do I need hot water in the sink ? How am I wasting electricity when the hot tank is empty?

Orebro

Orebro wrote: »

In that case surely using an electric shower for the few mins it takes, rather than having the immersion on for half an hour or more for a shower is far more economical?

Don't forget that the immersion is about 2.5 kw V 8.5-9 Kw for electric shower so the immersion naturally has to be on for longer.

+ the heating heats the water for the cooler months.

+ for one shower the sink on the immersion is more than enough with some hot water for the sink and washing up etc.

I fail to see how someone with electric shower can get away with a cold hot water tank, cold water for sinks, kitchen etc ?

ted1

Waging machine , dish washer etc what’s needed from a hot tap

As for the kitchen hot taps aren’t drinkable

Orebro

In my house I have the immersion on a timer for 1.5hrs every day during night saver hours which gives almost the perfect amount of hot water needed, and the showers are electric - to me that's as valid a setup as having the immersion on for longer to be able to shower with it (when you have 4 showers a day average in my house) - electric showers get a bad rap on this forum unfairly I think.

Orebro

Orebro wrote: »

electric showers get a bad rap on this forum unfairly I think.

Not really , a lot of people are not aware that there are two types, the showers that heat the water and showers that do not but are pumped only.

They're not aware that for most of the year when their heating is on that they have a hot tank of water a pumped only shower can use but an electric shower has to heat, wasting the hot water in the tank.

So, if I've to use the immersion for some months in the warmer weather then this allows us enough for showers and some water for the sink use, for shaving, washing faces or whatever, it's not wasting water and I don't have to wait for it to heat being on timer and uses the night rate electricity.

A lot of People buy showers without thinking or knowing what they're buying and hardware stores don't advise people either.

I'd much rather the power of a pumped only shower v electric, I'd never go back.

If people still want their electric shower and have two bathrooms then this is ideal, can use pumped in Winter and electric when they don't need the heating.

ted1

Deleted User wrote: »

Orebro wrote: »

electric showers get a bad rap on this forum unfairly I think.

Not really , a lot of people are not aware that there are two types, the showers that heat the water and showers that do not but are pumped only.

They're not aware that for most of the year when their heating is on that they have a hot tank of water a pumped only shower can use but an electric shower has to heat, wasting the hot water in the tank.

So, if I've to use the immersion for some months in the warmer weather then this allows us enough for showers and some water for the sink use, for shaving, washing faces or whatever, it's not wasting water and I don't have to wait for it to heat being on timer and uses the night rate electricity.

A lot of People buy showers without thinking or knowing what they're buying and hardware stores don't advise people either.

I'd much rather the power of a pumped only shower v electric, I'd never go back.

If people still want their electric shower and have two bathrooms then this is ideal, can use pumped in Winter and electric when they don't need the heating.

Stop digging.people know exactly what they are buying.
Believe me electric showers are cheaper and better for the environment than using oil or gas.

zilog_jones

I wouldn't be so sure about that. The majority of our electricity comes from fossil fuels, and you also have to factor in significant transmission loss vs. heating the water directly in a boiler in your house. Unless you have statistics to back up your claim, I don't believe you

ted1

ted1 wrote: »

Stop digging.people know exactly what they are buying.
Believe me electric showers are cheaper and better for the environment than using oil or gas.

A lot of people have oil and gas heating and a significant amount also have solid fuel heating so it makes sense to use this plentiful supply of hot water when available rather than using more energy for the shower costing the person a lot more in the long run.

And while most people know they're buying an electric shower quite a significant amount really don't think about the hot water in the tank most of the year.

Zenith74

ted1 wrote: »

Believe me electric showers are cheaper

I'd love to see the math on that (I don't have enough info on my usage of gas to heat water to figure it out myself ), but I have always heard that electric showers are much more expensive, but you have me curious. What I would say though, as somebody who enjoys a nice shower, is that pre-heated water with a shower-pump is a VASTLY better showering experience than an electric shower and I'd gladly pay significantly more for the experience. My guess is you'd need a 20kw electric shower (never seen one) to get close to a decent shower pump drawing from a pre-heated tank.

ted1 wrote: »

better for the environment than using oil or gas.

Here I'd agree with you if thinking a little more holistically/long-term. The more I read the more it seems that home-solar is not ideal from a grid perspective, so ideally we'd move as much as possible to electricity (cars, cooking, heating) at the same time the government moves as much of the central generation to clean energy.

cnocbui

Zenith74 wrote: »

I'd love to see the math on that (I don't have enough info on my usage of gas to heat water to figure it out myself ), but I have always heard that electric showers are much more expensive, but you have me curious. What I would say though, as somebody who enjoys a nice shower, is that pre-heated water with a shower-pump is a VASTLY better showering experience than an electric shower and I'd gladly pay significantly more for the experience. My guess is you'd need a 20kw electric shower (never seen one) to get close to a decent shower pump drawing from a pre-heated tank.



Here I'd agree with you if thinking a little more holistically/long-term. The more I read the more it seems that home-solar is not ideal from a grid perspective, so ideally we'd move as much as possible to electricity (cars, cooking, heating) at the same time the government moves as much of the central generation to clean energy.

If you have a well insulated HW cylinder, heat loss is negligible. I have a pumped shower with a 3 bar pump, it's heavenly - like standing in a torrent. The immersion is on a timer and I can have a shower 4-5 hours after the last boost and the water is still hot enough.

Electric showers are cack and deliver a miserable, pathetic showering experience.

To have an instant electric showering experience that's good, you need about 27 KW. I had a whole house instant electric water heater in Australia. It was really good. The mains water pressure was 7 bar and the heater was able to heat the massive flow of water to stinking hot. It must have been approaching 40 Kw. I thought of importing one but then realised it needed 3 phase power.

Solar is something that works well in Australia. In this country it's a bad joke.

Orebro

Feck lads now ye'r bringing showering experience into the equation - thats a difficult one to include in the cost calculations!

beepers

I wanted an OFF GRID system. The system suggested and installed is a GRID LINKED system with a very low level "backup" (manufactureres term). In my opinion both my installer and hence myself have been mislead by the system manufacturer. Names withheld my myself.