Anyone in NSW seen this ad pop up, seems to be under the category of too good to be true but I don’t want to write it off until I know more? They claim I can upgrade my off peak electric for $33 fully installed to a heat pump.
Interested to hear if anyone has dealt with them or knows more.
Thanks ozbargainers.
I have had a look at my first quarter usage data vs last year same period with the only change being the HW system, but it is confounded a little by my solar which im assuming is similar over same 3 month period for ease of calculation. Last year I used 2302 KWH over 3 months versus 981 KWH this year same period which represents a 57% energy reduction which is pretty good.
I like the idea of using solar for heating rather than selling to the grid but if I ran mine between 10-4 I would not have enough hot water for family.
I am located in the Bankstown area, NSW and went with a company called "Free Hot Water". They took down my details and asked a few questions to see if I was eligible (storage electric tank, installed outside, no relocation). They then subcontracted to a company called "Eco Alliance". I was booked in with an install date 14 days into the future, but received a call 6 days later stating they had an available spot the next day. So mine was installed 7 days from first contact with "Free Hot Water".
I went with the 215L Ecogenica tank. The install went well but I needed a new inlet tap because the old one didn't work properly. It was $33 for the install + $50 cash for the tap. (The install included an RCD switch at the switchboard, along with dual socket powerpoint next to the tank/compressor unit). I let it heat up but didn't measure anything yet since it was an exceptional case where the whole tank of cold water had to be heated up. I turned the powerpoint off after it was done heating and 4x regular showers were taken that night.
The next day I plugged the hot water tank into a power meter before turning it on. It drew 550W to start off with and crept up to 800W near the end of the heating. In total it used 2.1kWh over 3 hours. (My old Rheem 250L tank had a 4800W heating element that took just under 2 hours to finish heating to the set 60 degees).
All in all, with my napkin maths… that's a 78% savings in energy usage. And now it's all easily handled/covered by my 5KW solar inverter opposed to before. For a total of $83, I'd be stoked if it lasts for even just a year! (But it does have a 5 year compressor warranty and 7 year tank warranty).
I hope my experience helps people down the track, especially after electrcity prices dramatically rising after the 1st July 2023.
Thanks great description.
No doubts for me over power saving but I’m more concerned about $ saving which I’m unable to work out for my system due to confounding factors. My old system was off peak, new just standard which is 3x more / kWh. My 10kw solar system definitely helps but only for a few hours heating a day in winter, rest is from the grid. My usage has definitely dropped since install but not sure about costs.
I am about to switch to an ev plan which is 9.5c /kWh between 12-4am so I plan to set to switch on at midnight and off at 5pm next day when peak starts. Should do a lot of charging then at cheapest rate.
Hopefully I’m ahead.
Thanks for recommending freehotwater.au :)!. Jesse
Thanks for the quick response @captain_hindsight
I have a solar installation. So plan to run the heater between 10-4 AM (morning hours), so that I can utilize solar.
I am a bit surprised that 300L tank runs of out of water in 2-3 showers. Would this indicate water is not being sufficiently heated up in your new system ?
Old electric heaters heat water to 60-65degrees. Does your new unit also reach the same temperature levels ?
My existing unit currently consumes 13KWH of off-peak electricity everyday which is 70% of my daily electricity consumption.
I am thinking that running heat-pump during morning hours will save me some money, but if it doesn't give enough hot water, then there is no point in moving to the new system.