Hot Water System Stops Working after 6pm

truongster on 01/08/2022 - 21:45

Hi there,

The hot water system (electric) at my property shuts off at 6 pm. This happened shortly after we got a smart meter for the solar system. (Approx last year Feb) It wouldn't be a problem but I have tenants on the property as well. Recently our inverter has stopped working (Repairs on the way) and the last time we got the problem fixed was by calling the energy provider Origin, also around March last year.

Common sense makes me think that the hot water system turned off at 6 pm might coincide with on/off-peak times but the timing of the inverter failing and this issue happening again is curious. Any chance the wiring to the solar might be affecting the hot water system? If so how can I check? Would a smart meter install affect installations of hot water systems?

Is it worth just immediately going to a sparkie or should we call Origin/Solar installers?

**Extra info **
* Hot water system was replaced 2 years and has been working fine. It works perfectly during the day.
* Solar Inverter stopped working early this year (Under warranty, but waiting on a replacement inverter/install
* We had the same issue around March 2021 when they installed the smart meter.

Poll Options expired

  • 3
    Call a sparkie
  • 19
    Call Origin / Grid provider
  • 0
    Call solar installer
Home & Garden Hot Water System

Comments

  • autonomate on 01/08/2022 - 21:52
    +3

    Start with the provider. More than likely whoever they send out will be able to tell you what's wrong, and it won't cost you anything.

    • truongster on 01/08/2022 - 22:03

      Thanks!, I'll start there first

  • Wiadro on 01/08/2022 - 21:57
    +2

    sounds like a controlled circuit, check with your electrical company

  • Zephyrus on 01/08/2022 - 22:18
    +4

    Is it a controlled load? That's exactly what I'd expect a controlled load to do.
    It should be on your electricity bill as an extra item (billed at a lower rate)

  • pjetson on 01/08/2022 - 22:57
    +5

    It's possible that your tariff was changed when you went solar, and you don't have off-peak power, so the hot water system was wired up to run only on solar power, and therefore it now only heats up when the sun is shining. Maybe 6pm is when your solar system stops producing enough power to run the heater element. Or maybe your solar installer added a timer to run the hot water service completely from your solar system, and the timer turns off at 6pm.

    I'm not sure what your problem is, though. Are you running out of hot water? Surely you have a big enough hot water tank to cover your hot water needs, so as long as the power is on for long enough to heat the water to the thermostat temperature, everything should be fine.

    • macrocephalic on 02/08/2022 - 13:22

      I paid to have a timer installed on my hot water circuit last time I had an electrician out. I specifically set it to only heat from 10am to 4pm each day as that's the time that the solar is more likely generating power.

    • truongster on 02/08/2022 - 21:32

      Tenants use quite a bit of hot water.

  • klonky on 02/08/2022 - 09:17

    Our solar installer (ECG) have back to base monitoring of our system. If something went wrong I would call them first. Maybe check with your installer?

  • Ocker on 02/08/2022 - 10:13

    What brand inverter?

    • truongster on 02/08/2022 - 21:33

      SolarEdge, an 8kw Inverter failed just over a year.

  • jv on 02/08/2022 - 10:18

    System Stops Working after 6pm

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_rWja1Xiu8&t=8s

  • Euphemistic on 02/08/2022 - 10:21

    Step one is to work out how it’s wired and what it is supposed to do. Not enough info to say what could be wrong.

    It could be wired to run off solar AND off peak (controller load). In which case it hears overnight or when some is on.

    What sort of system is it? Instant or storage? If storage, then it might just be running out of hot early. Our off peak will run cold if we’ve been to free with the hot water during the day, it it shuts off at whatever time it finishes heating overnight nd won’t reheat until after around 10pm. Electric instant is unusual

  • Brian McGee on 02/08/2022 - 10:43

    Start with Origin.
    I'm with them too and when they do the Spike Hour they shut off all my smart plugs and lamps, which are the only ones I use at night. Very rarely do I use the big lights/room lights if they aren't smart lights on 20% brightness. But giving access to Origin to control during spkie hour I am left in darkness.

  • Adz81 on 02/08/2022 - 10:48
    +1

    Try the smart metre folk (my parents was intellihub, number on the metre). They had the hws set to solar sponge during the day and the night time was 11pm-6am. They could make changes over the phone to operating times. There's also the "boost" option, where you press and hold the green button (green on my folks anyhows) for a couple of seconds and it kicks the hws on for two hours.

    • Adz81 on 02/08/2022 - 10:50

      Dangit, sorry missed the bit where you'd been down the smart meter path already.

  • moar bargains on 02/08/2022 - 13:16

    Have you tried renegotiating its contract? All the talk of inflation lately means they don't do overtime for nothing you know…

  • Hiroko on 02/08/2022 - 15:25

    check your electrical switchboard for a contact relay. if there is one just switch it to the ON position instead of AUTO.

  • the Unforgiven on 03/08/2022 - 03:23

    Is it an older type smart meter where you can 'hack' the thing to get the HWS to manual to come on?

  • truongster on 05/08/2022 - 22:28

    The inverter is fixed now, will see if the hot water returns.

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