Solar System, How to Save The Most? (Have Gas Hot Water System)

Kawaii on 15/06/2022 - 21:01

Just installed 6.6kw Jinko pro 415 +5kw Huawei Inverter (3 phase)

my house still has a Gas Cooking top and Gas Hot Water system.

I feel my Gas Hot Water system cost me too much. (monthly bill around $30-40)

(I know comparing to electricity it might be nothing)

but now I have a solar system, I think it's better to utilise hot water by solar.

I will still keep the Gas Cooking because it's much better.

  1. Is there any hot water system that uses the electricity generated by solar panels ONLY but not draw power from the grid?

  2. Can I still keep my gas hot water system if I want an additional Electric Water System (Powered by solar energy only)?

Home & Garden Solar Energy System

Comments

  • AndyC1 on 15/06/2022 - 21:09
    +2

    Watch it with both gas and electricity you are paying a daily gas supply charge and a daily electricity charge. The daily gas supply charge a few years ago when I had gas was as much as the gas usage for the cook top & oven and hot water, so it may be wise to check out how much it costs to ditch gas.

    I found when I was at a holiday house the induction cook top was a heck of allot better than a normal electric cook top and was 80 to 90% as good as gas w.r.t. heating up and changing from low to high etc. There was a lag of about 2 minutes, but no where near the time for a normal electric cook top.

    I would check out a heat pump water heater to replace the gas. Check out if there are any rebates to change from gas to a heat pump.

    • Some Human on 17/06/2022 - 00:58

      That's what I love about only having electricity. Only 1 bill. Gas is a rip.

  • avoidfullprice on 15/06/2022 - 21:23

    I think it's better to utilise hot water by solar.

    Definitely when you only have a hot shower when the sun is out and not any other time

    • AndyC1 on 15/06/2022 - 21:26

      Disagree, when I was growing up we had off peak hot water and it worked great. We were in the North Coast of NSW.

      • avoidfullprice on 15/06/2022 - 21:43
        +1

        How does that translate to someone living in Hobart?

    • teacherer on 16/06/2022 - 09:32

      That's not really how that works

  • Stewardo on 15/06/2022 - 21:29

    Natural gas or lpg?

    • Kawaii on 15/06/2022 - 21:31

      supplied by gas pipe, billed by AGL and i have a metre

      • Stewardo on 15/06/2022 - 21:43

        What sort of gas hws? Storage tank or instantaneous?

        • Kawaii on 17/06/2022 - 04:31

          instantaneous

          • Stewardo on 17/06/2022 - 07:43

            @Kawaii: If your bill is $30 a month, the instantaneous hws would be costing very little a month if you took off the the usage and service charges and the gas used for cooking.

  • highon2str on 15/06/2022 - 21:40
    +1

    I agree with ditching gas completely. I have a few friends living around the area and we have all swapped to heat pump HWS and induction stovetops. Gas supply charge alone is almost $1/day. Electric-only is the way to go if you can afford the upgrade of appliances.

    • AustriaBargain on 15/06/2022 - 22:12

      OP wants to keep the gas connected for cooking, which changes the value equation for him as the supply charge is there no matter what.

      • highon2str on 15/06/2022 - 22:18

        Yes, I understand it was mentioned that they were going to keep the gas stovetop because it was "much better". However, I would say that since converting to an induction stovetop, we've not missed using gas for cooking. Electric heats up much faster, is easier to clean up and is safer overall. Personally, I would prefer induction over gas.

        • AustriaBargain on 15/06/2022 - 22:28
          +1

          Another good thing about gas is you can still cook and have hot showers during rolling blackouts.

          • Amaris on 16/06/2022 - 08:49

            @AustriaBargain: Of course will have to be a storage hot water system to use during blackouts. The more commonly used instantaneous hot water systems don’t work during blackouts

          • pjetson on 16/06/2022 - 15:54

            @AustriaBargain: In Victoria, about 20 years ago, gas was shut off in virtually the whole state for about three weeks. People with gas hot water, cooking, and/or heating didn't think gas was such a good idea then.

    • Kawaii on 15/06/2022 - 22:19
      +1

      supply charge here is 21c

      • highon2str on 15/06/2022 - 22:22
        +1

        ooooh! Cheap! 👍

  • cashless on 16/06/2022 - 09:25

    If you have the cash, it sounds like you should buy a battery

  • isthisreallife22 on 16/06/2022 - 14:33

    Hmm I havent investigated the cheapest way to travel the solar system but Richard Branson and Elon Musk are in a competitive race so capitalism might drive down space travel costs soon :p

  • trialex on 16/06/2022 - 21:43

    We replaced our gas tank hot water system with an electric heat pump tank system. Using the controller we limit it to only heating between 10am and 4pm which is when we are generating power using our solar panels.

    It takes about 1kW for 2 hours (i.e. 2kWh per day) to heat enough hot water for two adult showers and a toddler bath, so that's like 15c per day at current feed in rates.

    I do acknowledge it was more expensive to install than a basic electric or gas system, but we were willing to pay extra for the environmental advantages.

  • outlander on 16/06/2022 - 21:54

    You can convert gas appliances to LPG. If you're only using it to cook with, a tank will last ages. The savings from not paying for connection fees will more than pay for it.
    And then like trialex said, you could get a heat pump system and run it through the day on solar

  • Some Human on 17/06/2022 - 01:06

    Convert everything to electricity - gas is expensive.
    Electric stoves have come a long way, but if you find they don't cut the grade, you could always look into getting your stove to run off a gas bottle. Or do what I do and keep a campstove under the bench for browning meat.

  • cyrilfiggis on 19/06/2022 - 08:14

    I’m in a similar situation. The best way to do this is apparently a device called a catchpower (https://www.catchpower.com.au) paired with an old fashioned electric tank hot water system. It’s a clever little device that senses when you’re exporting back to the grid and diverts the power to heat your hot water until it’s up to temp. Then it goes back to normal. You miss out on your feed in tariff, but they’re not great anymore. It’s the cheapest way to store your excess solar energy.

    I had one installed with my solar system last year, and now my feed in tariff is bugger all so I’m shopping for a basic 300-400L hot water system.

    You can keep both your gas and electric systems, but there’s not much point. My plan with is to switch the cooktop to LPG tanks that I can just swap. Then we can disconnect the mains gas entirely so we’re not paying the daily supply charge (most of the bill).

    • Kawaii on 19/06/2022 - 11:35

      My gas supply charge is about $0.23/day

      • cyrilfiggis on 20/06/2022 - 08:17

        That’s certainly better than mine, it’s $0.75 a day

      • us3rnam3tak3n on 22/06/2022 - 21:25

        Gas supply charge $0.2223
        Account fee $0.0714
        29.37c per day

  • Captain Hindsight on 21/06/2022 - 08:11

    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.

    https://nswhotwaterupgrades.com.au/

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