Solar diverter, which one?

[WitlessWonder]

I'm going to piggie back this thread rather than make a new post.
Please do NOT hi-jack posts, (As others have said it causes problems / confusion) I have just split this one.

I'm after a solar diverter having dismissed the payback on extra solar (as I am on FIT) or a battery (not enough excess to make it payback within 15yrs).

I'm tempted by the Solic as it's cheap/quick payback but read on here the product.support is unreliable.

1. Are they all roughly the same please? (solic seem to emphasise that Export threshold = 0W and I'm conscious I only have very small volumes of excess)
2. What would you recommend with your experience of them?
3. Are some quieter/less prone to overheating/regulating themselves as a result? (something about using sine wave rather than burst?)
4. Any experience of these things burning out the immersion quicker?
5. Do some have 2 feeds so that you can, for example, connect it to a small oil heater to give the room some heat too? (my office is freezing in winter but miels away and I'm guessing there's nothing remote about any of these solutions that would enable me to get a little oil heater working in the system)
6. Do some give basic reporting (kw diverted in the last 365 days) to know if my decision is paying back!?
7. Anything i've not considered!

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Murdoch]

I'm going to piggie back this thread rather than make a new post.

I'm after a solar diverter having dismissed the payback on extra solar (as I am on FIT) or a battery (not enough excess to make it payback within 15yrs).

I'm tempted by the Solic as it's cheap/quick payback but read on here the product.support is unreliable.

1. Are they all roughly the same please? (solic seem to emphasise that Export threshold = 0W and I'm conscious I only have very small volumes of excess)
2. What would you recommend with your experience of them?
3. Are some quieter/less prone to overheating/regulating themselves as a result? (something about using sine wave rather than burst?)
4. Any experience of these things burning out the immersion quicker?
5. Do some have 2 feeds so that you can, for example, connect it to a small oil heater to give the room some heat too? (my office is freezing in winter but miels away and I'm guessing there's nothing remote about any of these solutions that would enable me to get a little oil heater working in the system)
6. Do some give basic reporting (kw diverted in the last 365 days) to know if my decision is paying back!?
7. Anything i've not considered!

Thanks,

Dan

Best not to hijack other threads

Do a search using Solic and you’ll find a few threads

Like this one

https://electricianforum.co.uk/threads/iboost-and-myenergi-eddi.56739/#post-548280

 

[WitlessWonder]

Thanks @Murdoch . Yeah, that's convinced me as it needs to survive long enough to reach a payback! Wonder why there's even cost to repair if they have a 10yr warranty but life's too short to find out!

 

[johnb2713]

I'm going to piggie back this thread rather than make a new post.

I'm after a solar diverter having dismissed the payback on extra solar (as I am on FIT) or a battery (not enough excess to make it payback within 15yrs).

I'm tempted by the Solic as it's cheap/quick payback but read on here the product.support is unreliable.

Youve kind of answered your question here, consider what users are telling you.

1. Are they all roughly the same please? (solic seem to emphasise that Export threshold = 0W and I'm conscious I only have very small volumes of excess)

EDDI goes down to very low levels too.

1. What would you recommend with your experience of them?

EDDI every time

1. Are some quieter/less prone to overheating/regulating themselves as a result? (something about using sine wave rather than burst?)

Substantial heatsink behind EDDI, no fans and no apparent heating

1. Any experience of these things burning out the immersion quicker?

No way should that happen, the worst they can do is put 240v onto the element which is what it was designed for.

1. Do some have 2 feeds so that you can, for example, connect it to a small oil heater to give the room some heat too? (my office is freezing in winter but miels away and I'm guessing there's nothing remote about any of these solutions that would enable me to get a little oil heater working in the system)

Yep EDDI does that, Ive used the second out for a towel rail.

1. Do some give basic reporting (kw diverted in the last 365 days) to know if my decision is paying back!?

Yep

 

[WitlessWonder]

Brill thanks and apologies for thread hijacking, won't be doing that again!

So as I read it I need a harvi as well if I don't want to have to run the wire down to the tail of the electrical supply. Not far away but far enough for me to drill thro something important!!! Am I right that the towel rail etc needs to be close enough to run a physical wire to? - I had in my mind maybe they had a smart plug device talking to their app that an oil heater could plug into way down in my office. I even volunteer the name "pLlugi"!!!

 

[Murdoch]

Myenergi Eddi is far superior to Solic and is built far more professionally and has the features of the app

 

[WitlessWonder]

Eddi and Harvi ordered, electrical2go (sorry if that breaks another rule re: promotion) seem cheapest by a few pounds and appear to have shipped it in minutes! Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate it.

Being on FIT with a PowerUno inverter that has no reporting that I have ever been able to access it's been eye opening to go from 12yrs of just knowing total generation since install to seeing live export figure. While possibly a longer payback on the Eddi I'm looking forward to now seeing total exported diverted figures to have a reasonable stab at the payback

 

[johnb2713]

Eddi and Harvi ordered, electrical2go (sorry if that breaks another rule re: promotion) seem cheapest by a few pounds and appear to have shipped it in minutes! Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate it.

Being on FIT with a PowerUno inverter that has no reporting that I have ever been able to access it's been eye opening to go from 12yrs of just knowing total generation since install to seeing live export figure. While possibly a longer payback on the Eddi I'm looking forward to now seeing total exported diverted figures to have a reasonable stab at the payback

Who is your energy supplier? if it's octopus (and it should be), request an Octopus Mini, it links into you wifi and gives you almost live data - import, export, gas and much more. This can be linked to other programs such as home assistant to give some very nice displays.

 

[WitlessWonder]

John, as ever, stunning input thank you. Yes, Octopus. We have the IHD but it's one failing (so far) is it doesn't give me total exports. I tried finding the data in the API but i'm not very savvy! Could you tell me:
1. if the Octopus mini gives period reporting of export pls? (like week, month etc?) I wonder if that's only if you are selling the energy to them?
2. if by having the mini the IHD becomes redundant as I'd need to weigh up if not having it will mean my wife's less interested in energy reduciton as a result

Thanks

 

[johnb2713]

John, as ever, stunning input thank you. Yes, Octopus. We have the IHD but it's one failing (so far) is it doesn't give me total exports. I tried finding the data in the API but i'm not very savvy! Could you tell me:
1. if the Octopus mini gives period reporting of export pls? (like week, month etc?) I wonder if that's only if you are selling the energy to them?

I’m not home at the moment BUT when I interacted Home Assistant to Octopus Mini there were lists and lists of data available. I just use it with live readings and daily totals into HA. When I get home I’ll look at the data list and let you know.

2. if by having the mini the IHD becomes redundant as I'd need to weigh up if not having it will mean my wife's less interested in energy reduciton as a result

Thanks

You can leave the IHD in operation as well as the mini.

 

[WitlessWonder]

Thanks, really appreciated and thanks for thinking to mention it as even if I'd have come across it on my own I'd have dismissed it thinking it was one or t'other, not both. Thinking about it now, I think the option the engineer gave me was to have the live view on the IHD or on the app.

Winter scared the living crepe out of me last year but I feel in a better place this year thanks to everyone's input

 

[johnb2713]

Thanks, really appreciated and thanks for thinking to mention it as even if I'd have come across it on my own I'd have dismissed it thinking it was one or t'other, not both. Thinking about it now, I think the option the engineer gave me was to have the live view on the IHD or on the app.

Download the Octo-Aid app, that's a great app too for quick monitoring and forecasting your energy use.

Winter scared the living crepe out of me last year but I feel in a better place this year thanks to everyone's input

Youre very welcome

The mini by the way is free of charge but Octopus release them in batches, you may have to wait a few months, worth requesting one now, again, FOC.

 

[WitlessWonder]

Have done re: the mini (to be fair, did it as soon as you said it doesn't impact the IHD - no brainer!)

Will do re: octo-aid. I'm not cool enough to have a apple so will sneak on my wife's

 

[WitlessWonder]

I had a play with Octo-aid and the export data was blank so I anticipate that means Octopus API data only captures export volume if you are signed up to export under SEG. I'm guessing that means the mini while useful won't give me that data either. Still a hope that the Eddi (once operational) reports how much energy is still being exported after it's diverted as much as it can. Lovely bit of kit btw, really pleased now I didn't do my usual of buying the cheapest possible option!