I get the feeling asking this will produce head shaking, I'll ask anyway...
I have a hot water tank with a single immersion heater. Currently that is fed by a box I fitted that re-directs excess solar from my solar panels direct to the element (via the distribution board of course). That's all fine for summer and bright days.
Last winter I used a timer on the element to make use of middle of the night cheap rate to heat the water tank, but now I can't as I have it hooked up to the solar box.
my question is, is there a way to feed 2 power sources into one element. Or even, is there an element that has this ability, ie; 2 elements in one fitting.
Ideal result would be, I can heat the hot water in the night on a timer and also gain some from solar still, without buying a new tank or a fancier solar diverter.
cheers.
I have a hot water tank with a single immersion heater. Currently that is fed by a box I fitted that re-directs excess solar from my solar panels direct to the element (via the distribution board of course). That's all fine for summer and bright days.
Last winter I used a timer on the element to make use of middle of the night cheap rate to heat the water tank, but now I can't as I have it hooked up to the solar box.
my question is, is there a way to feed 2 power sources into one element. Or even, is there an element that has this ability, ie; 2 elements in one fitting.
Ideal result would be, I can heat the hot water in the night on a timer and also gain some from solar still, without buying a new tank or a fancier solar diverter.
cheers.