PV Immersion heater question

[arebee70]

Hey styler, how did you get on after the thread died down, i found this by searching for pvmate-immersion related problem and have basically a similar problem where the pvmate sensor collar is fitted correctly and is triggering the pvmate immersion controller to start up when excess pv elec power goes to the grid, however the immersion just kicks in at full draw ~2-3kw which is way more than the excess power (~300-700w) its not much power but was led to believe it will just heat water slower than at full wack. Obviously this aint what i wanted as i wanted the energy of the pv to be the source of power to heat the tank.

Do some elements only draw their max power or could it be faulty?
Also the pvmate is wired directly to the element which has its own built in stat, which i was told to turn to higher than the existing setting as that may have caused 'water tank hot' messages on the pv mate unit, but as u have said above, there is no way it can know this unless its aware that theres someway it knows just by having the stat 'block' it, but im unsure this is really how it would do that.

 

[styleruk]

Hey styler, how did you get on after the thread died down, i found this by searching for pvmate-immersion related problem and have basically a similar problem where the pvmate sensor collar is fitted correctly and is triggering the pvmate immersion controller to start up when excess pv elec power goes to the grid, however the immersion just kicks in at full draw ~2-3kw which is way more than the excess power (~300-700w) its not much power but was led to believe it will just heat water slower than at full wack. Obviously this aint what i wanted as i wanted the energy of the pv to be the source of power to heat the tank.

Do some elements only draw their max power or could it be faulty?
Also the pvmate is wired directly to the element which has its own built in stat, which i was told to turn to higher than the existing setting as that may have caused 'water tank hot' messages on the pv mate unit, but as u have said above, there is no way it can know this unless its aware that theres someway it knows just by having the stat 'block' it, but im unsure this is really how it would do that.

Hi
Currently, during the winter, I don't use the pvmate at all. I have a timer that comes on for a period of time at night to heat the hot water. Then when winter ends, I'll plug it back into the pvmate and use the sun to heat the water. I wanted 2 elements really, that way I get the best of both worlds, but to do that I'd need a new tank and that's just silly. There appears to be no such thing as a twin element heater, apart from commercial offerings and it's simply too hard to do myself safely. So I've gone for the simplest route, change it manually twice a year. For the summer, I have it set to come on for anything over 800W, that way, the house and the house battery still get power, for the winter, it's off and I plug the element into a smart socket that switches it on at full 3kW. I may consider dropping down to a 2kW as I feel 3kW is a bit too high.
Sorry, but unless you buy a smarter system, this is what you are stuck with. there are ways of doing this better, but spending £100s more is not best for me.

 

[arebee70]

Hi
Currently, during the winter, I don't use the pvmate at all. I have a timer that comes on for a period of time at night to heat the hot water. Then when winter ends, I'll plug it back into the pvmate and use the sun to heat the water. I wanted 2 elements really, that way I get the best of both worlds, but to do that I'd need a new tank and that's just silly. There appears to be no such thing as a twin element heater, apart from commercial offerings and it's simply too hard to do myself safely. So I've gone for the simplest route, change it manually twice a year. For the summer, I have it set to come on for anything over 800W, that way, the house and the house battery still get power, for the winter, it's off and I plug the element into a smart socket that switches it on at full 3kW. I may consider dropping down to a 2kW as I feel 3kW is a bit too high.
Sorry, but unless you buy a smarter system, this is what you are stuck with. there are ways of doing this better, but spending £100s more is not best for me.

Ok thanks for the input, how exactly do you set it to come on when its >800w, i dont think my pvmate has any setup details like that.. best regs

 

[styleruk]

Ok thanks for the input, how exactly do you set it to come on when its >800w, i dont think my pvmate has any setup details like that.. best regs

Oh sorry, I ended up buying another one that worked. The PVmate I originally bought was rubbish and simply let me know. So I bought one that connects direct rather than wireless signal. I was mixing my threads.