Christchurch power plans that don't limit hot water heating?

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everettpsycho

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2923361 6-Jun-2022 22:18

k1w1k1d:
Just have to remember that you would be paying full daytime rate to heat the cylinder.

Thanks for finding that I'll look in to it at some point. Like I said it's rare we have guests stay, at some point we will have visitors form overseas for a decent length stay. We aren't bothered about paying for it with day time power it's just the pain of knowing we wouldn't have water if people stayed. When it's just us the ripple relays fine now we know it's a thing and are aware to not use the hot top for things like rinsing dishes before they go in the dishwasher.

Bung

6479 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2923372 6-Jun-2022 23:20

avocados:
Interestingly, the water actually does seem quite hot first thing in the morning. It just seems to cool very quickly. Especially if I use hot water to do the dishes in the morning (i.e. one small sink worth of hot water), the rest of the water then cools even faster. Could it actually be putting cold water in and cooling the remaining water immediately?

As tweake has said how hot is your water? It should be around 55C. When you fill your sink it should only take 2 - 4l of hot. That shouldn't be that much of a load on the tank. If you don't have to add cold the hot isn't hot enough. Maybe also measure how much water flows before hot comes out the tap as that much hot will be wasted in the pipes.

ashtonaut

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2923662 7-Jun-2022 17:36

Here are the ripple control options you have with Orion:

https://www.oriongroup.co.nz/assets/Customers/Orion-Ripple-Control-summary.pdf

I ended up going with F3 so I also get a weekend boost.

You need to ask your retailer to put the request in to Orion to have you changed. The retailer pricing will vary for peak and off peak depending on which option you are on. For example, my pricing on F3 is slightly more expensive than F1. I was accidentally put on F2 after some home renovations and a meter change and only realised when I queried why the power bill was so high.

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2923698 7-Jun-2022 18:32

Yeah, everything except F1 there should be totally fine for all but the smallest tanks/highest loads. I suspect something else.

'Classic' ripple control is P1 - most lines companies guarantee a minimum of 16-17 hours per day energised.

avocados

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2923719 7-Jun-2022 20:02

SomeoneSomewhere:

Yeah, everything except F1 there should be totally fine for all but the smallest tanks/highest loads. I suspect something else.

I very strongly suspect that it is indeed on F1. I'm going to try and find out though.

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2923732 7-Jun-2022 20:56

Check that you definitely don't have any time switches in your switchboard.

How do you know when the cylinder is heating? Can you see the on/off indicator on the ripple relay and determine when it's operating? They usually have information on them that the lines company can decode to work out which signals it's listening for.

avocados

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2923736 7-Jun-2022 21:05

I am basing this on the fact that the water only ever gets colder during the day (i.e. never hotter) and is cold when I go to bed (around 11pm or 12am) and is always hot first thing in the morning. It seems very characteristic of it only ever heating over night.

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tdgeek

29746 posts

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Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2923804 8-Jun-2022 07:42

avocados:

I am basing this on the fact that the water only ever gets colder during the day (i.e. never hotter) and is cold when I go to bed (around 11pm or 12am) and is always hot first thing in the morning. It seems very characteristic of it only ever heating over night.

Perhaps when it is heating, its not heating the entire cylinder. Maybe an element fault, thermostat fault. So you have nice hot water, but only the top third or so.

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