Eddi issues

cobham

Thank you all for advice and comments. I had forgotten about the MyEnergi forum. I like Hellrazer comment:" Its a learning curve with regards to the eddi and immersions. Its like it just needs a bit of tweaking to get it to suit you and your household". So many variables to consider and some we are just finding out about along the way. The season and solar changing and household demands varying all contribute to extra complications.

Six months in and we have only now got our BER done after a delay in getting extra fusing and misaligned CT clamp sorted. We have a battery but disabled at the moment in favour of putting excess into water. Time to get that back charging up. We had thought of night rate grid power but for moment we are staying on standard 24 hr set up. Hopefully in time the providers will make things more attractive for off peak use. An EV is part of long term plan but not for the moment. We still have an old meter so excess to grid is best option until the meter is upgraded.

The water was too hot by midday so I turned off the Eddi at the device ( could not get app to do it?). It was still very hot by evening so I do not want to change the thermostat setting on the immersion. I have changed the 'check back' setting to 100 minutes ( I think?). Now I will put back the Eddi and see if it keeps the same time/date/timer settings? I will reduce the boost timer setting as well.

Temps dropping way back for next few days and less sun about.

Hellrazer

he water was too hot by midday so I turned off the Eddi at the device ( could not get app to do it?). It was still very hot by evening so I do not want to change the thermostat setting on the immersion.

Go into the app - tap the hot water icon.

Should be a big off switch looking icon in blue.When you tap that you`ll get a pop up that says "go to stop mode"

Thats it. Do the same again to turn it back on.

silver_sky

If the water is scalding hot then maybe the stat on the immersion is too high or faulty.

On the topic of the Eddi and temperatures, I just got the add-on relay and sensor board for my eddi. Just waiting on the temperature sensors to arrive and then will add it on. This will give temperature readings in the app and allow for more control. Thinking of getting a plumber to set it up with a small pump to mix the tank (as immersion is on top) to heat more of the water. The board adds on the function for that.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120273294#Comment_120273294

while you have the tank drained, consider a thermostatic mixer valve for the top of your tank, Meaning you could have your tank high but still a safe temperature at the taps.

cobham

The Myenergi app has a feature to stop the water heating but it is not active. ( We need to get that app sorted. There is no data for solar and the green leaf at centre is always 0%). I have found an 'off' option on the Eddi screen and have used that. Similarly I cannot use the App to cancel the 'off'. Using this 'off' setting and turning back on last night did not upset the date/time settings on device. Once when away from house I turned off the Eddi via a switch in its base but prob should not have done that. I like hot water and the showers have decent controls so no worry. But I notice the advice with the new water pump that it should not operate over 70 degree.

Nalz

Novice question (and apologies if it's answered already I looked and didnt see)

Is there a way to heat the water via the Eddi, at set times, but only if coming from solar?

I know you can schedule the Eddi to come on, but my understanding is that will come on whether or not it's coming from the grid or solar?

I had to reset my thermostat as the immersion it kicked out, and I knocked down from max level 5 to 4, but I'm still worried the eddi will make the water too hot.

Just want to schedule it at certain times but only if pulling from panels and not the grid

slave1

That's exactly what the EDDI does, it works off excess solar (after house load) automatically, I don't think you can select the time it works off excess easily

Nalz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435296#Comment_120435296

Yeah my problem is the water is too hot (possibly thermostat isn't doing its job) and I want it to work off excess solar between the hours of x and y only (without pulling from grid)

slave1

If the water is too hot then you need to turn the temp stat on your immersion down, there are a few types of immersions around so if you post a pic we may be able to show how to do this (usually a temperature dial to be turned down)

Nalz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120435912#Comment_120435912

Already knocked it down from 5 max to 4 but still fairly hot. Maybe I should knock it down to 3 or 2?

Hellrazer

The way the eddi is designed is that it only heats the water from excess solar unless you schedule a boost.

The schedule setting is only for "boosting" the Eddi- you cant schedule it to turn on and off when only generating solar power.

I use mine with the app for when I dont want it heating. For example if I get a really good day and the water has reached "max temp" early in the day I put the eddi into stop mode and send the excess to the grid.

If its tripping your immersion over heat cut out you did the right thing by turning it down slightly. You can also limit the power that the eddi sends to the immersion so instead of the whole generated power going in you can send say 1.5kw. That worked for me as it allows more time for the water to circulate giving you more hot water and stopping the "max temp" kicking in too quickly.

Posted about it here previously.

Mines working great with the setup I posted in that thread. Limited it to 1.5kw and changed check to every 30 minutes. Full tank of water every day now with no boosting required or gas top ups.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120256560/#Comment_120256560

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120436063#Comment_120436063

my immersion is a bit older so the temp stat is under the cap. It has a scale of 50 to 70 degrees on it.. ive it currently set to 55 and that is quite hot at the tap.. my biggest issue is the water doesnt seem to stay long very warm in my tank.. its a copper cylinder and ive two lagging jackets on it but its probably not the most efficient. How long should water stay hot in the tank if its heated to 55?

Here's my Eddi actively from yesterday. Cylinder is 32"

The gas was on from 7 to 8am heating how water only, the Eddi should have to just keep it topped up during the day.

micks_address

how do you limit the power going to the eddi? e.g set it to take 1kw or 1.5 max from excess?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120438924#Comment_120438924

Should say hot most of the day,

But, your immersion very likely doesn't heat the whole tank, so your not heating the whole tank. The tank will settle out but there will still always be the cold section at the bottom

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439083#Comment_120439083

https://solarshare.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/eddi-Manual-debranded-line-diagram.pdf

Page 14 and 15

Supply grid - device limit.

To get 1.5 kw drop it to 6.8 amps. 1kw would be 4.5 amps.

I just set it at 7 and it seems to work well.

https://wattstoamps.com/3-4-kw-to-amps

I have this page saved to do the calculations - my old electrical training formulas are too much hassle to work out these days with the internet!!!

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439225#Comment_120439225

Cheers I've set it to 7 as well

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439200#Comment_120439200

yeah it doesnt.. even with an hour of the gas in the morning.. its not very hot by say lunchtime.. the eddi finished up about 6pm last night and the water was a little warm at 11 in the taps.. i got proper straps to tighten the fit of the second lagging jacket i put on over the weekend so ill see if that makes any difference.

Nalz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439225#Comment_120439225

Thank you. I've set mine to 7A also. Fingers crossed

DC999

What's using hot water after you heat it? As cold water replaces it, dropping the temp. Our original small HWT is only something like 120 liters I think. A running tap is supposed to be ~10 liters a minute. One long-ish shower would wipe out the majority of hot water in a small tank. Is the dishwasher / anything else connected to the hot feed? 

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439440#Comment_120439440

only hot taps running from cylinder. Its probably the smallest size cylinder you can get - approx 32" high. I am tempted to look at a new insulated cylinder but im probably looking at the guts of 1k for supply and fit. I might want to consider putting in a bigger one as well. We only have one shower and a few people have suggested its useful to have at least one electric shower in the house.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439482#Comment_120439482

If it's just taps, turn it off and get paid the FIT instead:) We don't have hot water in the hot taps once the gas boiler gets turned off. And no one in the house looks for it.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439482#Comment_120439482

Last year I got a 3x of these.

Govee WiFi Room Thermometer Hygrometer, Wireless Smart Indoor Temperature Humidity Sensor with Alert and Data Storage, for Baby Home Garage Greenhouse : Amazon.co.uk: Garden

Placed one at the top of the cyclinder (underneath the jaggin jack touching the copper) another one at the middle and then finally one down at the bottom. With this I can see the temperature profile over time such as....here is the data from April 1st 00:00 till now of the three devices.

Should be able to see how long your hot water lasts. Generally mine loses about 1C/hr when it's up at 60C, reducing of course as it gets colder.

cobham

Reading with interest here. With better weather/longer days, I have cut out the timed boosts. And so no more 'tripping'..... I did turn off via App when it was hot enough from solar. A timed setting for that might be handy but not on the Eddi save for the boost from the grid. Kitchen sink tap would be main user in the evening for meal clear up. Our tank has factory fitted insulation layer and water is decent enough for a shower the following morning. We now have a power pump fitted to increase water flow so that does gobble up the litres.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440086#Comment_120440086

Like those but at almost 30 euro each bit pricey. With my tank size two would probably do

bullit_dodger

You wouln't need 3x of them. One of them would do you, just put it on the middle of the tank and see what temperature it maxes out at, and you would also see the heat loss over time. It would also allow you to empirically test things like adding a 2nd lagging jacket and seeing if that makes any difference to the heat loss. I went a bit overboard, but I wanted to know how the whole tank was getting on. Thought about using it for some automation (fun project), but never got around to doing anything.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440290#Comment_120440290

Others say you can use the yoke to test the temp of meat. Has gradients of 5C. Will be close enough. Run the tap until it's hot and add the water into a cup. Measure that.

The do same on top, middle and bottom on tank (sound like Michael Barrymore there from his show back in the day). Gives a close enough sense of the temp difference. Never tried it but plumber on YT said it can work grand

EDIT: Libraries, in Dublin, at least offer home energy kits that include an infrared thermoter. Tells you to the degree the temp - has a digitial display. Need to hold the same distance and angle to test the temp in different places. I bought one myself afterwards on Amazon for something like 15 quid.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440333#Comment_120440333

Yeah I have a weber temp food probe and used it to test the water from the tap and it's close enough.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120440415#Comment_120440415

Hard to generate a heat loss profile though from manual readings. Sure, you can do it.....but it's a pain looking every (say) 30 minutes and noting the temp and do that for say 8-10 hrs :-)

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439342#Comment_120439342

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120439423#Comment_120439423

Let us know how you get on. Ive a full tank here of hot water from todays solar. Completely hot from top to bottom - you actually cant touch the water - immersion temp could probably do with going one notch lower for me.

Before it was only the top half of the tank that was hot. Also remember to change the time of the eddi checking for excess to 30 minutes - default is every 15 minutes - give water more time to circulate.

I cant guarantee it will work for you but thats the best way I sorted it for me. The ideal fix is to fit a destratification pump that actively pumps the hot water from the top to the bottom of the tank. I will be doing that when I have to change my tank but for the moment the above fix works. Its not my fix by the way - I got it from the eddi forums.

Also you will need to put it back to the default for the colder months as you wont be generating all day so the water needs that bit more power to heat up.

micks_address

Where's is the excess interval setting?

Thanks

Mick