Comments on: Using Solar Electricity to Heat Our House – Immersun Initial Review

By: Mr ETL

Mr ETL — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 03:12:32 +0000

In reply to Adam. Hi Adam, Yes you can plug into any socket in the house, the Immersun has a wireless unit that monitors the generation and usage at the fuse box and sends it to the actual diverter. Installation for us was done by an electrician, he wired a plug on the input so it can be plugged in anywhere and then put 2 single plugs wired to the 2 outputs, primary and secondary. That way I can plug anything into the socket. If nothing is drawing from the primary socket it will try the secondary socket. The manual for the Immersun is quite straight forward and an electrician should not have an issue putting this together, my electrician put it on a board to make it easier to carry around if needed. Good luck. Mr ETL

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 21 May 2017 22:27:10 +0000

I’m really interested in how you installed this. Can you literally chose any socket in the house to draw energy from your PV or is it tied to a given circuit from the fuse box? I’m looking into buying into one of these PV diverters to do something similar to what you have done. Is there any chance that Mr ETL can supply a bit more info so I can ask my electrician if he’s willing to do something similar and how much he would charge……

By: Zoe

Zoe — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 20:39:06 +0000

Mr ETL's response: The heater is still going strong. You are right, put 200w into a 2kw heater and you get 10% output. The heater was only £25 so if it doesn't last years it's not the expensive part of the system. I don't know what the Immerson expected lifespan is but I'd imagine quite a few years as there is no major moving parts to fail.

On your desire to get an export meter, you may well find it's not cost effective as you are deemed to export 50% anyway and in the next 5 years things could change enough for you to be able to use most if not all of your generated electricity (hopefully batteries will become more cost effective).

By: Geoff S

Geoff S — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:54:04 +0000

Thanks, . I stumbled on this while trying to see if an electricity supplier can now install me an export reading meter. You have an interesting alternative.

Was there a second blog on this with your costings?

If the installation costs are say £650 I guess you'd need to pump an awful lot of half price units through it to even break-even.

Any idea on maintenance costs to budget for on an Immersun (& what's their average life)

What happens if you put say 200 watts into a 2000 watt heating element? Do you simply get 10% of the fire's normal heat output.

Is your fire still alive. Might the elements burn out much quicker with an ever fluctuating load over 12 hours per day.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 21:53:10 +0000

In reply to theFIREstarter.co.uk. You are right you would need to have someone at home to make it worthwhile.

By: theFIREstarter.co.uk

theFIREstarter.co.uk — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 08:43:18 +0000

It seems quite expensive but sure that will drop as technology progresses. You definitely need to have someone staying at home to make it pay back but that would work for many families.

Great idea I say, looking forward to reading more posts about it in the future!