March 2010

[StBarnabas]

February was dismal here but March has come in like the advent of spring. Had our first 60 degree tank of the year today. At present the bottom of the tank is at 60 degrees and the top at 65 degrees. 16kWh of PV as well.

[Greenbeast]

yep we managed 56 top to bottom today, lovely jubly!

i was really hoping to start producing significant amounts from mid-march, looks like i'm on target for that

[desperate]

Holy moly, 80 deg top and bottom today , heat dump needed asap(see CRAC)

Desp

[Tigger]

On Monday morning (1st March) my tank started at 42/58 and by late afternoon it had reached 62/62.  I have to say I did feel rather pleased 

[langstroth2]

Yesterday was good wasn't it - tank reached a nice 60C, no boiler needed. I'm surprised how quickly the strength of the sun seems to have increased compared with mid Feb.

[langstroth2]

..just checked the data logs, apart from a small HW boiler input needed Wed, no boiler needed for 4 days. Not bad for March.

[Ivan]

No boiler input required yet for March - last year, we were almost self-sufficient from beginning of March onwards, and it's looking good so far this year.

72C at bottom of tank this evening. Soon going to have to revert to hot-water feed to washing machine, in order to use up the excess hot water. Must get my mini-interseasonal store sorted out sooner rather than later!

[Greenbeast]

Soon going to have to revert to hot-water feed to washing machine, in order to use up the excess hot water.

we've started already!
at the moment we lose so much heat from our cylinder (currently situated in cold bathroom with no ceiling and gaps in walls) that it's best to use as much as possible on the day
for example i can lose 10-15C overnight, so i might as well put a wash on in the evening to use that instead.

[Paulh_Boats]

30 tubes/120L   

We have consistently got over 60C every sunny day this week, the tank peaked 70C one day. Zero input from grade G boiler because it has been sent to boiler heaven. 

We tend to lose more overnight when frosty as I don't have antifreeze and use the auto-pump feature when the panel is below 0.5C.

Ivan - your system seems to be working better??

Greenbeast - Agreed. Our motto is "wash when the sun shines" and of course the sun dries the washing.

-Paul

[Paulh_Boats]

I used my moderator rights to change the subject to March 2010.... also renamed every start topic title to include the year back to October 2007

So we can search the last two and half years of data to compare, analyse and pull to pieces.  

cheers
Paul

[Greenbeast]

Zero input from grade G boiler because it has been sent to boiler heaven. 

ours is heading the same way within the month

[langstroth2]

Our 30 yr old boiler went to the same way in the Autumn last year (unfortunately just before the gov announced the scrappage scheme  ). Quarterly gas bill due this month, I'll be interested how winter gas consumption compares to last year - despite the cold winter we've had.

[desperate]

75 deg top and bottom of the cylinder again today even after washing up etc

The average delta has been up to 12 deg (today and last tuesday) anyone any idea what a reasonable figure is??

Desperate

[Paulh_Boats]

Our 30 yr old boiler went to the same way in the Autumn last year (unfortunately just before the gov announced the scrappage scheme  ). Quarterly gas bill due this month, I'll be interested how winter gas consumption compares to last year - despite the cold winter we've had.

Got the shiny new Biasi full modulating condensor working now. What a difference from our 25 year old boiler:

Higher output when condensing 19.6kW instead of 14kW - always thought we were a little underpowered. So the system warms up quicker and feels more comfortable.

Modulating flame is brilliant - full power at the start then it throttles back as the return temperature slowly increases. Very quiet when throttled back to 5.6kW

When the old boiler was ripped out we were using 2 electric heaters. But total of 4 kW was not quite enough, so the lowest modulating power is about right.

Modulation keeps the water temperature very steady....the old on/off boiler caused noisy creaky pipes as the temperature went up and down. Now those pipes are silent.

Also the smaller lower flow radiators get hotter because of the steadier water temperature.


Best of all 40% less gas and CO2 

cheers
Paul

[langstroth2]

Yes, yes I know it's all a bit old hat, and we know the physics involved; but I can't help but still get a kick at seeing panels merrily warming a tank of water to over 65C when it's still only 5C outside.

Wanders away muttering, must get our more, must get out more....