Who needs a heat dump whey you have a 10 year old daughter!

[Pip]

Why on earth did I bother going to the trouble of putting a heat dump in my system?

My daughter god bless her, took great interest in my installation of our solar system.  She like the pipes and plumbing, and all the paraphernalia. She even understands the basic principles of the system.

BUT

Last night she was in the shower singing her heart of for the best part of an hour.  On the TDC3 controller in HV2 mode,  I watched in amusement as the value at S2 dropped to the fill temperature as the bottom of the cylinder filled up with cold water.  Only when my few litres of shower hot water at the top of the tank looked to be under threat,  did I do the grumpy father act, and prised her out of the shower.   But that is the point, it was just that an act as I thought, what the hell, plenty more where that came from.  What was the point of the bleeding heat dump I said to myself as I chuckled, oh yes, at the end of the credit crunch  we may eventually go away on holiday some day!

On a serious note, a big thanks to everyone in the forum that has helped in the design and contributed to the build.  All I need to do now is stop obsessing about the controller readings and settings

Cheers
Pip

PS Pics to follow.

[sleepybubble]

hehehehe..... may 5 yr old lad too has been very interested in the whole process, he has inspected pipes in the attic, been to the top of the scaffolding when the panels went on the roof, and has observed our 4pm panics over whether to light the stove or not for bathwater in the winter. However he has added a unique twist to it all. He realised that he may be able to get out of washing his hands before meal times becasue that might be 'wasting all our superdooper solar hot water'. So for now the kids are on my side

[dimengineer]

Why on earth did I bother going to the trouble of putting a heat dump in my system?

My daughter god bless her, took great interest in my installation of our solar system.  She like the pipes and plumbing, and all the paraphernalia. She even understands the basic principles of the system.

BUT

Last night she was in the shower singing her heart of for the best part of an hour.  On the TDC3 controller in HV2 mode,  I watched in amusement as S2 droped to the fill temperature as the bottom of the cylinder filled up with cold water.  Only when my few litres of shower hot water at the top of the tank looked to be under threat,  did I do the grumpy father act, and prised her out of the shower.   But that is the point, it was just that an act, as I thought, what the hell, plenty more where that came from.  What was the point of the bleeding heat dump I said to myself as I chuckled, oh yes, at the end of the credit crunch  we may eventually go away on holiday some day!

On a serious note, a big thanks to everyone in the forum that has helped in the design and contributed to the build.  All I need to do now is stop obsessing about the controller readings and settings

Cheers
Pip

You should have let it go cold - seriously, thats an lesson for them. I have a 16 yr old daughter, and the lesson of having the shower go cold on her has not been wasted. 

[solar_cambridge]

Why on earth did I bother going to the trouble of putting a heat dump in my system?

Last night she was in the shower singing her heart of for the best part of an hour.  On the TDC3 controller in HV2 mode,  I

Perhaps even a bath would have been a saving in water!?

Do you have a mains pressure shower? If so look at replacing the head, either ceiling or wand variety with an aerating head. They work down to a few litres/minute and are better than using a flow restrictor device which will just give complaints of a faulty shower!
I have found that using the aerator device means that you still feel get wet, feel refreshed, save lots of water/energy. Also if you are willing to be in there for +10 mins you just feel like you want to get out! Perhaps its because the water is a lot cooler by the time it gets to your feet, rather than a luxurious rainwater soaker which means your feet get hotter water.

My advice would be to try one and 'break' the old one    Search for 'Oxygenics shower head' on ebay or google. They are the norm in USA and OZ where you can get very basic ones for a few dollars from the diy sheds.

[Pip]

As promised here are some photos of the project.
http://www.navitron.org.uk/forum/index.php/topic,8086.msg84678.html#msg84678

Pip

[Ivan]

When my older daughter was only one, her limited vocabulary included 'solar panel'. She also, once asked me if she could go and eat her lunch in the garden by the winter bine. It took me a while to realise she meant wind turbine.

[Pip]

When my older daughter was only one, her limited vocabulary included 'solar panel'. She also, once asked me if she could go and eat her lunch in the garden by the winter bine. It took me a while to realise she meant wind turbine.

Bless