Kapiti Plumber

kaddiew, Oct 15, 9:31pm
Can anyone recommend a Kapiti/Paraparaumu plumber from personal experience, to check out problems with my (solar) hot water system!NOT the big company on Kapiti Road.Thanks!
mark_g, Oct 16, 6:19am
Andy Thomson. Thomson Plumbing & Gasfitting.
021-0498886
04-9020482

Andy is a very switched on guy. I don't know if he has experience with solar systems but call to find out.

I used Andy for a kitchen reno and can't speak highly enough of him. Andy will be doing my bathroom & toilet reno, my laundry relocation, and my HW system replacement.
kaddiew, Oct 16, 6:36am
Excellent, thanks so much!I'll call him tomorrow. :)
kaddiew, Oct 16, 8:07pm
mark_g - thanks again for the referral. Turns out Andy is very experienced with solar systems.I called him this morning and he was here within 30 minutes, sorted an immediate problem, identified another and will be back to hopefully improve this crap-performing solar system. Cheers.
mark_g, Oct 17, 6:09am
Excellent. Glad to hear it looks like working out well. Post again later to let us know how it all worked out. I'd really like to know, since I have hot water system replacement coming up, and I'm toying with the idea of solar.
kaddiew, Oct 17, 6:45am
Will do! So far it looks like 2 faults: the tempering valve, and the solar controller. I inherited this system when I bought the house a year ago, and based on this one, I personally wouldn't bother again. It's been sluggish all along, and the hot water takes forever to to reach the taps, especially in the kitchen, because it has to travel so far up to the panels and back. Mark said he ends up fitting a small cylinder under the kitchen sink for folks with this problem, but that's another $1200, on top of the repair bill, that I can't afford.

There are huge pockets of cold within the hot, and so on. Never seems hot enough even in a one person household, and the previous owner who had it installed, had to run his electric booster for about 9 months of the year. (He thought that was acceptable.) This week, after mild temps and all day sun on the roof, the water was still only lukewarm, so on went the booster. And then last night the damn pump jammed on, when it's not supposed to, and hummed all night. This pump is particularly loud, but you get used to it.Granted the system should improve with a new tempering valve, but overall I'm not impressed. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's all fixed!
mark_g, Oct 17, 7:04am
Interesting. I know a bloke who has a solar hot water system. It was a new house and the system was designed to be solar assisted from day one. Only solar assisted though - so electric is still used, but in theory not required as much as without solar as the solar system keeps the water warmer.

He is very happy with the system. He is a tightwad and keeps a close eye on expenditure and he reckons it saves him money. Now with the dollar exchange rate being what it is he reckons solar power generation is lowest price cents per watt than it has ever been and is looking at a solar power install.

Hoping you'll be as happy as he is once your system is performing a bit better.

Mark
kaddiew, Oct 17, 9:59am
Think I need to read the manual some more!Maybe my expectations of 100% solar powered hot water (in warm/sunny temps) were too high, and the electric booster is supposed to stay switched on all the time. Hmm. Will report back once it's up and running again. Cheers.
mark_g, Oct 18, 7:06am
If it's one of the standard sort of solar ASSISTED systems, then yes, it is designed to be a combined solar/electric system and the power to the electrics should be on all the time. Otherwise it can't work as designed and the result would be cold/warm water.

The heat exchanger (closed loop system) or solar inlet/outlet pipes (open system) will be fairly low down on the HW cylinder - below the electric element and thermostat.

I believe the idea is that the solar system preheats the cold water at the bottom of the cylinder so that the electric system does not have to work so hard to bring the water up to temperature. Which saves you some money on the electric power cost. But in order to work this way the power must be turned on to the electric element and thermostat.
johnhb67, Oct 18, 7:25am
Our system is open loop and we have the power off for all but the 2 coldest months of winter, We are in Titahi Bay, you should be able to be 100% Solar hot water in Kapiti. What an odd system, the hot water running via the panels.
kaddiew, Oct 18, 10:18am
I'm afraid it's all gobbledeygook to me.I don't get why the hot water would be running via the panels either- I probably misheard the plumber's explanation. All I know from the manual is that it's a split system (whatever that is). Yes I'd have thought in Kapiti I'd get 100% solar heated water, with the power off, for much of the year.otherwise what's the point.
kaddiew, Oct 18, 10:27am
According to the manual the electric auxiliary system is to be used at night only (night rate), as a top up to the solar system if/when it doesn't produce enough hot water to the required temperature. Hopefully all will be sorted by the plumber.
mark_g, Oct 19, 7:45am
Ah well. Be interesting to see where you get to (interesting for us observers. You of course have a bit more at stake!). Good luck with it.
kaddiew, Oct 23, 9:30pm
mark_g -- Update so far.bearing in mind I'm technically deficient!

Yesterday Andy replaced the tempering valve, which although originally installed with the solar system, actually turned out not to be a SOLAR tempering valve.The downside of that's gone over my head. At least now I have more consistent hot water flow (atm from the electric booster only).

The solar pump, although making noise, actually wasn't pumping (stuffed) so solar heated water wasn't coming through. It took literally hours to wrestle the pump/controller box off the wall & test ( hemmed in by the cylinder and pipes - really badly placed, and will have to be relocated, and some pipes rerouted/joints altered etc to make future maintenance less of a pain). Not yet sure if just the pump or the whole controller box itself will have to be replaced, but I suspect it'll be costly, and something I didn't bargain for. It's a 5 year old system, and I'd've expected it all to have laster longer. Checked the warranty, and while there's 10 years on the cylinder, there's only 1 year on the pump and bits. So that's where I'm at today.

It's an open system (like poster #11's) and like him, I should get 100% solar hot water (with electric assist OFF) for much of the year - once it's fixed!
mark_g, Oct 24, 12:44am
The solar tempering valve thing is over my head - I didn't know there was a difference. I have a ancient low pressure system and don't have one.

Yes it looks like this will cost you more than you had originally hoped. The work to relocate items will all be extra cost, and it sounds like you had/have more than one faulty part, but if you intend to keep the solar then it will be a worthwhile expense.

You'll find that Andy gives the most detailed invoice you will have ever seen, so at least you'll know exactly where your moneys gone!

Thanks for the update. People here like to hear the whole story from beginning to end as it's nice to see someone get something dealt with, and many of us are just interested and learn something from your experience.

Mark
kaddiew, Oct 24, 3:49am
Yes, Andy's been good, explains it all as he goes, and is doing what he can to keep it as cost efficient as possible.

I'm crossing my fingers until I know what's going to happen about the pump/controller.There are also various upgrades to newer solar technology I could choose, but don't think I'll be winning Lotto any time soon!

He did explain why a specific solar tempering valve is better, but it escapes me now!

Cheers.
kaddiew, Oct 28, 8:44pm
Mark_g : Update - not looking good!Apparently this solar system company Beasley was taken over by Rinnai around the time the system was installed here in 2007. Rinnai are now telling Andy they don't carry any Beasley parts, and won't have anything to do with these "old" systems, so I can't get this solar controller/pump repaired or replaced with like.

Andy's now pricing a different, more modern controller/pump, which is (as you previously mentioned) designed to be solar assisted, as opposed to electric assisted. I don't really want the main water heating to be electric, as to me it defeats the purpose of having solar heating! but apparently you can get this unit without the bit thatswitches the electric heating on FIRST (can be attached at a later date) so that I can manually switch on the electric boostonly when I need it.

The alternative is to scrap solar altogether and use the cylinder as a standard electric one.

Really don't know if I'm making the right choices long term but Andy is on to it, so hopefully it'll be sorted eventually.

I can't believe a 5 year old solar system is now defunct. Not a happy camper!
kaddiew, Oct 28, 2:52pm
Actually, can anyone explain the benefits of having a solar water heating system that FIRST heats the water electrically, with solar only as auto back up! What am I missing!