I went for a timer that goes on overnight with the cheap rate and if it's sunny then I'll put the hot water on at lunchtime "for free" instead.
The device you link clamps onto cables and tries to estimate the power flowing through them, it doesn't actually tap into the current so it can be a bit imprecise. When installing my panels etc I looked at a device that would operate the hot water but was part of the wiring, was expensive to buy and required more rewiring. So it can be done here too. You'd also want to look at your hot water settings, how much can you adjust the thermostat etc.
My tank literally has no user interface, it heats at night and you can’t change it at all - it amazed us at first but it seems the norm here.
that’s what I find so confusing about it - if you have no interface to configure your boiler how does this thing get current going during the day. You’ve no idea what they call it in french by any chance ?
The boiler or the device? "Chauffe-eau" or "ballon d'eau chaude" for the hot water, the device is something like a "boitier intelligent pour renvoyer l'excès du courant PV sur le chauffe-eau"... doesn't trip off the tongue.
There are quite a few devices that will do this, your electrician or plumber should have different suppliers.
Can't tell from here but you might need to rewire the hot water as well as fit the device. But it's normally a morning's work for an electrician either way.
Regarding feed-in rates, I understand that here in Vaud, Romande Énergie pays back the same rate as they sell i.e.about 0.18/kWh, the difference between this and the 0.30ish cost/kWh being regional and national grid access fees and some taxes.
Question is, as the grid access fee makes up about 30pc od the cost per kWh, does it work both ways, which would make the feed-in rate only a third, rather than two thirds, of the cost to buy per kWh?
We are in the process of renovating a 60s house and looking at heating options and systems, we also need to replace our 400l hot water tank at home. Briefly, you don't need permission to change your boiler or how the water is heated, unless you add an external warm pump. As I understand it, it can be as easy as changing the heater elements and adding controls.
We have gas so currently use a combination of off peak power and gas during the day. A direct replacement tank is about 3.5k plus labour, one option we are looking at is a tank with it's own warm pump which is about the same price. Very common in Australia, has anyone used one here?
In a perfect world for the new renovation we would choose solar water panels on the roof, a 2500l water storage tank and supplement that with a wood fired boiler. The material only cost of this system is 85k compared to 35k for air to air warm pump and solar panels!
Out of interest, why would you do that? Wood burning is very bad for the environment, both air quality (even the best wood burners have huge particulate problems) and for the carbon emissions (it's not at all carbon neutral, even in the long term).
The quoted price of 18.6ct/kWh is the price they pay, goes to 17.6ct/kWh next year.
In that case, it seems pretty fair then.