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Electric Water Heaters Are Better at Storing Energy Than a Tesla Powerwall
(www.popularmechanics.com)
this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2023
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Rather than buy a battery several years ago, we bought a 400L HWS with a single element changed out to a 2.4kW from a 3.6 (from memory) as well as a 4.5kW solar system (not much roof space).
It runs on a simple timer from 1000-1400 which we switch off if it's cloudy. It can keep hot water for about 4-5 days for a family of 4 with me having daily showers (dirty job). We are on-grid though but try not to use grid to heat water. A smarter inverter would probably be better.
If I did it again, a dual element HWS set to a lower temp at bottom so the element doesn't try to get the cooler lower water up to 65 degrees. You can set the top element at 65 and the lower at 50 I think.
Basically a giant kettle, no moving parts.