The positives of installing a geyser timer

Ryan Burger, Divisional Product Manager – Tools and Instruments at HellermannTyton, explains that geyser timers have been around for many years, with the main aim of saving energy. “We entered the market very early on and, as such, the different iterations of the products have been improved and upgraded over time,” he says. With thousands of units sold each month for the past 10 years, it is fair to say that HellermannTyton is one of the leaders in the market.

Hellermann The positives of installing a geyser timer There are many positive and a few negative aspects of using a timer on a geyser. The timer controls a switch that will turn a hot water heater on and off during different times of the day, much like how a security light will turn on and off at different times to appear as if someone is home.

Pro: Energy efficiency

A timer enables the homeowner control energy consumption because the geyser does not work on its own schedule, but instead will only work based on the needs of the household. This will help reduce the homeowner’s energy bills.

Pro: User friendly

The water will remain hot in the geyser for the intended time. If, for some reason, there is a need to reheat the water over that which is held in the tank, a manual over-ride switch can be activated to heat the extra water needed.

Pro: Extends lifetime of the geyser

By preventing overuse and unnecessary heating, a geyser timer will extend the life of the geyser’s element and, in turn, the geyser.

Con: Failure

If a timer on a hot water tank fails it can cause either a lack of hot water altogether, or in the unlikely event the relay contact fuses and remains closed the water heater will revert to normal heating as without the timer, increasing energy consumption.

Con: Inconsistencies between household members.

If the timer is set to a particular member’s schedule then hot water may not be available for all members of the home.

“Because South Africa has an unstable power supply, our products have been designed for our specific conditions, whereas imported units are not built with the robustness to handle our power supply,” he says. Furthermore, the company has units that are a lot simpler to install than previous products. “There is just one output with an internally bridged Live which the load connects directly to,” says Burger, “and while geyser timers should be installed by a qualified electrician, we have found that many homeowners install them themselves.”

Burger’s advice is for electricians to use a reputable supplier who has been in the game for a while and who knows what is doing. “Back-up service is also important. HellermannTyton offers a two-year limited warranty on its timers, yet generally of the very few returns we get, over half of the returns simply were not installed correctly. Thus, it is important that people know how to use them, and HellermannTyton do offer support for installations and programming,” he says.

WiFi timers are the next step in the evolution of geyser timers, and HellermannTyton is currently working on a 20 Amp wireless geyser switching timer.

“For large installations, where multiple timers will be installed, the TDDT7M – 7 Day Digital Timer Transferable Memory is recommended. Here the memory card function is useful for electrical contractors,” says Burger. “The set programme can be loaded onto the memory module negating the need to programme each geyser timer.”

Many geyser timers are also suitable for use with swimming pool pumps.

Suggested products

TDDGT 7-Day Digital Geyser/Pool Timer

Features: