LazyDragon
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2022
- Messages
- 29
Mini Tank water heaters that use 120V from an outlet.
That's an interesting little unit. But I don't know that it will do enough for you. 2.5 gallons will come up to temp pretty quickly and only takes about 0.5kwh. On a good solar production day, your excess power is 8kwh. Is this little heater enough of a diversion load to be worth the trouble?
A larger, pre-heat water tank is basically a bigger battery that gives you more value. IF you have space for it.
Electric car might be something to consider. You could pick up an older Leaf or Volt. They depreciated like a rock due to people's fear of the batteries. Depending on your driving pattern, you could eliminate some or all of your gas consumption. Then if the car fails, you have a battery pack to add to your system or sell My 2011 Volt (RIP) is now powering my house. There is a lot of insurance overhead with an "extra" car, but check out the Allstate Milewise service. You only pay for miles that you drive, so an extra car doesn't cost that much when not in use.