SteveQ
Active Member
I finally ordered the "Relay in a box" RIB24P30 from EnergySavingControls.com and installed it yesterday.
This is a really elegant way to control an electric water heater. I mounted the relay directly to the outside of my main electric panel. I used 2 wire nuts to connect the N/C relay outputs to the power feeds to my water heater and connected the common for each side of the relay directly to the 30A breaker.
Easy installation!
I am controlling the relay coil with a standard 24VAC HVAC transformer. It is the same transformer being used to power the contactors that control my electric baseboard heating. The transformer is always ON. I switch the 24VAC transformer output to the relay ON/OFF via a hobby boards 4 channel relay (www.hobby-boards.com 8CIO4-R1-A ) I control the Hobby-Board relay via my XAP one-wire network connected to Homeseer.
I have Homeseer setup to turn the water heater OFF during peak power times (3-7 PM) and overnight (11PM to 7AM).
Everything is working great and I expect to save enough money over the next 10 months to pay for the relay.
Steve Q
This is a really elegant way to control an electric water heater. I mounted the relay directly to the outside of my main electric panel. I used 2 wire nuts to connect the N/C relay outputs to the power feeds to my water heater and connected the common for each side of the relay directly to the 30A breaker.
Easy installation!
I am controlling the relay coil with a standard 24VAC HVAC transformer. It is the same transformer being used to power the contactors that control my electric baseboard heating. The transformer is always ON. I switch the 24VAC transformer output to the relay ON/OFF via a hobby boards 4 channel relay (www.hobby-boards.com 8CIO4-R1-A ) I control the Hobby-Board relay via my XAP one-wire network connected to Homeseer.
I have Homeseer setup to turn the water heater OFF during peak power times (3-7 PM) and overnight (11PM to 7AM).
Everything is working great and I expect to save enough money over the next 10 months to pay for the relay.
Steve Q