Why Your Geyser is Draining Your Solar Investment (And How to Fix It)

Good for you, good for the environment

Like many South African homes, you’ve probably invested in solar to beat load shedding and rising electricity costs. But when you check your energy app, there’s often one shocking discovery: your geyser is eating up nearly half your available power.

Don’t worry – you’re not alone. At Ecologic, this is one of the most common challenges we help solve. After 13 years of designing bespoke renewable energy solutions, we’ve learned that the right water heating approach can make or break your solar investment.

Let’s say you have a typical three-bedroom home with a 5kW inverter, 4kW solar panels, and 10kWh battery storage. Your standard 200L geyser with its 4kW element needs about 14kWh daily – that’s nearly 80% of your solar generation.

The good news? There are smarter ways to heat your water.

Heat Pump Integration – Our Recommendation

Cost: R30,000 Energy use: Only 4.6kWh daily (compared to 14kWh) Inverter load: Just 1kW (leaving 4kW for everything else) Your savings: 10 units less per day = R17,000 saved annually Payback period: Just 2 years

A heat pump uses your existing geyser but heats water three times more efficiently than a traditional element. It draws ambient heat from the air – even on cloudy days – and only needs 1kW of your inverter capacity.

With a heat pump, your solar system can actually power your whole home efficiently. You’ll have:

– Hot water that doesn’t drain your batteries

– Inverter capacity for appliances when you need it

– A system that works even during load shedding

– Genuine energy independence