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Water heater project

jalmpr

Sep 26, 2010
2
Joined
Sep 26, 2010
Messages
2
View attachment 1007

Hi,

In my neighborhood we experience at least once a week power outages from the power company. To resolve this issue we have a power generator. This power generator has a transfer switch that automatically turns on when the power goes out.

To heat water we have 2 solutions a regular tank heater and a solar water heater. The main source is the solar water heater it transfers the water to the regular tank heater and since it is already hot the regular heater does not turn on as much. This has reduced our power bill about 20%. Sadly when the generator is on the regular tank water heater puts too much of a load on it.

Too address this issue I have a plan. I have an outlet that powers the pool equipment that does NOT get power when the generator is on. I want to use this outlet to send a signal to a relay that would cut the power off from the heater whenever the generator is on. Does this make any sense? Normally I would hire someone to do this, but I am broke. So it is a DIY project. I was looking into a solid state relay that would stay (NO) until the signal cable shuts off and then it would cut the power. Am I wrong?

I appreciate your help!
 

engineeredgarden

Sep 30, 2010
8
Joined
Sep 30, 2010
Messages
8
Yes, you are correct....Wire the coil of the relay (make sure it's got a 120 volt coil) into the outlet for the pool equipment (parallel with L1 and Neutral), and use a normally open contact of the relay to interrupt power to the water heater.
 

Laplace

Apr 4, 2010
1,252
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
1,252
Don't know about your setup, but at my place the water heater and pool equipment are both on 240 VAC circuits. Plus the water heater can draw up to 6 kilowatts so you will need to find a hefty relay. Just make sure you know what you have and what you need.
 
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