Power4Less IHP Geyser, 12 months in

I’ve been testing the Power4Less IHP Geyser for a month now. It’s the 200L geyser that promises “savings of more than 80% versus a conventional geyser”, as stated on the box. It is made from stainless steel and promises to be leak-free and burst-free.

Review originally published: 4 Dec 2023.
Jump to my 12 month update here (16 Nov 2024).
Jump to my six month update here (23 Jun 2024).

The IHP in the name stands for “integrated heat pump”. Heat pumps are more efficient than traditional water heaters mainly because of the way they operate. Unlike conventional water heaters that generate heat directly – the IHP geyser will move heat from the air into the water.

Quick Look

• IHP Geyser 200L capacity
• Heating element: 0.6kW
• IPX4 water resistance rating
• 620mm x 1494mm; 106kgs
• iOS and Android app support
• Price: R24 000
• Installation: ± R6 000/R6 500
• Warranty – 5 years

The IHP geyser needs to be installed upright, in a standing position at ground level, preferably outdoors, though it can be indoors. Given the weight and dimensions listed above, you probably want it outdoors.

It has an accompanying smartphone app that lets you control the temperature, and to set timers. How you use the app will determine how efficient it can be. More on that further below.

For the set-up and installation for this review, Power4Less made three site visits in total before getting the geyser up and running, detailed below. This is not the normal process but they wanted to be thorough. If you purchase the geyser at Builders or wherever, you can choose your own plumber to install or check with Power4Less for an accredited one in their system.

Power4Less Pre-installation audit

A Power4Less rep came to my house first to assess it for a suitable location for installation. It needs to be outdoors ideally, hence its stainless-steel casing and water resistance rating.

You probably want it hidden in the back or perhaps, if you have a flat roof, it can be installed there, provided it can hold a 106kg unit.

The ground for the spot we chose was not level, so a concrete slab needed to be installed, which costs more than the prices indicated above, and required an additional step.

The pre-installation visit was not lengthy, it took less than thirty minutes. You can also narrow down options beforehand when you get it installed.

Concrete slab installation

The second visit for my installation was for the concrete slab. We chose a side towards the back, opposite from the driveway, so not visible from the front.

The day selected for the installation ended up raining heavily all-day, so it was completed the next day. I was not at home when this took place, but it takes a couple of hours.

Once the slab is installed, it needs to cure, which takes about 2-3 days, depending on weather conditions. To re-iterate, this is not compulsory, and most people don’t need this step, according to Power4Less.

IHP geyser installation

The geyser comes with all items required for installation, so customers don’t get ripped off by plumbers according to Power 4 Less, in addition to the company controlling the quality of materials used.

The box lists this as things like a safety valve, drainage tube, water tube, copper fittings and conductors, IP65 waterproof external power socket, 12m of copper tubing, and 5m of electric cables. If the geyser needs to be further than 12m, additional copper needs to be purchased.

It took about half a day for the installation, a bit longer than I thought. However, I recommend you get this started in the morning/before midday, so it is done before 5pm. Afterwards, a Power 4 Less rep will show you how pair the app and link the geyser to your smartphone.

App set-up and usage

The geyser pairs with the Smart Life app, available for Android and iOS. It works with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung Smart Things, and IFTTT. It supports a 2.5GHz and 5Ghz WiFi band.

The geyser itself has a control panel that is closed off with screws but opened for the pairing process. Once paired, you don’t have to open the panel again, it’s not necessary.

You need to create a user account to access the Smart Life app, but once that is all done, pairing takes a few seconds.

The app is very basic; lets you control the power, set the temperature, and has other settings. While the set-up forms state that you will be shown how to read and monitor your usage, the actual unit and app does not show you consumption.

The Smart Life app acts like a remote control and is key to reducing your consumption and subsequently, electricity bill. Here, you can set timers for the geyser, and only have it heat up for certain hours in the day.

Ours is set-up to heat for several hours in the morning and evening. For the most part of the day, it is switched off via the timer. It works seamlessly as scheduled; you don’t need to go into the app daily.

One month in…

Once we switched over to the IHP geyser, life carried on. It was not ‘obvious’ that we switched. The smart one seamlessly took over from the conventional; there was no need to fiddle additionally with settings.

However, we took a bit longer to set-up the timer on the app as the beginning of November was a bit busy this side. I’d say the timer ran for about two thirds of the month.

Water temperature is hot, but it’s as hot as we make it. I think it’s a bit too hot for its maximum at 65°C and want to reduce it for December.

With the timer set for heating in the morning and evening, sometimes when I shower about two hours after it is switched off, the water is still hot, which is a win.

On one of the nights, we had load shedding at midnight, but the power did not return until 9am. This was the longest the geyser was offline but the shower that morning was still hot enough. Which means you can get away with using hot water for at least 9 hours if the geyser is off – because it’s summer and we are in a heatwave, based on how the system works. It won’t be the same for winter.

The ‘biggest’ criticism I have is that the geyser makes a humming sound. If you have excellent hearing and pick up even the slightest sounds, you will hear the geyser. My hearing is not great like my husband, who can constantly hear the hum of the geyser.

It is worse when there is rain though, then you can hear it hitting the geyser, which is amplified with heavy rain. The geyser sits outside the two bedrooms and bathrooms. I’ve not yet had guests there to notice but will include this in my six-month update. In the greater scheme of things, this is not a big deal, but something to be aware of.

Claimed consumption figures

Power4Less says the IHP geyser uses 0.6kW of power, and for usage once a day with one geyser, it works out to roughly R2.20 per kWh, so single use would be R1.

Note that this is the claimed figures, and I can only properly give mine after monitoring my usage as the app does not give these. I will need to add a smart gadget to it for this.

According to Power4Less calculations, this is based on a conventional geyser with a 3.5kW water heating element that operates 3 hours at a time for up to 60°C. So 3.5kW x 3 hours = 10.5kWh of use.

If the monthly figure on the traditional geyser for one person, using it once a day is R693, when compared to the IHP geyser at R40, it claims that you can save R653 a month (R693-R40). The more people in your household, and the more often you use it, will change these figures accordingly. And, of course, having more than one geyser.

Electricity bill

So, one month in, we are not going to see massive savings just yet. It should be noted that my household is just two people, and the IHP geyser is one of two geysers, the second one being a conventional one. And two thirds of my house is on solar with batteries.

I tested it in the month of November where Gauteng was experiencing a massive heat wave, and we used our air conditioners more than we ever did. Our house is typically cool, but this heatwave meant consumption was not normal. Naturally, this would not be a true reflection of the reduced bill, but it did come down, despite the conditions mentioned.

Our bill was down 15% in the month of November, with the above conditions. So, not quite the 80% promised on the box, but this would depend on various factors I’ve outlined over a longer period of time.

The 200L geyser I’m testing costs R24 000, and you have to factor installation costs, which could vary depending on your property and if you want it on the roof. Power4Less estimates it to cost between R6 000 and R6 500, but best to get quotes. There is a 300L variant available, too.

Final thoughts

My previous home had a solar geyser and while it kept our bill reduced, there were instances when there was no sun and didn’t have as much hot water. The IHP geyser gives you more control of that, and lets you choose the window when it operates, and ultimately, it will reduce your electricity bill.

If you have a household more than one geyser, you can install this separately like what we did. While I can’t say for sure if it heats up faster than your previous one but it doesn’t matter if it’s on a timer, imo. And that water is hot for hours after you lose power as mentioned already.

If you’re away on holiday, you can switch off the geyser completely and only have it operate ahead of your return. The app is also convenient for dropping the temperature as needed.

With the geyser being more efficient than a traditional one, it means I can add it to my solar and batteries, which is my next step. However, I am slightly disappointed I can’t monitor my consumption in real time – only because I am stats obsessed, but I am hoping to add a third-party gadget to check this.

Please check back for another 6 month review early June, and then another 12 month review early in December. In the mean time, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Six month update – 24 June 2024

After a bit of an issue with Eskom messing up my billing I wasn’t able to quantify my savings properly. We were double billed etc. However, I can confirm my consumption levels dropped. The month before the installation, it was 387kWh, and then by Feb/March it was 165kWh, and March/April it was 175kWh. In the midst of all of this, we also added more solar panels.

Power4Less arranged for a breaker to be installed on my Distribution Board in June when we realised we couldn’t account for each month. This will now provide the most accurate reading in terms of how much power the IHP geyser is using per day.

I have two geysers, so my other electric geyser has another product on it that turned it into a smart geyser, which also lets me set a timer. Here’s my usage on both geysers, from the SmartLife app, which is linked to the breaker.

The timer for the IHP Geyser:
1) Heats at 6am-9am daily
2) Heats at 4pm/6pm/8pm daily (looking at changing this)

The timer for the electric geyser:
1) Heats at 5am-8am daily
2) Heats at 5pm-6pm daily

You can see that the IHP uses significantly less power than a regular electric geyser, despite running for 2 hours more a day than the electric geyser. When I took a screenshot on Friday, 21 June at around 16:30PM, just 3 hours more than the full 7 days since the breakers were installed (14 June, 2PM), the IHP Geyser used 22.6kWh and the electric geyser used 32.18kWh.

IHP Geyser: one week vs four weeks (hypothetical)

IHP Geyser: 7 day usage per day

Stats from the SmartLife app stats to show consumption per day:

The above is a full 7 days of use, with difference scenarios. The IHP powers the two main bedrooms in the house, so it is used for showering mainly. On Tuesday, 18 June, you can see the usage shot up on the IHP Geyser – my nephew stayed with me for just under 24 hours and showered twice during that window. The electric geyser powers the kitchen, appliances in the scullery, and my domestic worker’s room (she is live-in during the week, which also explains why on Sunday during the long weekend, the usage was 0.07kWh).

IHP Geyser: 1 day cost vs. 30 day cost

Even though I want to show you what a month’s usage could be like on the electric geyser without a timer, it won’t be accurate for me to multiply the 4 hours a day’s usage into 24 hours because we obviously use the kitchen or wash clothes during the day and not in the night.

Once again, the above is based on using the IHP Geyser for six hours a day, vs using the electric geyser for four hours a day. It’s not technically comparing apple’s with apple’s here, but it does give you a breakdown for the different scenarios.

Now that I have seen the difference, I will reduce my IHP Geyser usage to four hours a day to match the electric one. This should make for an interesting 12 month update.

The bottom line here, is that I am paying less for running the IHP Geyser for longer than the electric geyser per day, but overall, my consumption has been dramatically reduced. Every household will be different, especially if you have a bigger family and showers in the morning and evenings.

Here’s the IHP Geyser’s certification and ratings, via Power4Less Instagram:

Stay tuned for a 12 month update in November 2024.

12 month update – 16 Nov 2024

It is now 12 months later that I’ve been using the IHP Geyser, which was installed in November 2023. During that time, we installed solar, which also dropped the electricity bill, and by June 2024, Power4Less installed breakers on my distribution board to track my geyser usage.

Here’s a recap of the timings on my two geysers:

IHP Geyser times:
1) Heats at 6am/7am/8am; switches off at 9am daily.
2) Heats at 4pm/6pm; switches off at 8pm daily.

Electric geyser times:
1) Heats for 06h30-7h30am daily.
2) Keeps the water warm from 5pm-6pm daily.

IHP heats for 5 hours a day; Electric geyser heats/keeps warm for 2 hours a day.

The above image shows that since installation on 12 June up until 16 November, the IHP Geyser has used 405kWh of electricity for heating up for 5 hours a day; and the Electric geyser has used 686.26kWh for heating up for 2 hours a day.

The difference is stark and you can absolutely see how efficient the IHP Geyser is, which I’ve already highlighted in my previous updates.

Here’s a monthly breakdown of the IHP Geyser usage vs. the Electric Geyser usage, based on my Eskom rate of R2.455 per kWh. June was half a month, and the rest are all full months. Also keep in mind that June, July and August was usage in winter.

If you look at the above, the month we used the IHP the most was July, which is 106.88kWh, which costs R262.39 versus the R441.80 cost on the electric geyser. Also bear in mind, both geysers are controlled by the timers I mentioned, so if you are living in a household where your geyser has no timing at all, it will be higher than what mine already shows.

Even though I said I was looking to change the times on my geyser from when I initially set it up, we did not adjust it and I think these rates could have been lower if I was more frugal.

We kept the timings to allow for showering in the morning and evening without making it fixed to the morning. And sometimes after traveling or depending on the day, I can shower by midday and the water will still be hot. I felt the during the hotter days where we had a heatwave, the water was even more hot than usual.

Buying an IHP Geyser requires an upfront cost but the benefits are there if you are happy to play the long game. I’ve made slight adjustments to my final score to reflect my experience a year later. If you read my initial write-ups you can see that you cannot just expect to see results immediately if other external factors come into play.

What is different from now compared to back then is that I can monitor consumption on the geyser directly, vs looking at my electricity bill holistically when it was unfair on a month that had higher air-con usage for example. Had I known what the consumption was on the geyser that month, I could isolate the cost of the geyser.

I hope the above helps if you are considering purchasing an IHP Geyser. Load shedding may be over but the cost of electricity is not coming down; it pays to be efficient or find gadgets that help with that.