{"id":14223,"date":"2017-09-05T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T00:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=14223"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:59:40","slug":"solar-hot-water-diverter-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-hot-water-diverter-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparing Solar Hot Water Diverters Available In Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Update:<\/strong> since publishing this article commenters have made us aware of 3 other hot water diverters on the Australian market, the ‘Dimplex\u00a0Free-E’ and, The Fronius OhmPilot and a unit from SolarEdge. We’ll add these to the comparison table as soon as we have enough info. If you know of any others let us know.<\/em><\/p>\n

I recently wrote about solar hot water diverters<\/a>.\u00a0 These devices use your surplus solar electricity to power your hot water cylinder.<\/p>\n

They can cut your electricity bills provided your solar feed-in tariff is less than the cost of the grid electricity used to heat your water — which is not always the case.<\/p>\n

I am going to assume you’ve read my earlier article<\/a>, done your research, and decided a solar hot water diverter is for you.\u00a0 You’ve either determined it will save you money or it was love at first comprehension of the concept and you’ve realized you can’t live without one.\u00a0 So the question becomes, which diverter should you choose?<\/p>\n

To help you with your decision, here at SolarQuotes, we1<\/a><\/sup> have tried to track down every diverter on sale in Australia. For the ones we’ve found, we’ve researched their retail price and specifications and put the results into our Solar Hot Water Diverter Comparison Table<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Diverter

See details of solar hot water diverters available in Australia in our new diverter comparison table<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

The iBoost Is Not Available In Australia<\/h2>\n

The iBoost<\/a> is a diverter from the UK that was marketed in Australia, but has since disappeared and we have been unable to contact the company.\u00a0 As there is no evidence they have a presence in Australia, they are not included on the table.<\/p>\n

About Controlled Load and Economy Tariffs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Devices on controlled load or economy tariffs must be\u00a0hardwired2<\/a><\/sup>. They cannot be\u00a0connected to any other power source except the controlled load\/economy tariff meter.\u00a0 So a hot water element connected to solar via a diverter cannot also be connected to a controlled load or economy tariff3<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

A workaround is to use a dual element hot water system. Connect the upper element to a diverter and the lower element to the controlled load\/economy tariff.\u00a0 The latter is\u00a0set to a lower temperature than the diverter element. This reduces\u00a0the amount of grid electricity used to heat the water. But the lower temperature set point should be\u00a0at least 60 degrees to control the growth of Legionella<\/a><\/em> and other dangerous microorganisms. \u00a020-30% of hot water systems have 2 elements and they are more common in colder areas.<\/p>\n

Comparing Diverter Features<\/h2>\n

The diverter information came from the companies that supply them, or in the case of the Powerdiverter, it was scraped off the internet.\u00a0 I will go through the details of the four different diverters on the comparison table and see if I can arrive at any firm conclusions about which\u00a0diverter will \u00a0rise triumphant from the solar electric hot water Thunderdome:<\/p>\n

\"Thunderdome\"<\/p>\n

Price:<\/strong>\u00a0 The number of dollarydoos\u00a0they cost.\u00a0 Catch Power gives the installed cost of their diverters while the others just give the hardware cost, so you’ll need a separate quote for installation.<\/p>\n

If a company claims their diverter only takes minutes to install, don’t get optimistic about the installation cost.\u00a0 Technically, my beard only took minutes to grow.\u00a0 While diverters do not need an accredited solar installer, they do need a qualified electrician and so you will probably need to pay at least $200 for installation.\u00a0 I expect the real cost to be from $250 to $350.<\/p>\n

Single Phase or 3 Phase:<\/strong>\u00a0 Most homes have single phase power<\/a>, but an increasing number have 3 phase<\/a>.\u00a0 If your home has a large ducted air conditioner<\/a>4<\/a><\/sup> that serves multiple rooms there is a good chance you have 3 phase power.\u00a0 Three phase diverters are more complex and so cost more.\u00a0 They also take more effort to connect, increasing the installation cost.<\/p>\n

Maximum Heating Element Capacity:<\/strong>\u00a0 The electrical power diverters send to hot water systems is variable and depends on the amount of surplus solar electricity supplied. \u00a0This variable output can only be used for heating elements.\u00a0 If used with anything that has pumps, motors, or electronics there is a very high risk the magic smoke inside that makes them work will escape5<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The biggest element in a normal household hot water systems is 4.8 kilowatts<\/a>.\u00a0 Only two of the four diverters can cope with an element that large, but they can all handle a 3.6 kilowatt element, which is the next step down.<\/p>\n

Number of Heating Load Outputs:<\/strong>\u00a0 Most people will only want to use their diverter for a single hot water system and nothing else.\u00a0 But if you want to run a second hot water system using the same diverter, or potentially another device with a heating element, such as a bar heater or floor heating, then you’ll want a diverter with two variable heating load outputs.<\/p>\n

Sensor Connection:\u00a0 <\/strong>All diverters have a Current Transformer (CT) sensor \u00a0that goes just after the electricity meter to measure when surplus solar is being exported.\u00a0 This sensor is normally connected by a wire to the diverter, but some can use\u00a0a wireless link. Handy if your meter box is a long way from your hot water cylinder.<\/p>\n

Timer:<\/strong>\u00a0 If a diverter has a timer it can use off-peak electricity rates to heat water.\u00a0 This feature won’t save most solar households money, as they are usually better off on a standard tariff<\/a>, but some solar households may benefit from a time-of-use tariff, especially those with battery storage.<\/p>\n

Grid Power Boost:<\/strong>\u00a0 If a diverter doesn’t receive enough surplus solar electricity to heat water it will boost its temperature using grid electricity.\u00a0 While all diverters can all be manually boosted with the twist of a knob, they can also ‘intelligently’ choose when to boost.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 One diverter offers internet monitoring and takes advantage of weather forecasts to optimise time-of-use tariffs.<\/p>\n

Another diverter offers ‘threshold power’ to appliances that don’t mind their power being cut and reconnected multiple times per day (such as a pool pump or hydroponics heater). This feature allows you to configure the diverter with the power draw of the appliance, and only power it when there is both surplus solar, and your hot water is at temperature.<\/p>\n

Warranty:<\/strong>\u00a0 The length of the written warranty.<\/p>\n

Hype:<\/strong>\u00a0 An example of a ridiculous or over the top statement a company has made about their diverter.<\/p>\n

Catch Power: Green Catch And Blue Catch<\/h2>\n
\"Catch

Can you guess which Catch Power this is? (Hint: It’s not Catch Power Blue.)<\/p><\/div>\n

I am going to proceed in alphabetical order.<\/p>\n

Catch Power makes 2 diverters, Green and Blue, which are both manufactured in Australia.\u00a0 The Green Catch is single phase. The fancier Blue Catch has a single phase version and a 3 phase version should come out this month.\u00a0 The characteristics they have in common are:<\/p>\n

Maximum Heating Element Capacity:<\/strong>\u00a0 4.8 kilowatts6<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Number of Heating Load Outputs:<\/strong>\u00a0 1<\/p>\n

Timer:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

Warranty:<\/strong>\u00a0 5 years.<\/p>\n

The Catch Power Green<\/h2>\n

Price:<\/strong>\u00a0 The installed cost of the Catch Power Green is given as $1,000.<\/p>\n

Phases:<\/strong>\u00a0 Single phase.<\/p>\n

Sensor Connection:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wired.<\/p>\n

Grid Power Boost:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Catch Power Green will boost the hot water system’s temperature for a set period each night.\u00a0 The time period can be\u00a0reduced in summer and increased in winter.\u00a0 It can also adjust the period automatically.<\/p>\n

If the hot water system doesn’t reach its maximum temperature for two days will heat the water at night using grid power until it reaches the system’s maximum temperature, which will be at least 60 degrees.\u00a0 (A common setting is 65 degrees.\u00a0 Higher than this greatly increases the risk of serious scalding injuries if the system doesn’t have a tempering valve.)\u00a0 This will prevent dangerous microorganisms such as Legionella from getting a foothold in the tank.<\/p>\n

It can also be manually boosted by twisting a knob.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 It’s just a diverter.\u00a0 And that’s fine.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: January 3, 2019<\/strong> – the new Catch Power Green is now available. It’s smaller, cuter and cheaper – check out my review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Catch Power Blue<\/h2>\n

\"Power<\/p>\n

Price:<\/strong>\u00a0 The installed cost of the Blue Catch is given as $1,700 for the single phase version and $1,950 for the 3 phase version.<\/p>\n

Phases:<\/strong>\u00a0 Single phase or 3 phase.<\/p>\n

Sensor Connection:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wired connection from the meter sensor to the diverter with a wireless connection to its communicator which plugs in to your modem or router.<\/p>\n

Grid Power Boost:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Blue Catch is internet connected and\u00a0monitors the household’s energy consumption and hot water use.\u00a0 It receives a weather report at 11pm every night and uses that along with the information it has gathered to intelligently decide how much grid electricity it will need to use to boost the hot water temperature.\u00a0 It will do this at night so households on time-of-use tariffs can make use of off-peak rates.<\/p>\n

Catch Power says they do not know how much much more efficient this is than the Green Catch, as they have not had enough time to make a reasonable comparison.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0 The internet connection allows remote monitoring by Catch Power\u00a0to detect any problems.<\/p>\n

Both the weather forecasting and monitoring are dependent on Catch Power’s servers staying in operation.\u00a0 The possibility of servers going offline is important to keep in mind when purchasing anything that makes use of the cloud and isn’t a monkey god.<\/p>\n