Time for New Hot Water Heater

[dremd]

Originally Posted by ebacherville

I want to do solar water but in the great whit north it requires a glycol system..

Check out the build it solar site, some nifty stuff for freezing regions. Or you could just drain a batch heater during the winter, the savings would be reduced, but man one like mine could be built for nearly free.

Originally Posted by ebacherville

Also the on demand heaters are pretty sweet, especially if your pre heating the water by solar, you'll save big time on electricity.

The savings are much larger if you have a situation like mine, low/ no use much of the time, and high use some of the time.

I wish I could plug a kill a Watt in to mine, but it wouldn't come close to handling the load.

I actually added 3 rolls of Fiberglas insulation and 10 tubes of caulk (I still need more) to one of my Lowes trips, Im hoping that that amount of insulation/ sealing will approximately counter the added electrical load (previous heater was propane).

[Who]

Originally Posted by dremd

I wish I could plug a kill a Watt in to mine, but it wouldn't come close to handling the load.

"The Energy Detective" is under $150 and could be used to either measure just that circuit or to profile the water heater load. I want one!

[dremd]

Water heater uses 3 breakers . . . . I could use 3 CT's. . . . . .

[fshagan]

Others investigating this should also know about possible Federal tax credits in the US. (Some states also have programs). From http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...pr_tax_credits:

On February 27, 2008, the House passed $18.1 billion in renewable energy tax incentives (H.R. 5351), including an extension of the tax credit for energy-efficient home improvements. The bill is similar to the one passed last year, which was ultimately removed from the 2007 Energy Bill, signed into law in December 2007. This bill must still pass in the Senate, and be signed by the President to become law.

[COMP]

mine quit working

[dremd]

In Louisiana you have to have a "certified" installer to get your tax credit, but on the + side you get %50 of solar or Thermal. However, my system would have cost almost triple what it did even with the tax credit.


I just adjusted my collector to "summer" (finally) and outlet temps climbed to 160 F.

[ttoyoda]

The lead in a lot of garden hose makes it a bad choice for water you will wash in or drink.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...se&btnG=Search

[elhigh]

Plumb the dump loop to your biodiesel processor. Why pay for heat when you have a convenient fusion reactor beaming power directly to your house?

Damn I've got to build one of these things. And the place I want the water heater is under the house. Sure, it'd put it outside of the insulated envelope, but where I live winters aren't that bad, and even if I wound up dumping some amps into it once in a while, it'd still be way ahead of dumping amps into it all the time. It'd also take it out of the air conditioned space, and that's more important to me.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

The lead in a lot of garden hose makes it a bad choice for water you will wash in or drink.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...se&btnG=Search

Good info I totally didn't think about it.

I have been running all PVC for a while now, so nothing I can do about past lead exposure. All I can say is that we never drink the water here, other than Ice which is on the cold side anyways.

[dremd]

Originally Posted by COMP

mine quit working

If you want I can take some exact measurements/ better pics of mine so you can build your own. I wouldn't bother "buying" one like this, they are to easy to build.