Hot water!

[trikkonceptz]

I just went through this hassle and replaced my water heater with a new one. I installed a timer on it too, took next to no time. Now the heater kicks on for 30 minutes in the morning for showers and again 30 minutes at night for showers.

The heaters only need about 15 minutes to heat the entire tank, they are 5300 watts, or at least mine is so with its dual elements it heats up fast.

Does the timer work ... well here is an example of my power bill

03/08 = 1018 KWH
03/09 = 662 KWH

Mind you I have other changes in the house, but the heater is the largest power consumer in your house and if its old, its not insulating as well i'm sure. I too considered the tankless heaters, but as it has been said, they require more power than I have available at the locations and did not want to run wires through a 2 story house.

[Ryland]

Alot of electric tank less water heaters require 60-80 amps at 220 volts, my boss installed one a few months back, an electrition friend warned us ahead of time that this was a bad idea, the reason for this is that when you turn the hot water tap on the lights in the house dim, this causes some lights to have shorter lives and causes some other problems with things like the stereo.

[mamodbasher]

This is an old trick, but a 'tempering' tank can help save $$ on water heating, no matter what you use. Simply use an old water tank (any size, but larger is better) as long as it is sound. With all of the metal wrapping and insulation removed, it then can be connected in the cold water line ahead of your active heater. The water sits in the tank and eventually equalizes in temperature to the indoor air. In most situations, this is around 60 to 70 F. If you compare that to the incoming water temps (almost always under 50 F), that's a lot easier and requires less fuel to heat. This works very well, as long as there is enough water to maintain the usage. It works, it's passive and only takes up a bit more space. Ken.

[Ryland]

tempering tanks are most common with on demand hot water as electric on demand hot water heaters have a hard time keeping up with the demand for heat, the draw back to them is that in the heating season you are using that heat in your house to heat the cold water, the energy to heat anything is the same, if it's coming from the warm air in your house, or the heating element in the water heater, that water is still absorbing energy.

[Piwoslaw]

I've been wondering which is better: Slowly heating water with less watts, or using a lot of power to do it quickly?
Using a large heater puts a big load on the wiring, the higher current produces more resistance, so you're wasting power as heat somewhere in the system, even if most of the losses aren't on your side of the meter. On the other hand, if the heating element is too small, its power may be equal to the losses though the tank and the water will never get to the desired temperature. Is there a rule of thumb?

[dremd]

I love my tankless heater; however it is located about 48" away from my main service panel. For the thread go here http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ater-1229.html

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by Ryland

tempering tanks are most common with on demand hot water as electric on demand hot water heaters have a hard time keeping up with the demand for heat, the draw back to them is that in the heating season you are using that heat in your house to heat the cold water, the energy to heat anything is the same, if it's coming from the warm air in your house, or the heating element in the water heater, that water is still absorbing energy.

Typically the water heater is located in the basement if the house has one, (it does in this case), and basements aren't typically heated unless finished. My parents basement stayed above 60F all winter, despite them using mostly wood heat to keep from running the central.

[theunchosen]

Ok the problem with the tankless is the lines are going to get hot in response to those 80 amps.

The ideal situation is one in which the tank heats to its max temperature and is used at approximately the same time as the heat finally convects through the insulating materials.

blah blah blah. . .yeah

You want your water to heat up the same way you take off from the red light. Mash the gas you get there faster, in shorter time and whatnot but you still burn more fuel than if you do it slowly. same goes here. Do it slowly and you save energy. Too slowly and you never get there(drag overcomes acceleration forces) and the heat dissipates as fast as you "make" it.

A new energy star efficient tanked water heater can do a full tank(30 gallons) in about 30 minutes to max temperature. You want to set a timer so that it stops heating the instant you go to get in the shower(or if there are multiple people in sequential showerings then halfway through the whole process) because the elements will still be pretty hot for several minutes after you switch the juice off. This allows the water not to be heated anymore than what you need no faster than you need it. Also if you use all the water and leave the bathroom door open in the winter its going to dump BTU laden warm air into your dwelling providing BTUs to the rest of the house you already paid for but will get wasted if you turn on a bathroom vent.

Also using a cystern inside your house to acquire local heat is only effective in the summer. If you are paying for heat you are paying for it one way or another(given if you use a heat pump it is more efficient to heat with a heat pump than electrical(coefficient of performance is usually around 2-5 depending(for every 2 KW of juice you put in you get 4-10 KW of heat)), but if its summer you can use this technique as a "passive" cooling device that preheats your water to avoid heating losses.

[hummingbird]

Originally Posted by Ryland

...my water bill showed that my house of 3 uses 53 gallons of water total per day, half of that or more is the toilet, being that it is a 30 year old 5 gallon per flush jobber...

Ryland, you could reduce this amount if you keep some filled water bottles in the cistern, reducing the water used up per flush.