Need suggestions Gas Water Heater, timers, blankets, most efficient?

[rmay635703]

http://www.gaswaterheatertimer.com/

My folks water heater is starting to leak and is ready to replace, the sad part is that the last water heater they bought was $99

The cheapest hunk I can find now is $209 and the most efficient water heater is $800-1000

Holy crap batman! Talk about inflation!

I am thinking strongly of getting a cheap natural gas unit and coupling it with a water heater blanket and a "timer"
Trouble I see now is that the water heater blankets (for one that isn't a sheet of plastic) seems to be $40 and up, hmm seems like one couple make an R15-R20 for less than that.

Any ideas?

I remember the "worlds most efficient water heater" ad on energetic forums (of all places) and now can't really find good information to compare the different models.

The hyper efficient worlds most efficient was a square heater.

Ah well, I am hoping to find something that is efficient but has a payback period not measured in decades. Even a cheapy with a diy blanket and timer would be nice, too bad the timer is $100 for a servo and timer.

Thanx
Ryan

[Frank Lee]

I got my gas water heater blanket at a garage sale, new in the package for IDK, 50 cents or some such. If aesthetics are not a big concern I'd just wrap it in faced fiberglass batts- heck, they can be much thicker than the store-bought blankets so would probably out-perform them.

A servo would be nice if the scheduled demand for hot water is consistent. I dial mine all the way back to "vacation" as the default setting. Daily I want water hotter than that for the shower so I turn the 'stat up until it clicks (it's very audible) and then turn it right back to "vacation". Due to how 'stats work, if the water is already hot enough it will click off again but if the water is cold enough it will stay on and make a nice batch of hot water. I am not 100% certain but that manually induced on cycle every 24 hours may be the only time in 24 hours the heater fires.

My heater is in the basement and the only thing that would make my system more convenient would be to run a string up into the bathroom (directly above) so I could give it a yank 5-10 minutes before shower time.

[rmay635703]

Yeah at my own place I turn the temp to vacation in the morning when I"m leaving and back to warm before I go to bed, not the most efficient but better than nothing.

My folks would likely do no such thing but their schedual during the week is very predictable so a timer would be fine.

Ah well

[Frank Lee]

You could do the same thing at shower time as I.

[Sven7]

I just moved to a rental house and the water heater and furnace are super inefficient. A guy at work recommended the fiberglass wrap. Has anyone here tried that? How well does it work? I'm considering doing it, and probably turning the heat down as well.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Sven7

I just moved to a rental house and the water heater and furnace are super inefficient. A guy at work recommended the fiberglass wrap. Has anyone here tried that? How well does it work? I'm considering doing it, and probably turning the heat down as well.

Actually there are 2 key factors, reflective insulation (aka reflects infared) and then the actual R value.

If you don't have a lot of space and are looking for aesthetics fiberglass insulation w/ the flashing on the outside is the best but the cost is now rather high for the savings (AKA $30 on up)

If you do the purpose made wrap make sure the insulation value is AT LEAST R11, lower wraps (like the R3.3 at menards) are not only cheaper but also not very effective.

If you are cheap and can find cheap traditional bats they work almost as well or sometimes better depending on how thick, etc.

My father used to be able to get the "Astronauts" insulation (reflective bubble wrap) very cheap and wrapped the last one in that. It only has an R value of 6ish but because its reflective you get some added benefits, also if you wrap the thing in a special fashion and leave a slight air gap you can get R14 or Higher.

Sadly now days the reflective bubble wrap is very expensive (but you do get a fair amount of the stuff)

Ah well, we settled on a squatty self cleaning unit (because it fits more easily and was on the lower end) Was $359 and we get a whopping 11% off, still a full hundred cheaper than the cheapest but it at least meets needs.

All the water heaters we looked at were only 59% efficient and had a cost of operation of about $277 a year.

I tried to convince my father to get a $600 70% EFF unit but it did not have self clean and was tall (we would have to cut stuff), payback period was a little over 4 years which was reasonable.

The 81% EFF units were all $1000+ (apparently I misread) and required additional "stuff" to function making them a deal killer, payback was poor.

Ah well, so much for appliances getting more efficient over time

[Iexpedite]

I'm not going to be any help to you here, but I have been pondering the water heater question myself. Mine is working fine, but it is a senior citizen in water heater years and I like to plan ahead. I turned it down to 120 degrees and left it there. We always run it dry and I fear I am wasting more energy than if the water was hotter and we only used half the tank. Do you have any insight on the subject?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Iexpedite

I'm not going to be any help to you here, but I have been pondering the water heater question myself. Mine is working fine, but it is a senior citizen in water heater years and I like to plan ahead. I turned it down to 120 degrees and left it there. We always run it dry and I fear I am wasting more energy than if the water was hotter and we only used half the tank. Do you have any insight on the subject?

Yes, you are better off with the smallest water heater you can get away with in MOST circumstances.

Key being smallest in BTUs not necessarily tank size which you can make up for by insulating better. (aka bigger tanks have more surface area generally but less surface area per gallon)

Odd part is a larger tank may not deliver any more hot water for the first hour anyway, so the bigger tank may or may not help, it really depends on use.

I would recommend a better low flow shower head if that is what is running you out and changing habits a bit before getting a larger tank.

Another option is to keep your tanked water heater, keep the temperature low and add an small instant use one to the shower, make sure its the type that actually shuts off when not in use and keep it small as reasonable.
The cost of this "mod" though probably won't save money but may save energy.

Ah well, no good options in my mind, the cost is high and higher and efficiency depends mainly on how you use the tool.

Insulation (as long as you can remove and re-apply to the next heater lasts a lifetime) and is usually a good investment if you will have it for the long term, even if its only saving a few bucks a month.

Another take away is that if you use a LOT of hot water and can't avoid the use, higher end water heaters may actually be worthwhile, you could have to survey how much $$$ your water heater is using in a month (might be hard to do) then figure out what the difference in $$$ is per month on a 61% heater VRS a 81% EFF heater. Trouble with them is that they can break down and likely don't last any longer than a regular heater.

You may also consider a DIY heat exchanger (run the cold water input to the water heater through the drain pipe from the shower) this (properly done) can add 10 degrees onto the incoming water temperature which also reduces how much energy the water heater has to add.

This is my favorite mod from this site, but we have little room at my folks place to put in a grey water tank to heat the lines properly (also the water comes in the house in a rather inconvenient location)

My apt, obviously I can't mod. Sad part is the water from my water heater seems warm enough to shower with even set as low as it goes. (might need a different thermostat)

Ah well.

Good Luck
Ryan

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

You could do the same thing at shower time as I.

I am, turned all the way down and left that way all the time makes it take a lot longer to get warm water but it turns out the water feels just as warm ???
and perfectly fine for showering ???

Makes no sense. Must just be using more "hot" water but at a colder temperature.

Ah well, I am leaving it that way, I really don't want to have to buy a new thermostat but if I do maybe I just get the timered one.

Ah well.

[Frank Lee]

I thought you turned it up at night and down in the morning.

I turn it up then down all in one swell foop.