Replacing a hot water heater. Efficiency?

[Bob F]

Did you actually TRY to read what I wrote?

Bob

[Bob F]

Who cares about "ratings"? The fact is that some water heaters are better insulated, and will cost you less to operate. They lesser insulated ones are less "efficient". 100%? I don't think so. Sure, they convert 100% of the energy to heat in the water. But then they lose the heat to the environment. IF you use a cheaper source of heat to heat your house, or if you want to cool it, that is going to cost you money.

Bob

[Bob F]

But if your gas furnace or heat pump produce the same heat for less $, you will pay more anyway. Or, heaven forbid, if you try to cool your house.

Bob

[Doug]

I don't know why folks quote that old saw: "electric is 100% efficient". It's a meaningless statement.

Electric usage for resistance heating may well be 100% efficient at the end user site but that doesn't take into account the large losses at the power plant, the distribution system, house wiring losses, etc.

These combined losses are among the reasons why electric resistance heating of anything is generally more expensive than natural gas, unless the electric source is hydro or subsidized.

Doug

[nicksanspam]

A $15 motion detector might be more convenient.

Nick

[Dave Bugg]

1 point 2 cents. Douglas County has the cheapest electrical rates in the nation. Only a fool uses natural gas for appliances around here.

[bill8vp]

I just built a new house 3 years ago and did the finish plumbing and would like to comment on recirculation water. I had a 48' run from the water heater to the shower on the other end of the house and thought it would be wise to put a pump in a loop back to the water heater. I also purchased a motion sensor switch that I put in the bathroom to turn the pump on when the room was entered that also had a manual switch on it so it could be turned off and the pump turned on manually. These are available at Lowes. I insulated the supply and return runs to the water heater. In the end I found the pump and my switch set up were un-necessary since the water would re-circulate by natural convection. I don't know what the situation would have been if I would have wanted to do it to an upstairs floor. I would have had to insulate the pipes going to upstairs walls before covering and so on. My situation was water heater in basement and shower on the opposite end of the house worked out fine. Bill T

[hallerb]

ELECTRICITY is the MOST expensiv per BTU than any other heat source in most of the country. primarlily because electricity is made frequently by burning natural gas or other fuel sources, add a step in the process adds costs

effcency of tank is printed on energy guide label along with average costs to operate for compatison purposes. foam insulation is very good today

[Al Bundy]

"Dave Bugg" wrote in news:Mz1%g.1454$Dg6.502 @newsfe07.lga:

That's about as close to free as it can get. Just curious Dave, what is the primary reason?

[Leon]

OK, where is Douglas County???? In Houston after deregulation we enjoy about 14 cents per kilowatt hour if you switch often to the cheaper provider. 10 years ago I averaged 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

[HeyBub]

Grand Coulee dam?

[Leon]

I replaced mine 2 years ago with a top of the line electric Whirlpool from Lowe's. Since I pay about 14 cents per kilowatt hour I have been monitoring my electricity usage for 15 plus years. I paid about $325 for the water heater and know for certain that it has paid for itself in energy savings already.

[r payne]

Did you see the date of a reply puts that pre-03. Back in 03 I would go with tankless because they were reletively new but today's units have a lot more going for them. Research the latest, I did and we are using a propane tankless from Bosch.

[George E. Cawthon]

Huh? Nobody gets electric power for 0.12 cents per kWh, nobody. I don't think anybody in WA gets domestic electric power for 1.2 cents per kWh. There may be some applications, e.g., irrigation pumping, that get a rate that low, but it would be by oversight. Any rate that is less that 4 cents per kWh is considered very very low.

[George E. Cawthon]

Whoa, I just reread that for the 3rd time.

[George E. Cawthon]

Your argument ignores the fact that efficiency in this context means the efficiency of conversion from one type of energy to another, in this case electricity to heat. Losses at the power plant are the result of a different conversion, converting coal or gas to electricity.

If you want to add up all the losses and cost you have to include the cost of mining the metal in the heater among about 10,000 other things.

[George E. Cawthon]

I suggest you check at:

and tell us what the cost per kWh is.

[Dave Bugg]

Huh? Douglas Electric has nothing to do with Douglas County, WA. It ain't our electricity provider.

[fredfighter]

Sounds inefficient to me.

Hot water doesn't need to be heated.

[Al Bundy]

"Dave Bugg" wrote in news:JAd%g.35$ [e-mail]:

It's one of the PUD's right?