Replacing a hot water heater. Efficiency?

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.

Reply to
Leon
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Grand Coulee dam?

Reply to
HeyBub

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.

Reply to
Leon

As an aside, I've seen people replace water heaters when they stopped heating water, with the cause simply because the heating element(s) quit. I've replaced my heating element 2-3 times over the years, new heating element is about $10. Takes about an hour total, you've got to drain the tank first, which needs a length of garden hose. No biggie. It does call for a special wrench, which cost somewhere over $5. Pus a screwdriver.

JOAT It's not hard, if you get your mind right.

- Granny Weatherwax

Reply to
J T

Don't leave out the possibility of the thermostat also. That part is relatively inexpensicd and easy to change out also. If you have hard water/lots of sediment in your water, draining the tank yearly can extend the life of the bottom element and increase the efficacy of the water heater.

Reply to
Leon

Dunno, got 'lectric myself, but my younger son does refrigeration, and he says on-demand's the smart way to go, with gas, not electric. I've used 'em oversea and was impressed, "very" nice to be able to have hot water for as long as you want to shower. Those units were a little larger than a lunch box.

I did not see the original post, it must have been x-posted and got snipped. But I've read that you don't really save any (many) dollars with the On-Demand, as the lost heat from the tank ends up heating the house anyway. Not such a good thing in the summer I suppose. But I HATE the lack of hot water in the mornings. So in 30 years when the tank dies, I definitely won't care.

Reply to
Bill Stock

I hope you guys talking about hot water heaters don't jinx me. I'm home right now having a furnace replaced. I have no idea how old the water heater is. I had an on demand water heater when I was in Japan. I hope that they have gotten better. The best that one would do is give you a luke warm shower. The slower you had the water running, the warmer it would get (more time in the heater). Problem was, if you turned it down to low, the flame would go out but a small amount of gas would continue to flow. This would continue until the gas cloud got to the pilot light and then it would ignite with a ball of flame and sound like a bomb, violently shaking the bathroom wall. Never even considered one of those after that.

Reply to
CW

From what I've read the "pay back" on the on-demand heaters is about 25 years which usually exceeds the life of the heater. The only way I'd buy one is if my hot water usage required the instant recovery.

Reply to
Nova

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> talks about the overhyped tankless and their problems payback exceeds

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.

Reply to
r payne

I'm sure it's easy enough, but it brings to mind a funny story. When we first bought the house, I figured I'd turn the water heater down a little to save some electricity. The wife had been crowing about how she had worked for an HVAC place at some point, and she knew all about them. So I had her double-check me before I made the adjustment to make sure I was doing the right thing with it. She took the screwdriver out of my hands and started poking inside the case with it- after about 1 second of that, she got a nice jolt of 220. Guess she didn't know as much about it as she said she did...

Yes, the adjustment got made- by me. She's no longer allowed to *fix* any of the major appliances (or paint, but that's another story.)

Reply to
Prometheus

I suggest you check at:

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tell us what the cost per kWh is.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

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

Reply to
Dave Bugg

Sounds inefficient to me.

Hot water doesn't need to be heated.

Reply to
fredfighter

"Dave Bugg" wrote in news:JAd%g.35$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe05.lga:

It's one of the PUD's right?

Reply to
Al Bundy

Sorry about that. Forgot that Oregon had a Douglas County.

I see that Douglas County PUD (your electric provider) signed a recent agreement to provide electricity for an industrial contract at 1.8 cents per kWh. Industrial power usually sells at way below residential rates.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

Mon, Oct 23, 2006, 3:26pm (EDT-1) snipped-for-privacy@business.org (Prometheus) doth sayeth: I'm sure it's easy enough, but it brings to mind a funny story. When we first bought the house, I figured I'd turn the water heater down a little to save some electricity.

Yep, plenty easy - but make sure you turn the juice off first. LOL

I turned my heater down too, but wasn't thinking about saving on electric. My kids were small then and I wanted it down low enough so even if they turned the hot water all the way up they wouldn't get scalded. It's got a dial with a slot for a screwdriver right at the base of the pointer - don't even need to poke around. LOL

JOAT It's not hard, if you get your mind right.

- Granny Weatherwax

Reply to
J T

Or the thermocouple for the pilot cracks. An easy USD7 repair.

scott

Reply to
Scott Lurndal

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