Aloha Scott, I think my electric rates are $.35 per kilowatt hour, which sounds absolutely absurd and I'm sure someone will tell me that isn't possible, but I have actually called the company and it is correct. However, we don't have natural gas where I am, so I have a 120 gallon propane tank sitting next to my house. It doesn't add much to the landscape, grin...
We don't have to heat our house or cool it, either the windows are open or closed, so I don't have some of those costly appliances. Betsy At 12:32 AM 7/25/2009, you wrote: >Well don't know what you pay for electricity, but the rates seem to be >slowly creeping up around here. I am sure we could go this route just >cause we have a 200 amp box, but I'd have to see evidence that shows >we'd save money. Unfortunately gas of any sort here isn't a real >option, thanks to the way the home was constructed. TO retrofit the >place would be difficult, but not impossible. In fact I'd give damn >near anything to find a way to convert to gas for heating cause a heat >pump here is not efficient or practical and is expensive. If I could >save enough pennies, I'd look into a geothermal heat pump, but that >would also be mighty expensive and take many many years to recover the >cost. If I were smart, I'd have enough money and property to build a >home to my specs and I'd be able to look into some of the newer >technology for heating/cooling etc. >Maybe when I retire, ha ha. >On Jul 25, 2009, at 4:16 AM, Betsy Whitney wrote: > > > Aloha Scott, > > I still don't have mine installed, but I hav several friends who have > > switched from propane to electric here. Of course, in Hawaii the > > water isn't as cold to begin with as it can be other places. My > > propane costs about $1,200 a year just to operate the 30 gallon water > > heater, and friends tell me that they pay about $20 to $25 per month > > for the electricity for the water heater. My current propane heater > > is in the house with a blanket on it. > > > > My new electric unit isn't installed because I need to find someone > > to run the #6 wire. We bought a Stiebel Eltron and paid $600 and will > > heat 4-1/2 gallons a minute. > > Betsy > > > > At 12:23 AM 7/24/2009, you wrote: > > > > > > > > >You got that right, but looking into the electric model of the > > >tankless water heater, I learned it requires a great deal of wiring > > >work. From what I have gathered, most if not all use a six-wire setup > > >and I believe it is 3 220 breakers. I may be wrong, but I believe > > they > > >can pull down about 40 or more amps during operation. Man, that would > > >be a pile of power for sure and maybe the best option is really to > > put > > >a blanket on the tank. I don't know, but I could justify the cost > > if I > > >could find evidence that it would really save me money and that > > >savings could be realized within the first year or so of ownership. > > Of > > >course with 3 of us and not being the family that takes long showers, > > >we don't use as much water and we never have run the tank out of hot > > >water. > > >On Jul 23, 2009, at 11:23 PM, Michael baldwin wrote: > > > > > > > Gas or LP models save more then electric models, anytime you use > > > > electric > > > > for resistance heating, it costs a fortune. Figure out what size > > you > > > > will > > > > need, then price it out. Tankless do not heat the water to a set > > > > temp, i.e. > > > > 120 degrees F, it increases the water temp by a certain amount, > > i.e. > > > > increases by 60 degrees at 4.5 gpm, so if your income water is > > > > colder in the > > > > winter, your hot water will be colder. It is hard to know if you > > > > will save. > > > > If you have a teenage daughter, or a wife, that gets out when the > > > > hot water > > > > runs out, their shower time can really increase, using more hot > > > > water, and > > > > more water in general. > > > > Michael > > > > > > > > From: > > > <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] > > > m > > > > [mailto:<mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] > > > > ] > > > > On Behalf Of Tom Hodges > > > > Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 3:42 PM > > > > To: > <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com>[email protected] > > > > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Tankless Water Heater > > > > > > > > My water heater is about to quit on me after about fifteen years > > of > > > > service > > > > and I'm considering converting to a tankless water heater. I am > > > > considering > > > > going to tankless because I've heard there could be considerable > > > > savings in > > > > the long run. > > > > > > > > Does anyone on here have any experience with tankless water > > heaters > > > > or would > > > > anyone have a recommendation for a particular brand. On the other > > > > hand, > > > > would anyone recommend that I not go this route, and stick with > > the > > > > tank > > > > heater, due to a bad experience with the tankless type. > > > > > > > > Any help on this subject would be appreciated. > > > > > > > > Regards, Tom Hodges > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
