I can't complain much. I went from. 2000 kilowatt hours down to 1200 and it cost me $500 in the following..... Trane smart thermostat Smart power strips all over the house 100% led in house All new door sweeps Water heater to 120 temp Had a good talking to about water and energy conservation to the kids Outlet insulation 100% of outlets Cleaned the coils under fridge Timers on all chest freezers Straight went from $190 per month to $110 no lie. Heat pump water heater when this old electric gives up.
i will say on their behalf tho, during storms and other ordeals they were very fast in getting the power back on
Looks like Duke has a residential time of use program. If he is on this, he has a smart meter and the timer would shift the electric demand for the freezer to a non peak period. I suppose it would have to be a full freezer and well insulated. Residential Time-of-Use Rate Program - Duke Energy With all the efficiency programs and home solar production that is going on, those who don't participate will end up paying for those who do. The electric company will get their revenue but will be selling less electricity to get it. They make the argument about maintaining infrastructure and rights of way and the regulators approve the rate increases. Pay more to get less has been the theme for a while. Just keep cutting and splitting...
CHeath could you set the water heater to 145 and put that on a timer too? At least in the winter time, the waste heat would go into the house and the mixing valve at the exit port of the heater should give you 120 degree water to your appliances. Not sure of your hot water use during the day but I'm assuming the big draw of showers could be managed to mostly occur at the right time.
I've never seen any need to set a water heater to 145 degrees. That is way too hot and wasted energy to get the water that hot. One good rule of thumb is that if you have to mix cold water with hot water when putting your hands in it, you have wasted a lot of energy heating it to that point. Why heat it then cool it? Our water heater is set so that when I take a shower, I use only hot water; no need to mix cold with it.
The word I got on that was bacteria... Because water sits in the water heater and doesn't come straight to the tap like cold water does, there's potential for bacteria to grow in a water heater. Heating it above 140ish ensures that there's that there's not a colony of the stuff lurking in there.... Of course city water has chlorination and some people treat their well water as it comes in the house.. I'd tend to agree with you about the wasted energy, but I had to get a mixing valve replaced and that's the explanation that was provided to me. I now set my water heater hotter than I need it at the tap.. Another reason to set it hotter in this situation is cost. If he can run his water heater on a timer and pay, say half for the electricity during the non-peak period, it is possible that the heat loss from having the water heater set warmer would more than be offset by the savings in heating the water.. It's an algebra problem with lots of variables that big companies do all the time. Might be overkill for a homeowner but certainly worth discussion..
Sorry to piecemeal my response but another reason to keep a hotter water heater is volume. A 40 gallon water heater with 120 degree water has an instantaneous supply of 40 gallons at 120 degrees. A 40 gallon water heater at 140 degrees has a greater instantaneous supply at 120 depending on the temperature of the cold water that is used at the mixing valve. So if the cold water is at 60 degrees, the 140 degree water heater can instantaneously supply 53.33 gallons of 120 degree water given a 3:1 ratio of hot to cold water. Having a larger water heater may make more sense for those that have a high demand for hot water but if one has guests over to the house, setting the water heater to a higher temperature could help ensure that one doesn't run out of hot water right when a guest is all lathered up in the shower..
Interesting. The talk about bacteria in the water heater does make me wonder. After we put in a new well, our hot water started smelling. It seemed to mostly go away for a bit and now it seems to be coming back stronger again. Maybe I should try turning it up to see what would happen. But then, it is an old heater so maybe we should wait until we put in a new one. What do you think stuckinthemuck ?
If I go on vacation and turn my water heater off to save a couple bucks the water stinks like rotten eggs from iron bacteria. We get the red stains on the porcelain fixtures . As long as I keep the tank hot enough we don't get the smell from the hot water. Still have to have a filter on the faucet for clearer better looking and tasting water. RI leaders call National Grid’s 53% rate hike ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unconscionable’
Can't hurt to try Backwoods Savage worst case scenario, it doesn't work and you're out a couple of bucks... Best case is it costs you an extra couple of bucks to keep water from smelling.. I'd give it a shot. I'm sure we're spending a few bucks more on HHO to keep our water warmer but it's worth the peace of mind...
Toured a windmill farm out in Kansas that was owned by Duke. It was a small tour as my son knew a guy that worked there. They gave me a funny look when I asked them what would happen when we ran out of foreign wind. Gary
Small tangent, WWW turned up our water heater before our bundle of joy, the extra hot water made doing dishes MUCH easier for achy/inflamed hand joints, eliminated alot of scrubbing for me anyway.
That would be legionella that's killed off above 60 c 140 over there. I only know because iv had the place I work ( industrial laundry) tested for it recently , we were clean but I think a few extra quid would be worth it in the long run
I have no idea what you are talking about,but sounds interesting. My wife freezes in my showers. I get burned in hers.
XFMR= transformer, single phase being similar to power at your home, as opposed to 3 phase/commercial, industrial. Quite the opposite on showers here.
