{"id":404,"date":"2010-02-18T08:42:50","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T13:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/energyrealist.com\/?page_id=404"},"modified":"2010-03-27T21:33:18","modified_gmt":"2010-03-28T01:33:18","slug":"hot-water","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/?page_id=404","title":{"rendered":"Hot Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the NE US heating hot water for inside use (washing, bathing, kitchen etc.) is the second energy drain after the house heat.\u00a0 In more moderate climes, e.g. Australia, it is #1,<\/p>\n<p><strong>Solar hot water systems<\/strong> are almost a no-brainer in a moderate climate, and well worth it even in colder climes.\u00a0 Of course where temperatures fall below freezing the solar panels can&#8217;t use plain water, but need an antifreeze mixture and then a heat exchanger to transfer the heat from collector fluid to household water.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_411\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-411\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-411\" title=\"oz solar hw sys\" src=\"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/oz-solar-hw-sys-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Oz solar HW system - ugly, but efficient\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/oz-solar-hw-sys-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/oz-solar-hw-sys.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oz solar HW system - ugly, but efficient<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Another alternative to save energy is to use <strong>instant hot water heaters<\/strong>.\u00a0 here is a quick pro\/con list:<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Pro:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Efficiency = Cost  savings on energy<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Water  savings<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Saving on piping  &#8211;\u00a0IF the heater is installed in new construction, can be placed\u00a0close to  outlets, gas goes there anyway &#8211; e.g. where a kitchen and bath are close  together and the heater can be placed between them.\u00a0 Just a single cold water  line needs to be run to the unit, you can save a lot of copper if the layout is  designed well.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Comfort &#8211; hot water  quickly, rather than waiting for pipe to clear. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Only turns on when  there is sufficient water flow &#8211; so will not drain a tank full of hot water  every few hours if a\u00a0faucet is dripping, or left on slightly by mistake.\u00a0 (but &#8211;  see the equivalent con)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>You never run out of  hot water &#8211; unlimited showers for all.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Smaller space &#8211; no  tank<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Probably lasts  longer &#8211; no tank replacement<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Con:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Cost of unit, plus  cost of installation can be multiple the cost of a &#8220;standard&#8221; tank  heater.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>Needs\u00a0good water and  gas supply to the unit, retrofitting using existing 1\/2&#8243; lines is not a good idea<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>These units are  sealed and need an air inlet and exhaust to the the outside &#8211; the same as high  efficiency furnaces.\u00a0 It should not be a problem,\u00a0but ideally the unit should be  on an outside wall.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span>If you leave a  faucet running by mistake, or a pipe bursts (say the hot water feed to the  washer) then the unit will supply beautiful hot water continually &#8211; and continue  to burn massive amounts of gas to do so.\u00a0 The old tank heater will do the same,  but burn much less gas.\u00a0 (I&#8217;ll have to do some research to see if there is some  emergency off system available)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span><strong>The bottom line<\/strong>: go  for it in new construction.\u00a0 It could be tricky\u00a0if you are replacing a tank unit  in an existing house.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span> <\/span><\/span><strong>&#8220;Hybrid&#8221; hot water  heaters<\/strong> seem to be hitting the street.\u00a0 Basically these are tank type heaters with an air-source heat pump attached.\u00a0 The heat pump uses the heat in the air, using a reverse refrigeration process, to preheat the water in the tank and so save on heating the water.\u00a0 GE (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.geappliances.com\/hybrid\">geappliances.com\/hybrid<\/a>) advertises a model\u00a0 claiming savings of $320 per year.\u00a0\u00a0 The downside is of course the cost (about $1500), installation and as far as i can see it only applies to electric water heating systems.<\/p>\n<p>An alternative approach is to use a stand alone heat pump in conjunction with your existing tank style heater (electric or gas &#8211; but the savings are really greater for electric heaters).\u00a0 A unit from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.northrdt.com\/Geyser\/index.html\">North Road Technologies<\/a> is an example.\u00a0 Upside: acts as a dehumidifier (and makes distilled water, which you either save or have to get rid of somehow), works as a 6000BTU air conditioner , qualifies for tax credits, saves money, claims are for 50-70% savings on an electric unit, easy installation, your existing tank stays right there.\u00a0 Downside: as usual, the cost: $1400.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;\"><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the NE US heating hot water for inside use (washing, bathing, kitchen etc.) is the second energy drain after the house heat.\u00a0 In more moderate climes, e.g. Australia, it is #1, Solar hot water systems are almost a no-brainer in a moderate climate, and well worth it even in colder climes.\u00a0 Of course where [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":91,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-404","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":412,"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/404\/revisions\/412"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyrealist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}