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In Hawaii our electric bill is high and I found the hot water heater used the most power so I set the thermostat on the water heater down to about 130F ( they have 2, top and bottom behind a cover plate) then I ordered a blank to cover it with a R21 rating from ACE. I covered the heater top- sides and bottom with the fiber glass. The bill dropped $50 a month that is $600 a year. I had to add some scrap glass from the dump to cover ever bit of the heater. Any thing to save Money.
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Thanks for the tip! I don't know about you but 110F is plenty hot for me. If it's above that I have to add cold water when I'm in the shower. Maybe you could try lowering it even more, see how it goes.
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Larry
That sounds like quite a saving! How big is your water tank? How did you determine that 130F is the optimum temperature? Water at that temperature still must be mixed with cold for a comfortable shower and washing clothes doesn't need that much heat (in fact most things can be washed in cold water). However, if you end up using the whole tank of hot water set at say 110F for a few showers you end up using more electricity to constantly keep the water warm. Did Helco or another electricity supplier recommend 130 as the most efficient?
We have solar so often have water at higher than 140F which is dangerously hot. When it's cloudy and we have to use the electric back up we just set it on a timer for a few hours at 110 so we can have comfortable showers.
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It is a 40 gal. tank. When you take the cover plate off there is a Mark and numbers, No problem to set. We lose about 10 F from the tank to the front of the house.
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Insulate the pipes as well as the tank, then you can lower the tank an additional ten degrees. We have the instantaneous water heater so there's no tank to heat up.
Another electrical savings is to plug all your "instant on" and "hibernating" electronics into a power strip and turn off their power entirely when you aren't using them.
Look at how many amps or watts something uses when you buy it and consider how long it would be using that amount of power. Our friends figured it took them about $20 in hot water making and water pumping each time they used their jacuzzi for an evening. They've switched over to solar/gas water heating and now their jacuzzi gets used a lot more.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
