Tag: water heater

Water Stoves

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So you like the idea of heating with wood because you have endless supply of it or you just don’t want to pay the power company or the gas company any more than you have to. You know that your home heating system can be the number one consumer of electricity during the winter months and that you are tired of seeing your electric meter spin so fast you think it is coming of its bearings. You want to lower your power bill and have the most energy efficient home but still be comfortable. If this is you continue reading. A water stove can do all of these things for you, and if you are not afraid to do a little work you can lower your power bill and slow down that pesky electric meter.

Water stoves are a wonderful alternative to heating with a fireplace or using a wood stove. They can provide heat more evenly than any space heater or baseboard heater and they can do it all while burning practically anything. Are they the perfect heating source? Maybe, maybe not depending on your perspective. What can they do for you?

Water stoves can be installed alongside existing central heating and air systems. They use a heating coil that can be placed in the air handler and you and your guests are none the wiser. The heat coming from the water stove is dispersed just like your central heating and air is. It is controlled by a thermostat just like your normal heat is.
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Another thing that water stoves can do is supply all of your hot water. They can totally replace your conventional hot water system or be used in conjunction with it with your conventional system being used as a backup. Many users have reported that they have seemingly endless hot water. This means that gone are the days when company comes over and you let them all take showers first because you know that there will be no hot water left and you end up taking a cold shower. No more! And let’s remember that the water is being heated by wood. Remember also that your water heater is typically number two on the electricity consumption list behind your heat.

A water stove is installed away from your house so that you do not have to smell the smoke created by it. Here lies the biggest con. The biggest con is that the water stove is away from the house. This means that if it is raining or if it is snowing you will need to go out in the weather to load wood into the water stove to keep it running. However, there are models that can use oil and gas as a backup and if you get one of these models you will not need to go out in the weather.

Also to be noted is the fact that you can use solar water heater panels to heat the water. This means that as long as you have good direct sun that you will not even need to build a fire! Many users of water stoves say that this is the way to go if you get a water stove. Many people do not even build fires everyday in the summertime because the heat from the solar water heater panels do all of the work for them! So, is a water stove right for you? Let me tell you the story of a friend of mine.

A friend of mine grew up heating with a wood stove. He grew up in a very small house and always knew that he wanted a bigger one. He also know what it was like to wake up cold because the fire in the wood stove had burned out overnight. But, he still wanted to heat with wood because he lives on a property with an abundance of free wood. Cutting, splitting and stacking wood has been a part of his life since he was a small boy. So, he builds his house on the same property as his family. His house was close to 5,000 square feet! That’s right 5,000! So, after the first couple of months of the winter I asked him how his water stove was working out and what he was using it for. He said that it was working great and that he was heating his entire house and heating his water with it. So the next question was, how much is your power bill? He told me that it was about $40. I could not believe it even though I know how all of the systems work and what causes your power bill to be high or low. But to me, that is the proof that I needed to know that one day I will install a water stove.

If you are thinking about getting a water stove, rest assured that they can lower your power bill. Make sure that you have it installed by a licensed professional.









5 tips to saving energy when on vacation

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So you are ready to go on a long vacation and you are worried about your electric bill being high when you get back and you want to know if there is anything you can do to keep you bill low when you get back. Well, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that your electric bill is not through the roof. Most of these tips even work well if you are only going out of town for the weekend as well.

1. Turn off the water heater.

That’s right. An electric water heater is one of the largest consumers of electricity in your home next to the A/C. For a normal family, a water heater can account for as much as 25% of the electricity that is consumed in your home. To put it another way, they can easily uses 300 kwh per month which can equal $30 or more. Let’s understand why we would want to turn off our water heaters while we are out of town. The water heater has a thermostat inside just like the A/C does. What that means is the water heater will be keeping the water at that temperature regardless of whether you are in your home or you are one vacation. One argument that I always hear from people is that they want to be able to take a shower as soon as they get home from vacation and they do not want to be waiting on the water to get hot. Well, let me put your mind at ease. Most water heaters have about a 30 minute recovery. This means that it takes the water heater about 30 minutes to be full of hot water again. So, walk in from you vacation, turn the water heater back on and then unload your car and get ready to take your shower. By this time the water should be nice and hot for you to take a shower. The next question is, “how do I turn it off?” The most convenient way is in the breaker box. Find the breaker labeled as water heater and turn it off. Alternatively, there should be a disconnect at the water heater. You can pull this disconnect and this will turn off the water heater as well. I would only use the second method if you are comfortable dealing with electricity because it could be dangerous.

I want to note that I would not turn the water heater off if you live in a climate that freezes and it is the winter time when you will be gone. This is only recommended during the times when temperatures are above freezing.

2. Turn off the A/C

The A/C is the largest consumer of electricity in the home and because of this, you do not want to overlook it when you leave for vacation. Now, if you are hardcore, depending on the time of year, you will just turn off the A/C when you leave for vacation and turn it back on when you come home. But, if it is in the middle of summer you may want to ensure that the house is not an oven when you get back. My recommendation is to turn the thermostat up to at the very least 80 degrees in the summer time when you leave, higher if you think you can stand it. If you are going on  vacation in the winter time you will want to turn the thermostat down to at least 60 degrees. This will ensure that your A/C or heat are not running constantly while you are gone trying to keep your couch comfortable.







3. Unplug, unplug, unplug!

In this day in age when you turn your lights off at night you can just about still see everything because of all the lights from your devices that are still on. The lights may be from computers, television, gaming systems, microwaves, etc. Whatever the lights are coming from, they are drawing electricity to be kept on. Unplugging things that are not necessary to be on while you are gone, such as your wireless router (if you have networked security cameras you may need to leave that on). All of these little things do not use very much on their own but collectively they do add to your bill. Remember that nothing is free!

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4. Turn off lights

This sounds like a no-brainer but many people forget to turn their lights off when they leave. Often times they will get home from vacation only to discover that they light in their bedroom or bathroom had been left on. Do a once over before you walk out the door and make sure that the lights are off. If you are going to leave a light on for security reasons, look at getting a timer so that it does not run all the time. Or, put in an LED bulb in that particular light fixture.

5. Turn off the water

I know this does not appear to have anything to do with electricity but if something happens while you are gone, such as a busted water line or a leaking toilet, you will be in for a big water bill. If the water line breaks and it is a hot water line and you have forgotten to turn off the water heater, it will constantly run trying to heat the water. This, again, is only recommended during warmer temperatures.

6. Bonus!

If you are hardcore like me and you do not care if you have to reset your clocks when you get back then this tip is for you. When I go out of town on vacation, as long as it is not a time where we are having freezing temperatures, I just go and turn off my main breaker. If your main breaker is off, your electric meter will not turn while you are gone. This is how my power bills during the summer when I have been on vacation have been as low as $40 when the base charge takes up $20 of that $40.

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Solar Water Heaters

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Solar water heaters can be a very useful way to saving money on your power bill. A water heater alone can easily cost a family of two $20-$40 dollars per month. Now think if you have a larger family what that could cost you throughout the year.

Heating your water by the sun is not a new concept. Back in the 1970’s there was a big push to conserve energy by heating your water with the sun. It however did not last very long. There are a few different types of solar water heaters out there. They can be as simple as laying a garden hose in the sun to a full enclosed system that uses a heat exchanger to transfer the heat from a liquid that does not freeze to the water.

The system that you decide on depends upon your location. If you live in a warm climate where it never or very rarely has freezing temperatures then you can go wth one of the more simple systems where the sun directly heats the water. The basics of the system include the solar water panel, some pipe and an old water heater. This is my favorite system because you can utilize your old water heater as a backup in case it is cloudy and there is not sufficient sun to heat the water. The old water heater also acts as a storage tank for the hot water and keeps it hot and ready for whenever you need it.

If you live in a climate that sees freezing and below freezing temperatures, you will need to go with a system that uses an antifreeze type of liquid just like your car so the water in the system does not freeze. You would also be wise to utilize your old water heater as a backup for when there are clouds or if the panels are covered in snow. You can also use the old water heater as a hot water storage tank using this method as well.








One of the best thing about solar water heaters is that they do not need electricity to run! This not only will save you money on your power bill but it will also allow you to take hot showers when there is no power! Imagine that there is a storm that comes through while you are at work and the power is out. You will still be able to take a hot shower.

Another advantage to having a solar water heater is that once you have it installed you are one step closer to being off the grid. In my opinion, this should be one of your first things to consider before going off the grid. Before you go and install $30,000 worth of electric solar panels on your house, put a solar water heater up there and start saving right away. It is also more efficient to heat your water with the sun than it is to power your old electric water heater by the electric solar panels you are thinking about putting up. This is because there are always losses with electricity. There will be losses due to heat, wire and electronics. This means that you are better off to heat your water with the sun first. This also means that you can save some money on the electric solar panels because the load that they will need to carry will not be as great. Electric water heaters can typically pull anywhere between 1500 and 4500 watts. This is 1500 to 4500 watts that you will not need to buy solar panels for.