[woobiken]

Are you eliminating the inefficient gas water heater? If so, have you checked out the Marathon electric water heaters? The most efficient electric model with a lifetime warranty on the tank poly instead of steel. My 80 gallon tank looks brand new and not one speck of crust on either element visible after 8 years so far! Love it and my electric coop recommends them as well for the hydronic applications too. The bottom drain is utilized instead of a fancy additional port on other brands which only makes sense. As for codes concerning your potable water in the same loop is only questionable and a valid one to be concerned with so check it out. You can isolate your heating loop(s) all day long and throw some solar in the mix as well if you please. Knock yourself out with the tankless models but efficiency wise is minimal vs. a Marathon tank and so more mechanical too! Heck I should be marketing them the way I sound. Here's my last little tip absolutely nobody speaks of....You find yourself using the cold water everytime you wash your hands, dishes, etc.? Drop your thermostat to the lowest setting or at that threshold point you need to pull your hand out of the hot water. 145 degree water is a waste and I'm not dead from a 125 degree setpoint! Why everybody has been trained to think the hotter the better is either foolish or has an undersized system! The only time I've needed hotter water for anything is when I cook or need to sanitize by boiling! Oh yeah! Don't forget to maintain soft water for a tankless unit due to continually cycling.

 

[woobiken]

Okay! The juice here runs me 0.0770 a KW in the winter and gets bumped up a little over 0.08 in the summer. My total utilities for the past year have cost me $2600 oh yeah and maybe $100 for propane using my furnace for back-up.

What the damage out east?

The majority of the folks up here use off-peak electricity for their main heat, which up until recently has been the cheapest.

We shall soon all be hit with a sharp blow to the pocketbook regardless of how or what fuel we use to heat our shacks!

Go wide and incorporate as many ways to heat as possible.
I'm at 3 ways to heat and hope to include a smidge of solar hot water and passive heating and I only can hope before fall.

Plus I'm slowly tightening up the house and adding as much insulation possible. I have no clue why reflective insulation is not talked about either!

I'm one of the few installing it in both directions and smiling about it!
The physics are there and regardless of the how they use the data in calculations, when I place tinfoil in the direct sun on any summer day. Somehow I seam to read around a 35 degree drop in temperature!

So let the government and corporations argue over who is blessed to start pushing the reflective radiant technology for profit!

Waste less energy? We're all just fools to allow the leaders in any given industry dictate what's best and what's not for the masses!

The majority has forgotten about last years energy spike...all is well I guess.

Okay! Crunch your numbers and you may just find an electric heater cheaper. 10% lost efficiency minumum (electric heaters don't sag as they age if maintained) Recirc all hot loops using a "closed cell'' or fiberglass insulation and why not slip some aluminum foil tape in there to keep that radiant heat in the pipe? (now I think of it!) Keep the temp at 125 or as low as possible. Now if all your install is done by you cool, if not lets throw a minumum of a grand on top for just the gas heater! Now if you maintain it 100 percent great, and would it be safe to say add oh 50 to 75 bucks a year to cover breakdowns with all the added mechanical goodies packed in that nice little package?

I'm seeing lots of ketchup on the plate! How about you?