Your Questions About Turn Off Water Heater To Save Money

rel323 — Sun, 06 May 2012 13:00:45 +0000

Paul asks…

Is My father a control freak?

When I was a child he will control the timing for as when taking a shower,if more than 3 minutes he will shut down the water Heater for example,Also he also yell at us and accustom us to watch for the electricity,turn things off if not using it ,or if you was using the electricity (like blow Drying your hair,he will complain in a loud voice ,and ask us to quit and turn things off no matter if you have finish to use it or not.My problem is this now….he went to a trip in another state since yesterday until next tuesday,and my father let me be in charge of one of the manny jobs he has.I live 30 minutes + and they(my parents) talked to me and asked me to stay at there house since the job was 5 minutes from there house,in that way I will save gasoline.I agree.But there is something I notice, Well I remember he told me he was going to shut everything down, electric was going to remain the same but to not have to manny lights on.Last night I couldn’t sleep because there were no air circulating inside the house.I thought the sealing fans will solve the problem .But it was temporarily,I went to check The Central Air and I realize it was in the 80′s.The next day (today) All day long had been a Battle to make that Central Air to work,it was over the 90′s inside the house. As I try to make the system work ,I wasn’t going any were with it,as the day pass as more suffocated and out of breath I was feeling.I follow the instruction in order to make the central air work and to no luck.I begun to think that my father had put a block on the system to save some money wile he is in the trip , I kept on trying to fix it.yesterday wile he was there it was working perfectly!!! I have visit them before and find my mom by her self agitated and I soon realize there is poor air ventilation and she complain that my father controls it and don’t want her to mess with it.That memory is what is has me thinking that my father purposely turned off the system for good until he comes back.I did only 2 days of working and for the rest of the week I had to pass my job to a family friend because I cant breath in that house at all.I am very upset about it.I feel like crying ,or braking the Air system when I was there,so I decide to quit.Isn’t he a control freak or what?how would you handle that…I feel unloved for his behaviors and actions.He did not care about the consequences I could run into with my health.That’s not fair.He is a good man but sometimes the things he does docent make any seance at all ,just a little but he is obsessing at it?.I am so angry,Im back home with no job until his back because of him.I blame him,Im angry.

rel323 answers:

Aaww. Ok well my mom is the same way, but not thaaat
extreme. I suggest sitting down and talkking to ur dad. Explain to him that u r maturing and that u would like the opportunities to take on more responsibilities, such as controlling the air conditioning. Explain the situation in a rational way. I hope he is more receptive. Good luck!

Donna asks…

What are your favorite green money-savers?

What’s a neat, time-effective, money saving green tip you have? I already walk whenever practical, and used to bike until statistics made it overwhelmingly clear how many cyclists get hit in our area.

I usually rent, so changes to the house are impossible and impractical. I do stuff cracks, turn the heater/AC down, turn off lights, unplug things when I’m away for long, and use old clothing as rags instead of purchasing new rags. I also switch to the smallest fridge that meets the needs of the house. I’ve had bunches of roommates, so I use a big fridge when they’re all around, or switch to the mini-fridge when it’s only one or two. I’m interested in buying or building a small solar cooker to boil water with, preferably just in a window. We’re too far north for a full solar cooker for food to pay for itself in a reasonable time frame.

Mostly I like to do things that are good for the environment AND myself. Give a little, take a little.

rel323 answers:

There are so many things you can do. To name a few:

-Make your own foam soap
-Turn off the water when you brush your teeth
-Use cloth napkins
-Use a toaster oven to reheat rather than a conventional oven

Save money and the environment by making your own foam soap:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/945519/save_money_by_making_your_own_foam.html?cat=7

There’s also a list of 50 things you can do to be more green here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/901285/50_easy_ways_to_be_more_green.html?page=3&cat=7

Sandy asks…

i have a hot water from 1980 can someone answer somethings for me?

my hot water heater is from 1980 feb and i live alone would i save money shutting it off and on when i need it ? i have been doing this for about a month and when i turn the water on to heat i turn it on for a couple hours and then i need to reheat it again ? or should i leave it on for several hours so i have hot water through the day ?

rel323 answers:

You probably would not save money by doing this. You see….water has a high heat capacity. This means it takes water a long time to heat up, and a long time to cool down again. If you let a (typical) 40 gallon water heater cool down, it will take a while, and a lot of energy to heat it back up to the appropriate temperature again.

There are factors that come into play however, like….how long would it be off before you used it again. How cool would you allow it to get and how hot do you want it when it’s hot. How well insulated is the hot water heater…..and how well insulated in the area the hot water heater is in. Lot’s os questions for sure.

However, if we make a few assumptions I can show you why this is true.

You have two scenarios:

1) Leave the hot water heater off and turn it on probably after it’s cool.

2) Let it run continuously and maintain hot water.

For case #1: Let’s say the tank cools to room temperature and you turn it on and heat it to it’s normal hot water temp.

So the heat consumed would be NQ, where Q is the amount of heat needed to bring the water from room temp to hot, and N is the number of times you do this.

For case #2: Let’s say the tank cycles off and on ‘n’ times day, each time adding an amount of heat ‘q’. The total amount of heat used for roughly the same time period as in case #1 above is nq.

So we ask the question…which one uses the greatest amount of heat total? Mathematically this is: nq > NQ

Now let’s see what we can uncover from this.

We know that Q is greater than q, and we know that n is greater than N.

Let’s say that N is only going to be maybe 1 or 2. For ease, let’s say it’s 1…………..N = 1.

Nq > NQ
=> nq > Q

Now…..when n cycles off and on, it’s only heating a short time, and it’s probably heating up a volume of water equivalent to say….16 oz or so.

There are 320 of these (16 oz) quantities in 40 gallons. So that means that Q ~ 320q, and that now gives us:

nq > NQ
=> nq > Q
=> nq > 320q

Which then gives: n > 320

What this says is…..n would have to cycle off and on more than 320 times for our initial condition ( nq > NQ ) to be valid, which is very unlikely, and therefore means that it is not true. What IS true is the opposite: NQ > nq……and that means it takes more heat to heat the tank from a cool condition that it does to allow it to cycle.

Granted this isn’t 100%. There’s a number of considerations that can influence it as I said earlier, but for the average case I’d say it’s quite reasonable, and the assumptions we made are also reasonable. And even if we let N = 2 that is still very unlikely to sway the outcome the other way too.

So….you will do better and save more money by letting the hot water heater cycle rather than let it cool and keep heating it from scratch every time.

I would invest in a new tank. It would be much more efficient, but it would still follow this scheme as I outlines. That would probably hold for most situations.

Betty asks…

New refrigerator, insulated attic changed to CFL light bulbs still no savings!!!?

Ok, over the last two years I have spent over $3500 to try to save some money. Like I said installed an Engery Star fridge, bumped up insulation from R-12 to R-34 and installed 34 CFL bulbs. My electric bill actually went up from last May and June from $218 to $224 and $208 to $233. I even bought one of those energy meter readers to test TV, computers,lamps, etc around the house. What can be sucking all this electricity. We make sure only one tv is on in the house at a time, we try to make sure windows are open and lights turned off, computers are shutdown and not sleeping at night. Water heater flushed every 6 months. We are in a very well shaded area so our AC doesn’t run much, and we pipe colder air from our basement to our second floor. Could a short in a wire chewed through by a mouse or touching something else be causing this? I’ve called a couple energy auditors out and they charge about $750 to due an inspection but what can they find since they said they won’t go inside walls to see if things are shorting. HELP. My neighbor who has similar sized family of 4 and sq feet of 3200 and no energy star appliances only pays about $165 for his electricity per month.
we use a passive updraft convection system for our A/C the last auditor estimated A/C plus the passive updraft used $47 a month. KW hours went up .007 from .081 to .088 so yes that would account for the change, so in theory i’m never going to pay for these upgrades. With all the appliances, A/C, TV, lights etc they were only able to account for $135 in use somewhere nearly $100 bucks is being sucked out of my electric meter from something.

rel323 answers:

Have you already tried unplugging and switching off everything at the outlets and at the breakers and then checked the meter? This wil tell you if you have draw from a short. This test is time consuming but easy enough to do if done with two people.
Checking the whole house this way one breaker at a time and watching the meter will at the very least let you know where this phantom draw is. $100 a month in missing electricity is a pretty hard draw.

Donald asks…

What can I do to save more money?

I have switched off the water heater which blew its element.

I only turn lights on when I need them.

I try not to watch TV but go out in the evening to Volunteer activities to use their lighting and give back to the common good, I am on a pension.

I use a minimum of cooked foods, I have a juicer but dont use it every day and clean it in cold water.

I rearely boil the kettle.

I eat out when I can rarely exceeding five bucks for a meal, but ocasionally stretch to a treat at gloria jeans on average once a fortnight usually hot chocolate and an Anzac cookie.

I hitch hike because despite getting public transport the bus service at the time of day I need it is every three hours.

I am concerned. I dont know how to save more money I save very little my TV is on the blink and now Centrelink have said over the phone I am NOT entitled to a new TV because the cheap Aldi one I have was not meant to be replaced by the government, the set top box has to cost $400 and am concerned letting a stranger in despite the web site at this over officious man hater being on the line means both Sydney and Melbourne will get bugga all in the way of the allowances for watching politicians, given that the Governemtn Federally is Labor and most of Sydney and Melbourne are Conservative is it a legless desparate attempt to be so in the face to those who can least afford it by labor that there is no social justice under labor despite he website saying where the TV set was no longer working I was entitled to under their web site a 46 inch colour one with DVD recorder included and five out of six star energy rating?

I really dont think labor are trying when I had a former carer under centrelink payments for three years have had an issue of one month as a specific brought up where wilful abandonment of my mother just because I was male and now a strong anti man handing out free TVs is b i t c h i n g to ruin a femal prime ministers chances is Jula Gillard Already thrwoing the elcection because I like competition?

Get paid by the elctoral office for one days work? Hardly my heart wouldnt take it so political comments on both sides is valid from me, besides I would rather give labor a harder time I expect more from them?

Council Rates are massive with no discount for a dsp, I have to pay these home insurance, mow the grass and pay the electricity but can not afford solar electricity nor solar hot water nor not afford them if you understand?

I just feel with the Aged Care Commissions Report on Aged care being ussed, there is a promise by mother and I both to my deceased father who said never mortgage or sell the family home, I just felt if more folks were honourable and paid their taxes at the high end of society the way my dad did the country would not be in the top of the lclass of those who failed?

I dont believe after giving up a six figure slararied job anyone should be allowed to take the family home as a stealth death tax? Your views? Its a basic biblical commandment I wish to honour my dad and get married and raise a family of my own there its a brilliant place for raisng kids, NB note not someone elses, the number of women who dont want any more kids is such a small marekt of acceptable women? Not too picky too talented? Beauty? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, its a gentlemans estate, we are out of town but its so peaceful knowing the boys aint back in town, why did the government actively encourage me to live awway from my caree? Greeed?
My car was put on a Nursing Home Debt I was tricked into by wrong advice from a law firm. No point pursuing it, crooks??

rel323 answers:

1. Don’t eat out at all- it’s a luxury you can’t afford.
2. Buy your own TV like everyone else has to.
3. Get a job if you want to live comfortably. If you can mow the lawn you are fit to work at something.
4. You say other people should be honorable- what about yourself?

Thomas asks…

Advice Needed – Heating home with steam from stove….?

For about 2 weeks now I have a large pan of water on my gas stove creating gentle to strong steam in my main living area of my home. We shut doors to all rooms except main living area where we spend most of the day. Roasty Toasty all day!!! My main heater for the home never kicks on the whole time!…When I turn off the pan of heated water…after a while the main home heater kicks on and seems to turn on often (over and over) even with the doors shut just as we do with the steam heating… it has a harder time keeping it warm in the house. Here are my questions….Does it make sense that the steam heating feels warmer than the heat from my home heater??..Question 2: I have gas home heater and gas stove…am I using TONS OF GAS by letting a big pan of water steam gently for hours. or am I saving money by doing it this way?

rel323 answers:

Keep the home heater on 68, use a humidifier, and put on a sweater. It ain’t summertime!

Susan asks…

How to replace home water heater thermostat?

I live in a two bedroom condo and our hot water heater keeps popping the high temp emergency shut off switch (little red button). Im guessing this is because one or both of the thermostats are bad. It is a heater with and upper and lower thermostat and they were working perfectly fine for years until one day i decided to turn them down to save on our energy costs and i ended up having to spend money fixing the heater! haha… oh well, can anyone help me figure out what type i need to get, is there a universal thermostat? or is each unit proprietary?

rel323 answers:

It could be a faulty thermostat or it may be an element. You really need someone that could test the components to see what the problem is.
I think it is probably coincidence that it’s happening now but you did nothing wrong by adjusting the thermostats.
I have seen elements that are cracked heat the water even when the thermostat is removing one side of the 220 volts as it can heat with the other side of the 220 volts and ground through the water.

Your Questions About Solar Powered Mini Fridge

rel323 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:00:20 +0000

Nancy asks…

how much does a solar powered mini fridge cost?

me and some friends are going to make a hang out like place and we plan on having it all well done. We figured since we get sun all day long we should get a mini fridge but, we want to know the prices so we can get an idea of how much money our dream hangout will cost.

rel323 answers:

Usually between $1000 and $2000.

Robert asks…

Solar Powered Mini Fridge ?

Does anyone know how big of a solar panel I would need to power a 12 volt 5 amp mini fridge ?

rel323 answers:

Fairly large, probably around 0.3 m^2 which is getting on for 60cm x 60cm, or if you prefer 2 feet x 2 feet (4 square feet).

In direct sunlight, a panel of this size could probably maintain a steady output of 60W, though what the voltage would be I do not know. The problem is that the sun doesn’t always shine, so you might need a much bigger panel and a battery.

It would probably be a fairly expensive piece of kit, I just looked at a couple of websites and for 60W of power you’re looking at about $400. A much cheaper way is to just buy a cool box and stick some ice or cold packs in there.

Donald asks…

Is it possible to put a mini fridge, a ps3, a 26″lcd tv in da trunk of a car.?

i’m wondering if an acura rsx can power all these up. nd is it possible to have these solar powered in da car? ps, these things dnt have to be in da trunk but i just want it to be

rel323 answers:

Coitanly! Just keep the fridge Separate from the electronics so it don’t blast a hole in them when it powers up. You know….separate inverter for it.

Don’t forget to add batteries and upgrade the alternator.

And it is best to SPEC it out before driving around with it.

David asks…

running mini fridge off battery possible? ideas inside?

Ok so i have a 12v 110w mini fridge that holds 6 soda cans. I thought of the idea the other day of getting a batter and a power inverter so i could run the fridge off a battery. I am wondering if this would work? how big the battery would have to be what kind of battery how long it would last and if there is any other way to power this fridge from a battery. Perhaps a solar source.

Any feedback, suggestions or advice would be appreciated thanks

rel323 answers:

Don’t go through a n inverter if the fridge is allready 12 volt , for the size of the fridge it draws a lot of current (10 amp at 12 volt ) so if you wanted to use a solar charger on a battery you want at least a 200 watt 12 volt panel as you don’t get 24 hr sun light and as for the battery use a deep cycle battery they are designed to discharge and recover better than auto batterys , hope this helps

Ken asks…

How much will a 40 watt solar panel power?

If I got a 40 watt solar panel kit would it provide enough energy for a couple fluorescent bulbs and an energy-efficient mini fridge? And also for charging a laptop? If not, how big of wattage would be needed? And WTF is the lingo for this stuff anyways? Thanks.

rel323 answers:

It will not power a fridge because even a small fridge pulls a few watts. With a hand held 75-100w inverter it will power 2 CFL bulbs 15w+15w =30w (Maybe). You need a small 12v battery with a small charge controller to keep a stable voltage so you do not damage your inverter.

Richard asks…

Using solar panels for………….?

I was wondering if it would be easy to power my 65 watt mini fridge with a solar panel somehow, and how i’d go about it. even at night, could artificial light power the fridge? That way all i need to do is have my usual light on to make the fridge work, I think? Please enlighten me, hehe..

rel323 answers:

Leaving a light on won’t work. If the fridge takes 65 watts then the panel will have to supply that energy. If the light bulb is 60 watts then it won’t put out enough light energy to power the panel will it ? If the light bulb is more than 65watts it still won’t work as the bulb is not 100% efficient and you need every scrap of the light to fall on the panel. In fact you need a very powerful light source to get energy out of a solar panel- we call it the sun.
The answers about using a battery are fine but you are going to need about £300.00 worth of kit to run this fridge. Panel, charge controller,battery and maybe inverter.

Carol asks…

Best place to solo camp in america?

Ok I am taking a 100watt solar panel to power a mini-fridge, music, laptop, fan, and whatever else. Water purifiers that can clean a liter a minute.. The works. Shotgun/.44 mag. I haveto camp near a water source and I love to fish. I love to snorkel with a speargun also. What is an awesome place to do all of this? Lake Tahoe? I hear that place is hard as hell to fish. And too cold to snorkel. I hear the Platte river in CO is one of the hardest rivers to fish. Anyone have any ideas?
Yea no kidding its not ‘camping’ you ever camp for 2 freaking months moron? A fridge to keep things cool. I camped out in iraq for 3 months without a shower, fridge, fan. Dont be a bitch asshole.

rel323 answers:

Taking a fridge, a laptop, and a fan? Why don’t you just rent an RV…. Cause what your doing with all that crap ain’t camping.

Your Questions About Turning Off Water Heater To Save Money

rel323 — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:00:09 +0000

Lizzie asks…

Trying to save money, will turning off my water heater for 12 hours a day help with electric bill how much…?

…how much do you think I will save a day from doing so…thank you for any insight you can give.

rel323 answers:

Not really since the thermostats basically do that anyway, unless the hot water isn’t being used for very long periods. The energy it takes to bring the temp back up nullifies any savings you might have gained.

George asks…

Turning off hot water in the house to save money?

I live with a family member in a full house who is crazy in the sense that she needs to do everything to save money for the bills. Every day for the past week (and few days here and there) I go to take a shower and notice there is no hot water. I know she pays the bills so it’s not that we had our hot water turned off or whichever.

Anyway.. Everytime I ask her if she’s turned off the hot water she ignores my question and replies with “just wait till it warms up” but it -never- warms up.

Now a friend of mine told me that she could be thinking that turning off the hot water will save money because the hot water heater isn’t using electricity to warm the hot water tank (I think that’s what it is called) in the basement.
But.. Wouldn’t it use more electricity to keep turning it off for hours at a time as the water would have cooled and it would need to heat it up MORE?

I hope this question makes sense.

rel323 answers:

Yes, it most certainly does. It takes four times as much energy to reheat cool water than it does to to keep the water heater on at all times. If you we to go on vacation then it makes sense to turn it off.

Helen asks…

Would turning off the water heater increase my electric bill?

I thought turning off the water heater is good when you’re not using hot water to save money. My friends say that will increase my electric bill if I do it because the water heater will have to work harder. Also, would having the hot water heater on prevent pipes from being frozen in the Winter or will that make no difference?
My water heater is one of the older ones an I don’t see a knob to change the temperature.

rel323 answers:

Assume your well water temp is 60 degrees and your house temp where the water heater is located is 70 degrees. If you only use the shower and wash dishes each evening around 6 pm, you could have the water heater shut off from around 7 pm until 5pm the following day. It would be heating your water, starting at 5pm from 65 degrees to 120 degrees. When you wash the dishes, you’ll use a small amount of hot water which will be replaced by slightly colder water than was in the tank at 5. When you take your shower after dinner, you’ll use a lot more of the hot water. If you shut off the water heater after the shower, the well water will come into the tank at 60 degrees, but the household heat source, not the water heater, will heat it back to 70 degrees over a period of time. Since your heater will only be on for two hours, the water in the tank will go back down to 70 degrees from 120 degrees. The next day you would need to heat it all back up again.

But what happens when you keep the water heater on? It doesn’t have to reheat the water you didn’t displace, but since the water is in the tank and in a room that is 70 degrees, not 120 degrees, it would have lost temperature without the heater turning on, right? So instead of saving money by keeping it warm all that time, it could actually cost more because it reheats the initial loss of heat over and over and over throughout the day. What matters is figuring out how often you have to use the hot water to make it cheaper to do that, vs heat it up from scratch each time you want to use it.

Jenny asks…

Save Money Turning ON/OFF Water Heater?

Hi,
So I’m talking to my sister who claimed she saves around 40-45 dollars a month on electricity by turning her electric water heater off when not needed.She turns it on an hour before hot water is needed.I dont know,I’m a bit skeptical,I know turning down the temperature and insulating your water heater helps with cost but what about shutting it off? What say you?

Thanks.

rel323 answers:

It probably depends on how often you use hot water, but yes, it would. Because the hotter something is, the more heat it tends to lose. If you’re keeping your hot water tank constantly hot, it will lose, and thus you will add, more heat than if you turned it off most of the time.

Of course, the question is whether the energy savings are worth any damage to or stress on the water heater systems, but I think, unlike doing similar with heating or cooling your house, it doesn’t particularly stress or damage the water heater to have to heat up the whole tank at once.

And, of course, during the summer (if your water heater is inside rather than outside), you’ll save a bit in electricity for your cooling system, assuming you have one, as there will be less heat escaping from the water heater to warm the house.

Laura asks…

Could I turn off my hot water heater during times of nonuse to save money?

Or would it be too much of a strain for it to be on and off all of the time and cause it to break down?

rel323 answers:

Go to a home improvement store and buy a timer. It really saves a lot of money.

Sharon asks…

save energy by turning water heater off?

a friend recently told us that he turns the water heater in his home off in the late morning, after taking a shower, and turns it back on early morning, about an hour before he showers. does this actually save energy/money? will doing this damage the water heater?

i know people turn water heaters off during extended periods of time (e.g. vacations), but is the day-to-day solution a good one?

rel323 answers:

This isn’t a good solution. Yes, it will save you money on electric or gas costs, but it is much harder on the water heater and will cause it to wear out much quicker.

If you want to save energy, wrap insulation around your water pipes to help conserve the heat in the water lines. Also, there is a new type of water heater that has been developed called a tankless water heater. Tankless water heaters save energy because unlike your traditional water heater, they have no tank. They basically heat the water on demand. So they heat it as you use it. If you’re that concerned about saving energy, consider buying a tankless water heater.

Ruth asks…

WIll it hurt a Hot Water Heater to turn off the breaker?

I work all day and only use the hot water in the evening. To save money, I’d like to turn off the hot water heater during the night. If I turn it off at the breaker-box, could that damage anything?
Actually, it’s a gas water heater. I saw on a site that the timers are “not as effective” for gas heaters, and I didn’t know what that meant.

rel323 answers:

Gas water heaters don’t use electricity and have no breaker, you want to save money wrap your heater in the fiberglass blankets and insule the pipes with foam tubes from your hareware store