How do you save on the electric bill

[Fern]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

Pennywise, besides putting the insultating blanket around the hot water
heater, get an auto thermostat for it, just like many people ha ve for
their furnace. The hot water heater heats the water ROUND THE CLOCK so
you always have hot water. That's wasteful, as most of us could easily
determine different times of the day or night when they know they won't
be using or needing hot water, like during the day when they're at
work, or at night while they're sleeping. I have mine programmed to only
heat the water for THREE hours in a 24 hour period, from around 6 to 9
p.m. (I shower at night.) Even in the am, i still have water hot enough
for my needs.

[niki_the_tiger]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

Are the auto thermostats expensive or hard to install? That sounds like a good idea! Do they save a lot of money (enough to pay for itself?)?

-Niki

[CRFSaver]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

I dont pay for my electricity at the moment as it is included in my rent. But I did notice that my room mates got a really expensive special filter for teh furnace that from my perspective increased their electricity bill. That thing is so restrictive I can see why the A/C doesnt keep the house cool. I grew up using the 50 cent filters. Do you guys have any experience with this?

[34saving]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

Homedepot.com looks like it has one for about $40 (don't know if they're generally cheaper or more expensive). Doesn't look like rocket science to install, but it's hard to tell from the description. Seems to work a lot like our hottub timer, which makes sense. Now, anybody have any ideas about how long it takes for bacteria levels to become unhealthful? (And whether bacteria would die once the water is reheated?)

[CRFSaver]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

My room mates have had two programable thermostats. They ended up taking the first one back and spending the extra 30 bucks to get the better one. It has more functionality. For example, the cheap one you could only program for the day, not for the week. So on the weekends we were always down trying to set the temp to reflect we were home in the middle of the day. Also, the first one never seemed to work right anyway. They bought the honeywell brand and have been quite happy with it.

[gakline]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

I bought a $25 from Menards and it cut my electric in my apartment. My July to next year July was about $20 difference. I took it with me when I moved. It was very easy to install. The wires should be colored the same, just pay attention before you unwire or take pictures.

As far a filter, I have a reusable one. I think I'm suppose to hose it off every few months, but I don't...hmm maybe tonight.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

I gotta ask, since the heater will try to heat the water to the 130 (or whatever) doesn't it cost just as much to reheat as it would to keep it there? I have heard that about air conditioning, costs more to drop from 90 to 74 than to keep the house at 74?

And wouldn't the bacteria issue be a problem for the 'off' hours? unless you have a thermometer checking to see if the water was back up to temp you wouldn't know if it killed off the yuckyness before you used it. Does heating water to 130 even kill the stuff or just prevent it from growing?

[mom-from-missouri]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

I think you are correct on the reheat issue--for regular daily use. When I turned mine off, it was while we were on an extended vacation. I think you would really only save when you had it off for more than several days (then I would recommend you drain and refill it, which could be another expense if you pay for your water)
As for your bacteria question, are you on well water or city water? I would contact either your local extension office or santation department and ask them your questions. Different parts of the country probably have different bacteria issues. Right now, in southern missouri there are several towns that have ecoli in their water systems--because their water comes from some lakes that have a geese issue.--Those towns can't use their water for any inside use until the problem is corrected--another couple of weeks they think. Meanwhile-some of the ecoli may already be in some of those homes hotwater heaters. So, I would check and see what temp they recommend for your area based on bacteria in your area.

[Fern]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

I think the water does not cool off as quickly as you might think. Don't forget, it's in a completely contained environment, unlike a room that loses the cool air from an AC quickly.

I am on city water which is treated with chlorine, which kills anything, so bacteria is not an issue.

I can't really say how much $ it saves, but it's relatively easy to install (a friend did mine for me) and i never noticed any difference in terms of hot water availability or anything else.

[CRFSaver]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

My room mate was complaining about the electricity bill last night. So I asked her, do you want to know how to save money on electricity? Her smart @ss remark was, turn off the fans in your rooms? (like they take up that much energy) I said, why do you need to do the heated dry in the dishwasher, do you realize how much energy that takes up? "well I dont like wet plates" Then stop complaining about the electricity bill!

[cercis]

Re: How do you save on the electric bill

oh please, how wet are they? And does she really unload it the minute the dishwasher is done? Open the door when it starts the dry cycle and within a fairly short period of time (even in the humid climates I've lived in) the dishes are dry. Another good thing on this is that if a dish or glass doesn't come fully clean, the stuff on/in it won't be baked on and will come off much easier.