Electric Saving Tips

[RavensRoost]

Ceiling fans do not cool the air or the house. They make you (your body) feel cooler though because the breeze they generate evaporates moisture from your skin. So they can be used to compensate for elevating the t-stat setting...sort of. Work fairly well in a dry climate, less well in humid climates. Some people incorrectly believe they really do cool the room and leave them all on which is actually going backwards from an energy saving perspective (but a plus for comfort).

We have a single hot water solar panel on out (flat) garage roof circulating to an 80 gallon HW heater here in Phoenix and use virtually no electricty to heat water in the summer for sure, and works surprisingly well in winter/fall/spring as long as it is sunny. If you are in a fairly sunny area and are going to be in the place long enough for it to pay back, they really do work. (If you are in cold climate, you need to use a "closed" system e.g. one that uses a small heat exchanger with glycol on the outside loop and plain water on the inside/HW loop.) Mine came with the house when we bought 12 years ago so did not get any tax break, did have to pay for a new HW heater and some other upgrades a few years ago.

RavensRoost

 

[sunspot]

Has anyone heard of the Marathon electric water heater?
Marathon Water Heaters
They are expensive at around $800 but would they be worth it in the long run?

 

[MossRoad]

Ceiling fans do not cool the air or the house.

RavensRoost

In our house, the cool air comes in through the windows and the fan moves it along to the rest of the house, helping to cool it. The air cools the house, but the fan moves the cool air, so it does help to cool the house.

 

[SpringHollow]

we installed a vacuum insulated solar hot water system on someone's house that ran for 20 years heating their house, indoor swimming pool, and domestic water - it worked great and Rochester is one of the cloudiest cities in the winter.

I would be there checking on the system, first thing in the morning and it would be raining, and the system would literally be making boiling water. The manufacturer went out of business when the solar tax credits ended in the late 80's.

Ken

 

[bigshovel]

Just installed a whole house fan with an automatic attic fan on thermostat. So far I see no to little need for A/C. It took about 10 hours and three hundred bucks and a little swearing but wow does it cool down the house quick. It also allowed me to turn off three cieling fans and the dehumidifier seems to run less. Only the electric bill will tell.

Brad

 

[heehaw]

i've only seen this done a couple times: run a air duct into the attic to supply air to your cloths dryer: the air is already hot so the dryer doesn't have to heat it as much.
I've read about the Marathon water heaters: lifetime warranty against leaking: really low standby loss, but it still heats the water the same way all electric water heaters do...using a lot of electricity...
heehaw

 

[zeuspaul]

Put your tea kettle on the shelf and get an electric tea kettle for heating water for tea or pre heating water for general cooking. I have the Aroma (got mine at Target) If you heat water on a range the little electric ones will save energy. I have a propane range and this thing is much more efficient than heating water with propane.

Aroma AWK-115S - 1.5-Liter Stainless Steel X-Press Water Kettle

Zeuspaul

 

[VA_Joe]

I just read a realy good article in the latest issue of Journal of Light Construction called A Close Look at Common Energy Claims.

JLC Online - Where Contractors Go To Work on the Web

There were two things that interested me in the article. One was the savings you get from upgrading from single to double pained windows and how long it takes to make up that price in energy savings. Usually 20 plus years. The other was the use of caulking to seal up the house. I use caulking for painting, but not for weather proofing, so it's not something I had really thought about. I've heard TV shows and even the local news stations recomend caulking to seal up a home, and just assumed it accomplished something. The article explains why this is not true and how caulking in the wrong places is actually a very bad thing to do. Which I know, but never considered others would do this until reading the story.

Eddie

I read it - interesting article. I do think they missed an important aspect with the windows. It all depends on where you live and how cold it gets. If the windows don't have a good mechanical seal or if they are situated in a location such that they result in a cold zone that causes the homeowner to significantly turn up the central heat in the rest of the house to make up for it - then it is probably worthwhile to do the replacement.

Joe

 

[riptides]

Interesting topic.

I might add get rid of your kids if you have them. Since school is now out I can expect my electirc bill to triple. Seriously.

When I was in the middle east we actually had our cold water stores on the roof of our villa. Brilliant idea. We turned off our hot water heaters inside the villa and used them as cold instead.

You could always see the rookies in the compound as they sported a nice scalding rash in the morning debriefs.

It was a learned behaviour. That, and avoid drinking tap water.

So, it is a good idea if your in sunny areas to have the sun heat water. Anyway you can do it, even for an outdoor shower!

 

[dmccarty]

I have heard this statement many times but I don't agree with it. I have ceiling fans in every room of my home because they were here when I bought it.

Well, we bought 'em. Lots of them. They work for us. We put one in every major room in the house and one on the porch. Moving the air helps keep you cool.

We have reversed the fans in the winter to pull the hot air from the ceiling. Since we have 10 foot ceilings I figured there would be lots of heat up there from the wood stove we use to heat the house. The air temps when up a degree or so with the fans reversed. BUT with the ever so slight breeze we felt cooler. Not a good thing in winter we just let the air mix normally.

Later,
Dan