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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Why Heat Water All Day When A Shower Takes 5 Minutes?



My old electric water heater was approaching 20 years of age. But the worst part of it was that it was on one end of the house and my shower was 90 feet away on the other end. When I turned on the water - it took forever for the shower to get hot. I was wasting tons of water and electricity just for my daily shower. After my shower - the water heater slugged it out all day keeping 50 gallons hot for 24 hours until my next bath.

The city was offering a $675 rebate to swap out an old electric one with a new gas water heater. After getting 5 bids - one plumber suggest I install a tankless gas water heater. Several plumbers bid between $2000 and $3000 for a Rennai tankless water heater installation. Seminole Plumbing bid $1400 - but the best part was they could hang it on the wall directly outside of my shower stall. The hot water would only have to travel 6 inches. Also when the faucet is turned off - the water heater shuts off - not wasting money. Notice I didn't say fuel - I said money. I love saving money.

The installation was very simple. We just drilled a hole in the outside wall right by the faucet and connected the tankless water heater to the hot water pipe there. We already has a gas line and meter at that location - so there was very little added expense of running long water or gas lines.

Supposedly this water heater will save $30 a month in utility bills. I will report on that later. Now all we have to do is eagerly await that city rebate check. Also - it will be nice sitting in London know that we aren't wasting money making hot water back home.