On Apr 9, 6:39�pm, Paul M. Eldridge
wrote:
On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 14:59:35 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
No, it's not clear at all to me that is the case. � Because contrary
to your claim, in my experience most water heaters I've seen, from NJ
through New England are NOT in conditioned spaces. � Most are in an
unfinished basement. That's where mine is. �Some others are in
garages. � I would say only a minority are in conditioned living
spaces. � In all the condos and homes I've lived in, I have never had
a water heater in the living space. �I know they exist, but the point
is, they are not the majority of cases. �Even where you have one in a
utility closet, it's not clear to me how much of that waste heat gets
into the living space itself, as opposed to just raising the temp of
the closet that it's in.

Now, even hallerb apparently conceeds that most of the standby loss is
up the flue. � And the rest of the loss, that escapes the tank sides,
doesn't by some miracle all go into the living space above. � In fact,
I would bet that in a water heater in the basement, which is a typical
case, only a small amount, probably unmeasureable makes it up there.

As is true of most every home in my neighbourhood, my DHW tank is
located in a finished basement so 100 per cent of its heat loss is
usable over the course of the heating season; in this case, a span of
some seven months -- eight for thermal wimps.

Even unfinished basements, unless the floor joists are well insulated,
are thermally connected to the conditioned space above. �In fact,
according to one Ontario Hydro study, 25 per cent of a home's heat
loss occurs through the basement. �Until it reaches equilibrium, heat
will eventually migrate throughout the building structure, regardless
of its point of origin.

Cheers,
Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

ahh tank vs tankless, while posters get their panties in a wad, they
could be getting a energy audit where they evaluate your insulation
and check for air leaks.

heating water standby losses are just one of many standby things in
your home eating energy.

how old and how efficent is your furnace? using LED or CF lights to
save power, are all your appliances energy star rated?

how about the SUV in your driveway? or do you drive a small fuel
efficent car?

theres a million ways to waste energy, hot water is just one.........

are all your hot water lines insulated?