On Fri, 11 Mar 2016 18:52:03 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 10 Mar 2016 19:25:29 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


All but one of my light bulbs (75w pump house warmth) is either CFL
or
LED. My electric bill is $40/mo, and I have a new timer for the
electric water heater. Once I get the new solar panels installed,
I'll also have a 24v 900w element going into that water heater,
replacing one of the two 240vac energy suckers. The timer will come
on for one hour, if necessary, each day before I get up. I'm not
going to feed the grid because that means I'd have to get a net
meter.

I simply disconnected the lower heater element so the bottom water
warms from ground to basement temperature by wood heat. The top
element operates normally from the grid, and the sink spray hose in my
shower reduces water use enough by shutting off when released for the
heater to keep up.

I put a new/used handheld shower sprayer in last month and it has a
shutoff between spray styles. Wet down, shut off, lather up, rinse,
done. Saves a lot of water, too, but I get the full-power spray, not
some sissy sink atomizer. I'm on well water, but don't abuse it.
GI showers, right?


The wood stove heats laundry or dish water as hot as needed. One of
the thermocouple channels displayed upstairs is dedicated to water or
food temperature, with a new Inconel probe because I don't know the
previous use of the second-hand probes.

I wouldn't reuse an old probe in food, either. How are you plumbed
the wood stove?


Doesn't Oregon have some regulation on how hot the water should be?
Mine runs 115~120F as the thermostat cycles.

From the state "How to Buy a Water Heater" info:
"Set your water heater thermostat at 125ºF. If it’s not hot enough,
inch it up 5 degrees at a time until you’re satisfied. (Dishwashers
now come with a booster that increases dishwasher water to 140ºF or
higher.) "

Mine's set to 120F, but I may boost that when I switch to single
element and solar backup. The existing thermostat for the bottom
element will work for the 24vdc element, so it may go to 140F.

We'll see how it goes, but I don't think the 240v element will stay on
for long, even without the timer in the circuit. I'll try it with
540w first, then more if necessary. My 50 gallon tank is 12 years
old, so I may be moving to a 20 during the switch.


The lower heater's thermostat is maxed out. I switch it back on when
an ice storm threatens to provide for several hot showers after the
hard work of storm cleanup.

Yeah, hot showers after storm cleanup are both nice and necessary.


This also sterilizes the tank at least
once a year although I'm on treated town water.

I never even thought to sterilize a water heater tank. Why would you?
A 3 gallon crock sits on my sink and I filter water into that for
cooking and drinking. I just backwashed the Point One filter this
morning before cleaning (quarterly) and refilling the crock.
http://tinyurl.com/gtz6ece Great filters. I keep one of these in my
BOB: http://tinyurl.com/z2a5lsp

--
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at
a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.
--Thomas Carlyle