The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:06:21 -0000 (UTC), Vlad Lescovitz
wrote:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Can't you limit hot water waste to just 25 gallons, per creature?

On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, ...

Can't say as I blames 'em...

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Well the water side is pretty easy -- it's 8.33 Btu/gal/F at 100%
efficiency. Assume the heater is closer to 70% or so, so that would be
12 Btu/gal/F. If inlet temp were 55F,

(135-55)dF*50gal*12Btu/gal/F=48,000 Btu

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Now that depends on the house and we've no data at all...

--

On 12/30/2015 5:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

Are any of the controls electronic? If so, set the temperature
to be lower at the time of day that they take their showers.
Make it less comfortable.

Or, expect them to be rational beings and not wasteful of
energy!

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Depends on how big (small) the house AND how satisfied they
will be living with shorter showers in a SLIGHTLY warmer house!

On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


The heat capacity of water is four times that of air.
That's on a weight basis and air is 784 times less dense than water.
You could do a rough calculation on this basis. You'd need the volume
of air in your house to make the comparison.

On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


If your furnace is a 90 percenter, most likely cheaper
to use the furnace. Most WH are about 70% efficient.

From here, the big expense is the 50 plus gal of warm
water that go down the drain.

As to the WH, it takes one BTU to raise one pound of
water one degree F. So, you can measure the temp of cold,
temp of hot, and get the temp rise the WH provides.

You can run the furnace some morning, see how long it
runs to warm up the house. Look at the BTUH rating of
the furnace.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Whoa! Water temp. is at 135 deg and indoor temp. at 55 deg.?
If I keep temp. like that I'd have revolt from all member of
my family. That is barely ~14.5C. If OP has to keep it that way
how about changing shower head to water saving type? Any one in
the family catching cold? 135 deg. is lower than that of some hot
springs in the Rockies.

Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.


55 degrees? Yer lucky you're not divorced

On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers,

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


Your life would be happier at 65 to 68 degrees. Your wife's new husband
will keep it that warm, maybe even 70.

Tony Hwang wrote:
Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Whoa! Water temp. is at 135 deg and indoor temp. at 55 deg.?
If I keep temp. like that I'd have revolt from all member of
my family. That is barely ~14.5C. If OP has to keep it that way
how about changing shower head to water saving type? Any one in
the family catching cold? 135 deg. is lower than that of some hot
springs in the Rockies.

135 would be WAY too hot for me, and I like hot hot springs.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers,

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


Your life would be happier at 65 to 68 degrees. Your wife's new
husband will keep it that warm, maybe even 70.

Or, just convince everyone that they can wear more clothing and be comfy even at
55. My house sometimes gets down to 45, and we do fine. Of course, we do have a
super-insulated hottub for desired warm-ups.

On 12/30/2015 8:39 PM, Bob F wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers,

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


Your life would be happier at 65 to 68 degrees. Your wife's new
husband will keep it that warm, maybe even 70.

Or, just convince everyone that they can wear more clothing and be comfy even at
55. My house sometimes gets down to 45, and we do fine. Of course, we do have a
super-insulated hottub for desired warm-ups.

Ha! I will have to recount this thread to SWMBO. We let the temp
drop to ~63 at night and ~68 during daylight hours (of course, it
can often exceed that outdoors even in the winter) and she grumbles
about being cold... ("Turn up the heat if you're cold; but, *I* am
sweating!")

OTOH, I notice that women tend to *feel* cold moreso than men.
I dropped SWMBO off at one of her classes a week or two back
and one of her classmates was shivering violently (probably
40F at that hour of the morning). She put her palms on my face
and I damn near jumped out of my skin! I put *mine* on hers
and it was as if there was a sizzling sound from their warmth
against her face. Awkward as she insisted on holding my hands
there... ("Honest, Honey, I don't KNOW the lady!!")

Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory an
adequate level of wintertime warmth is 21 °C (70 °F) for a living
room, and a minimum of 18 °C (64 °F) for other occupied rooms, giving
24 °C (75 °F) as a maximum comfortable room temperature for sedentary
adults. At temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F), increased risk of
death has been observed, and winter deaths reportedly rise at a rate
of about 1.4% per degree below 18 °C (64 °F).

Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.

--
Dan Espen

Don Y wrote:
On 12/30/2015 8:39 PM, Bob F wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 12/30/2015 7:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers,

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


Your life would be happier at 65 to 68 degrees. Your wife's new
husband will keep it that warm, maybe even 70.

Or, just convince everyone that they can wear more clothing and be
comfy even at
55. My house sometimes gets down to 45, and we do fine. Of course, we
do have a
super-insulated hottub for desired warm-ups.

Ha! I will have to recount this thread to SWMBO. We let the temp
drop to ~63 at night and ~68 during daylight hours (of course, it
can often exceed that outdoors even in the winter) and she grumbles
about being cold... ("Turn up the heat if you're cold; but, *I* am
sweating!")

OTOH, I notice that women tend to *feel* cold moreso than men.
I dropped SWMBO off at one of her classes a week or two back
and one of her classmates was shivering violently (probably
40F at that hour of the morning). She put her palms on my face
and I damn near jumped out of my skin! I put *mine* on hers
and it was as if there was a sizzling sound from their warmth
against her face. Awkward as she insisted on holding my hands
there... ("Honest, Honey, I don't KNOW the lady!!")

Woman in menopause has hot flash.

On Wednesday, December 30, 2015 at 10:32:41 PM UTC-6, net cop wrote:
Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory an
adequate level of wintertime warmth is 21 °C (70 °F) for a living
room, and a minimum of 18 °C (64 °F) for other occupied rooms, giving
24 °C (75 °F) as a maximum comfortable room temperature for sedentary
adults. At temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F), increased risk of
death has been observed, and winter deaths reportedly rise at a rate
of about 1.4% per degree below 18 °C (64 °F).

Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.
--
Dan Espen

I have the air conditioner set to 68F because I wan't the humidity lowered from the 92% it is outside. I can be comfortable at 78F if the humidity is low enough. Š™.˜‰

[8~{} Uncle Stuffy Monster

Dan Espen wrote:
Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory an
adequate level of wintertime warmth is 21 °C (70 °F) for a living
room, and a minimum of 18 °C (64 °F) for other occupied rooms, giving
24 °C (75 °F) as a maximum comfortable room temperature for sedentary
adults. At temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F), increased risk of
death has been observed, and winter deaths reportedly rise at a rate
of about 1.4% per degree below 18 °C (64 °F).

Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.

Eskimo Igloo may be warmer than 55 deg., LOL!
Our thermostat is programmed at 20.5C and 18.0C.
When we're away on vacation, at 14.5C all the time
in winter, 23.5C in summer. Any how I can remotely
adjust the settings any time any where if there is
Internet access.

On 12/30/2015 9:50 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:

OTOH, I notice that women tend to *feel* cold moreso than men.
I dropped SWMBO off at one of her classes a week or two back
and one of her classmates was shivering violently (probably
40F at that hour of the morning). She put her palms on my face
and I damn near jumped out of my skin! I put *mine* on hers
and it was as if there was a sizzling sound from their warmth
against her face. Awkward as she insisted on holding my hands
there... ("Honest, Honey, I don't KNOW the lady!!")

Woman in menopause has hot flash.

No, this woman's hands were genuinely cold ("I damn near jumped
out of my skin!") while mine were *warm*. I think male/female
circulation must be different.

Likewise, women tend to be more "bundled up" than men when you
see them out-and-about. Hard to imagine they're just "less
manly"...

On 12/30/2015 10:55 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Internet access.

got my gas bill today 70.95 for the month it runs around 25 dollars for
non heating months. So 45 bucks to keep from freezing for a month,
that's a pretty good deal, keep on fracking.

Don Y wrote:
On 12/30/2015 9:50 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:

OTOH, I notice that women tend to *feel* cold moreso than men.
I dropped SWMBO off at one of her classes a week or two back
and one of her classmates was shivering violently (probably
40F at that hour of the morning). She put her palms on my face
and I damn near jumped out of my skin! I put *mine* on hers
and it was as if there was a sizzling sound from their warmth
against her face. Awkward as she insisted on holding my hands
there... ("Honest, Honey, I don't KNOW the lady!!")

Woman in menopause has hot flash.

No, this woman's hands were genuinely cold ("I damn near jumped
out of my skin!") while mine were *warm*. I think male/female
circulation must be different.

Likewise, women tend to be more "bundled up" than men when you
see them out-and-about. Hard to imagine they're just "less
manly"...

~90% of woman has under active thyroid(hypo thyroid symptom). When it is
border line case, blood test does not register. Main cause of weight
gain, poor energy, poor mood, feeling like depressed, even could cause
constipation, sleep problem, etc. In this case there is a way to confirm
the symptom by BBT method. Dr. Barne's Basal temperature method.

Outside woman's period time, when she wakes up in the morning, stay in
bed and measure the body temperature. It has to be minimum 36.2C. If
lower than that, she has under active thyroid. Common medication for
that is Synthroid(commonly called thyroid pills) carefully measured dose
according to blood test. The drug is taken once a day in the morning and
it lasts about 5 -6 hours. Long term use or over dose has side effects.

That is why some woman feels always cold. There are quite a few natural
supplements and vitamins, minerals which will help the situation. Also
Thyroid gland affects female hormone state. These women suffer more when
menopause hits. Over the year we came across hundreds of women with this
problem. Doctors were most often no help because they only look at blood
test result. Nowadays we even see men or children with the problem. It
is said thyroid gland is most sensitive to environmental
change(pollution). Since Japan's Tsunami, nuclear power plant accident,
there is an increase in thyroid problems in Japan.

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:06:21 -0000 (UTC), Vlad Lescovitz
wrote:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees

55 feels nice when you're outside, even without much sunlight, but
somehow anything short of 66 or 68 feels cold inside.

so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

It might be. Or she could take a shower in a bathtub with a closed
drain. For one thing you could see how many gallons it really is
(because it might be less than 50, since cold water mixes with the hot
water in the WH and the mixture is probably too cold to shower with
before the entire 50 gallons are used.)

Then when she got out, all the heat in the water in the tub woudl
eventually be released into the house. When the water was cold, you
could drain it out. (This allows more dirt to settle out of the
water onto the tub, but if your wife is pretty clean, that might not
be much. )

More importantly, it puts more humidity into the house that will make
it feel 4, 6, maybe 8 degrees warmer (let me know). When my furnace
has been broken, or when the LL gave no heat, I boil water on the
stove. A big pot that will hold a basketball takes 3 or 4 hours to
evaporate, and has a greater warming effect, and one that fills the
whole house, than just running the stove burner without the pot of
water does, and more than a room heater does, certainly in the same
length of time but in more time too.

Everytime I say this, people here talk about damage from water running
down the inside of the windows, but water like that almost never
happens and no damage has happened, and in my case it woudl be easy to
paint the window sills. But mostly insulated windows are not that
cold.

I usually take a bath every day, and when I'm thinking about it, the
amount of now-warm water going down the drain bothers me.

My 2 Cents wrote:
On 12/30/2015 10:55 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Internet access.

got my gas bill today 70.95 for the month it runs around 25 dollars for
non heating months. So 45 bucks to keep from freezing for a month,
that's a pretty good deal, keep on fracking.

Our bill includes power, gas, water(tap water, sewer service), garbage
pick up(waste, recyclable), snow removal on the walking path in the
park. ~400.00 CAD in the winter. Your gas pump price is lower than ours.
Right now 1.25 CAD/Litre for 91 Octane gasoline which my car needs.
There are two known cases of minor quakes due to fracking, one in
Northern B.C., one in Northern Alberta. Fracking co, is hurting too
because of low price of oil...

On Wed, 30 Dec 2015 23:32:34 -0500, Dan Espen
wrote:

Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory an
adequate level of wintertime warmth is 21 °C (70 °F) for a living
room, and a minimum of 18 °C (64 °F) for other occupied rooms, giving
24 °C (75 °F) as a maximum comfortable room temperature for sedentary
adults. At temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F), increased risk of
death has been observed,

Wow. I'll have to watch myself to see if I can discern my risk of
deaht.

and winter deaths reportedly rise at a rate
of about 1.4% per degree below 18 °C (64 °F).

Cause and effect. Maybe the ones about to die are too weak to turn
the heat up?

Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.

I've had furnace problems over the years, and I now keep 2
thermomoters next to the bed. When it's below 60 it's hard to get out
of bed, even to go push the Reset button on the furnace.

Micky wrote:
On Wed, 30 Dec 2015 23:32:34 -0500, Dan Espen
wrote:

Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory an
adequate level of wintertime warmth is 21 °C (70 °F) for a living
room, and a minimum of 18 °C (64 °F) for other occupied rooms, giving
24 °C (75 °F) as a maximum comfortable room temperature for sedentary
adults. At temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F), increased risk of
death has been observed,

Wow. I'll have to watch myself to see if I can discern my risk of
deaht.

and winter deaths reportedly rise at a rate
of about 1.4% per degree below 18 °C (64 °F).

Cause and effect. Maybe the ones about to die are too weak to turn
the heat up?

Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.

I've had furnace problems over the years, and I now keep 2
thermomoters next to the bed. When it's below 60 it's hard to get out
of bed, even to go push the Reset button on the furnace.

You need furnace remote control?

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 01:38:12 -0500, Micky
wrote:

It might be. Or she could take a shower in a bathtub with a closed
drain. For one thing you could see how many gallons it really is
(because it might be less than 50, since cold water mixes with the hot
water in the WH and the mixture is probably too cold to shower with
before the entire 50 gallons are used.)

I've always preferred baths over showers. I always let the bath water in
the tub (during the heating season), until it's cold. Then I drain it.
If I leave the bathroom door shut with a tub full of hot water, the
bathroom is 10 to 20 deg warmer than the rest of the house.

I notice my furnace running less often too when there is hot water in
the tub. That hot water acts like a radiator. Why let it go down the
drain?

Then when she got out, all the heat in the water in the tub woudl
eventually be released into the house. When the water was cold, you
could drain it out. (This allows more dirt to settle out of the
water onto the tub, but if your wife is pretty clean, that might not
be much. )

It might take a few seconds more, and an extra squirt of tub cleaner, to
clean the tub. No biggie!!! That saved heat is more valuable!

By the way, if you have some wet and slightly dirty gloves or socks from
shoveling snow, I toss them in the tub after I finish bathing, swish
them around, wring them with my hands and place them above a heat
register to dry.
You dont need to waste energy to run a washing machine and dryer just
for some gloves/socks, and the gloves/socks by the register or radiator
add some humidity to the house too.

More importantly, it puts more humidity into the house that will make
it feel 4, 6, maybe 8 degrees warmer (let me know). When my furnace
has been broken, or when the LL gave no heat, I boil water on the
stove. A big pot that will hold a basketball takes 3 or 4 hours to
evaporate, and has a greater warming effect, and one that fills the
whole house, than just running the stove burner without the pot of
water does, and more than a room heater does, certainly in the same
length of time but in more time too.

Everytime I say this, people here talk about damage from water running
down the inside of the windows, but water like that almost never
happens and no damage has happened, and in my case it woudl be easy to
paint the window sills. But mostly insulated windows are not that
cold.

I usually take a bath every day, and when I'm thinking about it, the
amount of now-warm water going down the drain bothers me.

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 01:13:40 -0600, wrote:

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 01:38:12 -0500, Micky
wrote:

It might be. Or she could take a shower in a bathtub with a closed
drain. For one thing you could see how many gallons it really is
(because it might be less than 50, since cold water mixes with the hot
water in the WH and the mixture is probably too cold to shower with
before the entire 50 gallons are used.)

I've always preferred baths over showers. I always let the bath water in
the tub (during the heating season), until it's cold. Then I drain it.
If I leave the bathroom door shut with a tub full of hot water, the
bathroom is 10 to 20 deg warmer than the rest of the house.

I notice my furnace running less often too when there is hot water in
the tub. That hot water acts like a radiator. Why let it go down the
drain?

The only reason is the dirt that settles out. Oh, and once I left
the tub water dripping and it almost overflowed the tub!

Then when she got out, all the heat in the water in the tub woudl
eventually be released into the house. When the water was cold, you
could drain it out. (This allows more dirt to settle out of the
water onto the tub, but if your wife is pretty clean, that might not
be much. )

It might take a few seconds more, and an extra squirt of tub cleaner, to
clean the tub. No biggie!!! That saved heat is more valuable!

I'm still using the bathtub brush my mother bought from me when I was
a Fuller Brush Man, in 1964. It's like a toilet bowl brush, with
twisted wire holding the bristles, just in a different shape.
Triangular, instead of round. Most of the bristles that face out
have been smashed down and run sideways now, but I tried to twist the
hole wire so the interior bristles would face out again, the wire was
too tough to do it the way I tried. Maybe I'll use a vice.

But tonilght because of this thread, I thought I'd look for a
replacement brush. If the first one lasted 51 years, I'll have to
live to 120 to get 51 years out of the second one. But they don't
seem to sell one like the one I have, anymore. Darn. They have long
handles, like mops, or other differences.

By the way, if you have some wet and slightly dirty gloves or socks from
shoveling snow, I toss them in the tub after I finish bathing, swish
them around, wring them with my hands and place them above a heat
register to dry.
You dont need to waste energy to run a washing machine and dryer just
for some gloves/socks, and the gloves/socks by the register or radiator
add some humidity to the house too.

Good idea.

I put a diverter in my dryer output, so that I send the hot air
outside during the summer and inside during the winter.

Of course the dryer is broken now and I've been drying all my laundry
on the shower bar. I've been avoiding washing towels, because
they'll drip all the way upstairs.

Not about wetness, but when I was little, my mother would take my coat
out of the closet, which was surprisingly cold, and put it over the
hot air vent so it would be warm when I went to school.

More importantly, it puts more humidity into the house that will make
it feel 4, 6, maybe 8 degrees warmer (let me know). When my furnace
has been broken, or when the LL gave no heat, I boil water on the
stove. A big pot that will hold a basketball takes 3 or 4 hours to
evaporate, and has a greater warming effect, and one that fills the
whole house, than just running the stove burner without the pot of
water does, and more than a room heater does, certainly in the same
length of time but in more time too.

Everytime I say this, people here talk about damage from water running
down the inside of the windows, but water like that almost never
happens and no damage has happened, and in my case it woudl be easy to
paint the window sills. But mostly insulated windows are not that
cold.

I usually take a bath every day, and when I'm thinking about it, the
amount of now-warm water going down the drain bothers me.

Don Y wrote:
On 12/30/2015 5:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

Are any of the controls electronic? If so, set the temperature
to be lower at the time of day that they take their showers.
Make it less comfortable.

Or, expect them to be rational beings and not wasteful of
energy!

Rational? You're talking rational to a despot who keeps his house at 55
degrees??

On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen)

How poor are you that you can only afford to keep your house at 55 F?
There's no way in hell I'd subject my family to that unless
financially I had no choice - and I'm a tightass.

I keep our house at 58 F at night, 62 F during the day - but I allow
an override up to 65 F if anyone's at home.

If you're not doing this out of financial desperation, then your
family is entitled to do whatever the hell they need to do to beat you
at your skinflint game.

On 12/30/2015 11:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Yeah, I don't have to do the math.
Most of the heat put in the water leaves by way of the drain.

So, is it you trying to force your family to live at 55?
That's just cruel.


During the Carter years, "55; it's not just a good
idea... it's the law!"

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Thursday, December 31, 2015 at 8:11:46 AM UTC-5, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen)

How poor are you that you can only afford to keep your house at 55 F?
There's no way in hell I'd subject my family to that unless
financially I had no choice - and I'm a tightass.

I keep our house at 58 F at night, 62 F during the day - but I allow
an override up to 65 F if anyone's at home.

You *allow* an override?

How gracious of you!


If you're not doing this out of financial desperation, then your
family is entitled to do whatever the hell they need to do to beat you
at your skinflint game.

On 12/30/2015 11:32 PM, Dan Espen wrote:
Vlad Lescovitz writes:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.



Why the wife doesn't just turn up the thermostat is a mystery.


Domestic abuse is like that. The woman feels powerless and fears
leaving. Don't know the reason here, but it could be a factor.

On 12/31/2015 4:23 AM, dadiOH wrote:
Don Y wrote:
On 12/30/2015 5:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

Are any of the controls electronic? If so, set the temperature
to be lower at the time of day that they take their showers.
Make it less comfortable.

Or, expect them to be rational beings and not wasteful of
energy!

Rational? You're talking rational to a despot who keeps his house at 55
degrees??

We don't know *why* he keeps his house at 55 degrees! Perhaps
there are economic issues at play? When I was a kid, I'd catch hell
for opening the refrigerator and just standing there, "shopping":
"Close it until you've made up your mind".

On 12/31/2015 4:43 AM, Micky wrote:


Of course the dryer is broken now and I've been drying all my laundry
on the shower bar. I've been avoiding washing towels, because
they'll drip all the way upstairs.


If they come out still dripping, you washer is not performing well.
They should be wet, but not so much as to drip after spinning.



I usually take a bath every day, and when I'm thinking about it, the
amount of now-warm water going down the drain bothers me.


As paintedcow says, leave the water until it is cooled to extract the
heat. Good idea.

"Bob F" wrote in message
...
Tony Hwang wrote:
Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?

Whoa! Water temp. is at 135 deg and indoor temp. at 55 deg.?
If I keep temp. like that I'd have revolt from all member of
my family. That is barely ~14.5C. If OP has to keep it that way
how about changing shower head to water saving type? Any one in
the family catching cold? 135 deg. is lower than that of some hot
springs in the Rockies.

135 would be WAY too hot for me, and I like hot hot springs.



Probably blended with cold water.

Turn the temp of the water heater down.

"Vlad Lescovitz" wrote in message
...
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


Tell them to put on a sweater in the shower.

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:49:23 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 12/31/2015 4:43 AM, Micky wrote:


Of course the dryer is broken now and I've been drying all my laundry
on the shower bar. I've been avoiding washing towels, because
they'll drip all the way upstairs.


If they come out still dripping, you washer is not performing well.
They should be wet, but not so much as to drip after spinning.

Maybe they don't drip; I"m not sure. I thought they were just wet
when horizontal but if any part hung down, the water collected and it
dripped. (I had a hard time tightening the belt enough to make it
start spinning without my help, and I think I need a new belt. It's 36
years old too.)

I'm also afraid to hang too much weight on the shower rod, one wet
towel seems like the maximum.


I usually take a bath every day, and when I'm thinking about it, the
amount of now-warm water going down the drain bothers me.


As paintedcow says, leave the water until it is cooled to extract the
heat. Good idea.

Okay.

On 12/31/2015 10:44 AM, Don Y wrote:
On 12/31/2015 4:23 AM, dadiOH wrote:
Rational? You're talking rational to a despot who keeps his house at 55
degrees??

We don't know *why* he keeps his house at 55 degrees! Perhaps
there are economic issues at play? When I was a kid, I'd catch hell
for opening the refrigerator and just standing there, "shopping":
"Close it until you've made up your mind".


I used to (and still do) get crabbed by Mom if
I walk out of a room and leave a light on.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 12/31/2015 8:45 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, December 31, 2015 at 8:11:46 AM UTC-5, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen)

How poor are you that you can only afford to keep your house at 55 F?
There's no way in hell I'd subject my family to that unless
financially I had no choice - and I'm a tightass.

I keep our house at 58 F at night, 62 F during the day - but I allow
an override up to 65 F if anyone's at home.

You *allow* an override?

How gracious of you!


It's my house, and I'm the one that pays the bills, so unless they
want to provide money for the energy bill, it's my call. That's how I
was raised and it always made perfect sense to me. It's reasonably
comfortable as long as you're dressed for winter, not summer, meaning
long pants, socks, and sweaters or sweatshirts. If you're sitting
still, grab a lap blanket.

On 12/31/2015 7:11 AM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen)

How poor are you that you can only afford to keep your house at 55 F?
There's no way in hell I'd subject my family to that unless financially
I had no choice - and I'm a tightass.

I keep our house at 58 F at night, 62 F during the day - but I allow an
override up to 65 F if anyone's at home.

If you're not doing this out of financial desperation, then your family
is entitled to do whatever the hell they need to do to beat you at your
skinflint game.


We keep the house between 68° and 72°, although it will fluctuate if we
get colder spells and go lower than 68°. For a long time the house was
always on the cold side, but this fall I bought 2 portable rolling oil
radiator heaters that are wonderful at keeping the house warm. They
cycle between high/med/low/off power settings and maintain a surrounding
temp based on the thermostat temp that you set it at. When it cycles to
off it's still producing heat because the coils are radiating heat from
the warmed coils.

They work so well that we have to turn the thermostat down. They are
slow to heat up a room, but once they get up to temperature we never get
cold. We've tried all sorts of portable space heaters to supplement the
gas furnaces and baseboard heaters throughout the house which never
really kept us warm, but these 2 oil radiator heaters weren't very
expensive at all and they do the job of all the other portable heaters
couldn't do.

--
Maggie

On Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:06:21 -0000 (UTC)
Vlad Lescovitz wrote:

The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen) take long showers, only leaving
the bathroom when the 50 gallon ho****er tank runs cold.

My propane ho****er heater is set to something like 135 degrees.
That means a lot of hot water is going down the drain.

I wonder - is there a calculation done on how much
energy it takes to heat 50 gallons of water with propane
versus how much energy it takes to heat a house by 5
degrees with propane?

Maybe it is cheaper to just heat the house more?


They should just report you for abuse and then warm the house
up while you sit in a "cool" jail.

On 12/31/2015 10:40 AM, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 12/31/2015 8:45 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Thursday, December 31, 2015 at 8:11:46 AM UTC-5, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 12/30/2015 6:06 PM, Vlad Lescovitz wrote:
The wife doesn't like the house being set at 55 degrees
so she (and the teen)

How poor are you that you can only afford to keep your house at 55 F?
There's no way in hell I'd subject my family to that unless
financially I had no choice - and I'm a tightass.

I keep our house at 58 F at night, 62 F during the day - but I allow
an override up to 65 F if anyone's at home.

You *allow* an override?
How gracious of you!

It's my house, and I'm the one that pays the bills, so unless they want
to provide money for the energy bill, it's my call. That's how I was
raised and it always made perfect sense to me. It's reasonably
comfortable as long as you're dressed for winter, not summer, meaning
long pants, socks, and sweaters or sweatshirts. If you're sitting still,
grab a lap blanket.


Does your wife clean the house, do the dishes, cook your meals, wash
your clothes, or anything else I've not listed? Do you pay her
compensation for all the jobs that she does as a housekeeper, nanny,
psychologist, companion?

I've heard that sort of argument before and to me it's just a selfish
and disrespectful mindset that never takes into consideration the value
of anything that wife does in the home.

--
Maggie