Instantanous water heater

[Jim W in Tampa]

There seems to be another way that uses something similar to a heat pump with out using wells. I do know heat pumps work great and my new unit for main house is a heat pump and it is getting a workout right now down here.

 

[juptonstone]

On Demand water heaters

On Demand water heaters

Yes... electrical on demand water heaters do generally require 3 - 40amp circuit breakers. They are staged so that the second and third circuits only come into use when there is an "extreme" demand for hot water. My experience is that people for whom I have installed the electrical portion of the water heater are happy. The real key lies in how much hot water they use.... If its a one or two person home.... a standard hot water heater is probably more practical. If there are four or more people in the home, the on demand water heater makes sense. Consider this... if you have two people in the house... a 20 or 30 gallon heater is sufficient.. if you have a full family... mom, dand and a bunch of kids... demand will be much more frequent and they'll need a really large water heater... 50 gallons minimum... How much power does it take to heat 50 gallons non-stop? Dishes, showers, etc.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Yes... electrical on demand water heaters do generally require 3 - 40amp circuit breakers. They are staged so that the second and third circuits only come into use when there is an "extreme" demand for hot water. My experience is that people for whom I have installed the electrical portion of the water heater are happy. The real key lies in how much hot water they use.... If its a one or two person home.... a standard hot water heater is probably more practical. If there are four or more people in the home, the on demand water heater makes sense. Consider this... if you have two people in the house... a 20 or 30 gallon heater is sufficient.. if you have a full family... mom, dand and a bunch of kids... demand will be much more frequent and they'll need a really large water heater... 50 gallons minimum... How much power does it take to heat 50 gallons non-stop? Dishes, showers, etc.

Why would it be non stop ?
It uses same amount of electric with either
In reality if you have 40 gal tank and last one in shower you will get it done faster.
The only down side to a tank is the loss of heat from sitting. With added insulation this is very low. Now look at cost differance $200 for 40 gal tank and a 30 amp 2 pole circuit.
or $800 plus 4 times the cost of electrical install or more if 200 amp service is now 320
tank will out last inst hot. You will never save a dime for about 10 years and then you start over again.

 

[LarryFine]

On the contrary, you can get a heat pump hot water heater that steals energy from mother nature. Then the efficiency (comparing BTUs out to kWh in) is greater than 100%.

Gee. The power company should pay customers to install them.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

I have noticed that my ground water in summer is seldom higher than 76 and winter no lower than 74 .My mind has been looking for years for a way to tap into it cheaply to cool and heat my home. Its just about perfect temperature. Not sure what it is in other states.

 

[Finite10]

I have noticed that my ground water in summer is seldom higher than 76 and winter no lower than 74 .My mind has been looking for years for a way to tap into it cheaply to cool and heat my home. Its just about perfect temperature. Not sure what it is in other states.

This site talks about ground loops, if your standing water is private and local use codes allow it;
http://www.informedbuilding.com/Geothermal/Main16/Types-of-Geothermal-Ground-Loops/

 

[Finite10]

site wouldn't let me edit, so had to repost;

site wouldn't let me edit, so had to repost;

I saw a lecture from an engineer who designs and installs these, primarily for chillers in large commercial buildings. He says the bored hole 'open loop' systems are proving to be the quickest payback (so far). He said the cost of drilling is the biggest cost. They use 1" HTPE plastic pipe with water and antifreeze inside (NW region).

For a private pond or lake site; Sink loops 10' deep in a pond or lake that's 30' deep.

You can dig a big pit or over-fill loops too, in a closed loop system. Quartz sand has better thermal conductivity, and moist/wet is better still.
Efficiency heating 50-70%
Efficiency cooling 20-40%
http://www.geoengineers.com/Sustainability.aspx

They partner with this firm;
http://www.geotility.ca/index.php

See also; http://www.geo4va.vt.edu/

The advantage to GSHP (Ground Source Heat Pump) is that it's dispatchable - that is, the sun can go down and wind stop blowing - but the delta T is there 24 hrs a day everyday.

 

[kwired]

Gee. The power company should pay customers to install them.

They used to give rebates for installing them around here just a few years ago.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

This site talks about ground loops, if your standing water is private and local use codes allow it;
http://www.informedbuilding.com/Geothermal/Main16/Types-of-Geothermal-Ground-Loops/

I picked the mind of one of my club members (our AC man) that was at our party last night with the idea of running a copper line loop down my well to cool the condencer coils. Yes would work but would take several lines to cool it enough to be effective . Also would not likely be legal to run freon lines in a well.

 

[ptonsparky]

Our house has what is refereed in this area as a "pump & dump". A water source heat pump which then has an open discharge into a pasture. Some people discharge into decorative type ponds and others go on out to water livestock. The payback is real for this area even with having to pump our own water. Especially helped that the POCO gave us back about $500 plus one heck of Federal tax incentive on last years taxes.

We preheat our water with it and could probably get by with only that if I wasn't accustomed to hot showers.

 

[kwired]

Our house has what is refereed in this area as a "pump & dump". A water source heat pump which then has an open discharge into a pasture. Some people discharge into decorative type ponds and others go on out to water livestock. The payback is real for this area even with having to pump our own water. Especially helped that the POCO gave us back about $500 plus one heck of Federal tax incentive on last years taxes.

We preheat our water with it and could probably get by with only that if I wasn't accustomed to hot showers.

I have a pump & dump system too. We both live where there is an abundance of ground water. Some places I'm sure this would not be allowed. Pump & dump sure makes for a lot less installation cost and is more in line with air to air install cost but definately less energy cost to operate especially in below 20 temperatures.