So 20 years ago my mom had the water heater thing element cut in half (so I'm told) to reduce the power bill. Is this a thing?? Well time to reverse it if it's a thing. But problem is it's too expensive?? somehow…
Do we get a huge water heater to replace the little halve size mini fridge one?
What is the cheapest option to get hot running water to shower a few people…
Pipe your farts even cheaper
Dutch oven?
Move out
Solar
Just be aware it has a catch too. I'm a family of 4 with solar heat pump. Summer was perfect. But during winter sometimes just solar doesn't cut it to generate enough hot water. So in that case we have to switch on the manual electric hot water heating.
The problem is that generally for a normal house without solar there's the thing called controlled load electricity where you pay a small daily charge in exchange for cheaper electric cost/kw just for that water heating unit alone.
So if you choose to forgo the controlled load service then you could avoid paying this particular daily service fee, but if you ever need to manually heat the water with electric then the cost would be quite pricey (Could very well cost more than if you didn't have solar and just rely on controlled load style on that particular day). Of course you can choose to keep this controlled load service as well if you think you'd need to switch on the manual heating very often.
Solar hot water as a feed in to the reservoir for a small electric system. Reduces power required to maintain the heat as the feed-in is warmer
I had one of these and it worked quite well, a couple of times the tank (maybe 200L) stopped heating and I didn't really notice until winter (I don't tend to have long or hot showers). The only issue is the potential that the tank drops too long to lower than 60 degrees and you get some issue with bugs infecting the water. It's an idea never to drink the hot water anyway
@fortalyst: Yeah legionnaires disease is not fun, there's a reason they say the tank must be heated up to 60 degrees at least once a week.
Solar heat pump system running off solar panels, will pay for itself pretty quickly
or
Take cold showers, bloody invigorating and healthier for ya.
versus typical roof panel based water heaters, how do they fare?
Solar heat pumps have been found to be more efficient, basically a big airconditioner for your water. With the added benefit of if you don't need hot water the system generates electricity.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/efficient-hot-water-syst…
This doesn't read very well for Heat Pump's, unfortunately.
Solar rooftop stuff is typically super reliable with 5 year servicing schedules.
@Oofy Doofy: Yeah, the earlier generation heat pumps weren't terribly reliable, noting that the article was written 3 years ago i think they've come a long way since then.
I believe the warranties on most heat pumps will cover you for most if not all failures.
Solar is crap. Especially in Victoria. Too cold so it causes too much damage.
@Gauntlet: Do you also think the Earth is flat and vaccines cause autism? And 5G was created by Bill Gates as a way of reading our minds?
@buckster: The base brands usually get used, they're not dodgy, just unfit for the purpose. They should be using a glycol system or undertemp protection but that's when costs start to rise.
If you read the installation guides and reference manuals from every manufacturer they all state that if you live in a frost zone you must select a suitable system. Evacuated tubes are the preferred option in Vic and are mandatory in some postcodes.
Unfortunately, many (not all) builders and their customers don't care what solar system they use, they just care about getting that rebate.
I've processed many many warranty claims on the major brand solar panel collectors and I do so every single year.
Here is Rinnai's solar collection installation guide. Solar Collector Panels are being installed throughout the frost zones, go for a drive if you're near one and have a look. When these panels inevitably split they will not be covered through warranty.
look at page 45 of this plumbers guide for some more frost zone information.
@Gauntlet: Thank you for your detailed reply with links to important facts to back up your claim. I would been ignorant and not have cared to check the suitability of the type of system installed had I not read your post
It depends on where you are in the country. The more humidity the more efficient for heat pumps. Victoria is no good, Queensland is great.
A solar hot water system is a waste of valuable roof space
Not if you have plenty of roof space…
valuable roof space
What do you do with yours? Advertising?
We moved into our house and it had a heat pump that was 18m old. It failed after six months. Tech came three times & couldn't fix it.
Replaced with a 400l overnight storage heater. Runs on cheap power so easy to see usage, it's broken out on the bill.
The new heater uses $10 more a quarter in power costs. Never had cold water since & I'm delighted with it (roughly $75 per quarter for hot water)
true that i have solar panel, just upgraded to heat pump water heater tank, best decision ever
Yes I went down this route - got a Sanden heat pump system to go with my new solar panels. For the heat pump, read that Sanden was the best and for an essiential utility, I figured I didn't want to skimp on it.
I have been taking cold showers for almost a year. It is quite invigorating. and I save water too.
Same here. I started last October. Cold shower every morning. It’s the best way to wake up.
I stopped taking showers since March. Hell I don't even change out of my PJs most days…
However, heat pump systems appear to be extremely unreliable. I'll stick to my continuous gas system, thanks.
Use public shower, if only those gym fatcats knew
Would getting a bigger water heater is cheaper or get the element redouble? and have 24 hour heating?
Why the hate for the poor grammar? It's not a requirement of Ozbargain to be fluent in English, why shouldn't people with poor English be welcome in this community?
If you could understand the meaning of the response there's really no need to have a go at them for their poor language skills, as they've effectively communicated.
People
That correct grammar are often angry people. Pity them.
To be fair OP implies they live with their mother, and have done so for at least 20 years in the same house. Which means they have 20 years of English experience. Either they have lived in Australia their whole life or most of it. So …
@djsweet: So… They have functional English. I can understand them. You can understand them. So what else really matters?
@Bren20: My logic is if you allow your kid to do the wrong thing, say hit someone with a stick for example but say it's alright they'll never change their ways. However if you intervene and say that it's the incorrect way of doing things then they'll change their behaviour.
Saying that it's ok or good enough won't improve people, suggesting changes does.
@Drakesy: But this isn't hitting someone with a stick. It's only the wrong thing because you are perceiving it as the wrong thing. If the post was 'why can't I find a job', maybe your line of thinking would have merit, but in this context it really doesn't matter. You should reconsider why you're setting the barrier so high.
The answer to 'how can i get cheap hot water?' is not 'your English is bad'.
@Bren20: If you read the previous comment's you'll find that the original post has been addressed as what the OP had said was understandable, albeit a bit confusing, if the OP was to improve their english then the forum would have a firmer grasp of what they were asking for.
However you've seemed to of glazed over this and gone straight to the stage of being offended on behalf of the OP.
@Drakesy: "comment's".
"seemed to of".
Comma that should be a semi colon or full stop.
I think you're the one that could use English lessons mate.
@Quantumcat: For lack of sounding like a record player on repeat. The OP's sentences were confusing, utilising words that don't exist/make sense, which in turn didn't communicate the question effectively.
Never pulled them up for punctuation, but some people seem to escalate it to this for the sake of their enjoyment, which I totally understand.
It looks like everyone's just content with 'good enough' these days which speaks volumes about our english levels. Maybe we deserve this.
https://www.smh.com.au/education/alarm-bells-australian-stud…
some people seem to escalate
Yeah, there are 43 negative votes on that first response of yours (as of now). That's a lot more than "some people".
Never pulled them up for punctuation
Is that because you aren't good with using punctuation? Why should it matter what you pulled them up for, as long as they're able to communicate what they intended to? Your mistakes are OK to be brushed under the carpet, but not theirs? And it's OK for you to insult them by asking them to sell their heater for English classes?
It looks like everyone's just content with 'good enough' these days which speaks volumes about our english levels. Maybe we deserve this.
Some mighty Drunning-Kruger effect going on here.
Mistakes like failing to use punctuation, forgetting to end your sentences with a full-stop, ignoring apostrophes, using of instead of have (?!), not knowing what to capitalise, etc. is all OK? But anything more and that crosses that arbitrary line? I'll tell you what, typing out Australia as australia is not good enough either.
@CocaKoala: What is it they say about people living in glass houses? Aside from being a terrible idea, of course.
Oh yeah that's right. They better have good glazing.
sell water heater for english courses.
Says someone who doesn't know enough not to type "English" as english. The first letter of your sentences could use Capitalisation as well. Perhaps you ought to seller your heater for some classes in English. May be sell some of your appliances and take classes for manners as well.
Sellering my heater as we speak
@Drakesy: The irony, yes? :-)
See, that's what happens when you point out someone's grammatical or spelling mistakes. You'll end up makkerring a few of your own mistakes as you type.
Sorry you've lost me there
Have I? Let me try again.
You were critical of someone's English, and you made numerous mistakes while doing so. I was critical of your English, and I made mistakes as well.
@Drakesy: That is literally the joke everyone has been making about your original comment.
It just hasn't clicked for you yet.
Keep up…
@CocaKoala: But theres a difference between a typo and the use of words which dont make sense you do realise?
But theres a difference between a typo and the use of words which dont make sense you do realise?
…there's
…don't
…sense, you do…
Missing apostrophes and punctuations all over the place.
Besides, you don't even seem to know enough to end your sentences with a full stop. These are fundamental issues.
The point here is that there's always someone with better or worse grammar/spelling than you. Pointing that out is completely irrelevant, especially when you're not very good yourself.
Just to clarify, I wasnt pulling the op up on the use of capitals.
The sentence still makes sense grammatically
He said the "thing" is cut in half…
'Would getting a bigger water heater is cheaper or get the element redouble?'
redoubtably !
Golden shower?
About as energy and water efficient as it gets.
There's a party in my shower and urine…vited.
urine the money
Reddit to the rescue ?
Gas. Only heats water as it's needed.
Not sure why you got negged. Have people not heard of instantaneous hot water systems?
Could be coz he didn’t specify that he was talking about instantaneous hot water.
Instantaneous down vote system kicked in :)
It's not instantaneous hot water - it's continuous hot water. In fact, they often take longer to reach the tap than a conventional storage system (often 10 - 20 seconds unless you use a ring main).
Same with an instant electric water heater, and works if you don't have gas connected
Gas is not magic. Sometimes it's better, sometimes not.
Instantaneous is good.
Old fashioned tank with gas bottles delivered because there's no gas lines to your house is easily the worst possible hot water option in both cost and convenience.
Look around you, everything is magic.
Especially magnets
How are you actually alive?
Mom. Spelling says it all.
I don’t know why assholes come on here and use this spelling. Have some self respect.
arseholes
.
Kind of
get rekt son
as you are from QLD, solar
Use gas.