franck
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I recently purchased a Marathon water heater for my new home, which is currently under construction here in northwestern Illinois. When making my decision on purchasing a water heater I considered several factors, none the least of was the fact that my power company offered me a $125.00 rebate on the purchase of an electric water heater. In addition to the rebate I liked the idea of a rust free, wound fiberglass tank. We live in the country and our well water is a bit harsh. Also, by going electric I don't have to worry about the installation and expense of a flue, the safety issues of a malfunctioning gas burner, the energy loss of an always open flue or replacing the combustion air.
Our new home is 2,200 sq. ft. with a standard kitchen, laundry room, two full baths with an optional third bathroom once the basement is finished (in a few years.) Currently, it's just the wife and I (unless one of the kids moves back in.) I opted for the 85 gallon model. It should meet all our needs.
Here are some thoughts I'm tossing around to reduce my energy useage.
I'm considering running a few hundred feet of 3/4" PEX water line through the attic space in an effort to "temper" the cold water supply going into the heater. In the warmer months I'm hoping to raise the ground water temperature 30 degrees or more. I am also considering placing an insulated storage tank in series with the water heater to hold this "tempered" water. I just hate to see all that heat generated in the attic going to waste. To add a bit of complexity to this set up I'm thinking also of adding a thermostatically controlled recirculating pump into the loop. Not being a CPA I haven't crunched any numbers so I don't know if the cost of running the pump outweights any energy savings of pre-heating the water going to the heater.
To prevent damage in the colder months I would plumb the loop so that I could isolate the attic lines. This would allow me the ability to drain and flush the lines using compressed air.
During the heating season we intend to supplement our heating requirements with an outdoor wood-fired boiler. As those lines feed into the house they would pass through a heat exchanger in the furnace plenum, then through a coil wrapped around the afore-mentioned tempered water storage tank and finally through a series of heating coils under the kitchen and bathroom floors, then back to the outdoor boilder, all as one, continuous loop. I would include the ability to isolate the floor heating coils in the event that it's too much warmth. We don't want to cook Mama's feet with too much heat radiating up through the flooring!
One last item I would like to install, and this is more creature comfort than energy savings, but it would be a gravity flow, hot water re-circulating system plumbed to the bathrooms. At this point, what's one more line and a bit of insulation?
I can see a potential for cost savings with a very minor expenditure. I guess this all falls into the catagory "experimantal plumbing = research and development."
So, for all you good and gracious professional plumbers, what do you think of my ideas? I know it's a lot of tinkering, but I am retired and enjoy that sort of thing. I look forward to you input. After all, you're the pros!
Our new home is 2,200 sq. ft. with a standard kitchen, laundry room, two full baths with an optional third bathroom once the basement is finished (in a few years.) Currently, it's just the wife and I (unless one of the kids moves back in.) I opted for the 85 gallon model. It should meet all our needs.
Here are some thoughts I'm tossing around to reduce my energy useage.
I'm considering running a few hundred feet of 3/4" PEX water line through the attic space in an effort to "temper" the cold water supply going into the heater. In the warmer months I'm hoping to raise the ground water temperature 30 degrees or more. I am also considering placing an insulated storage tank in series with the water heater to hold this "tempered" water. I just hate to see all that heat generated in the attic going to waste. To add a bit of complexity to this set up I'm thinking also of adding a thermostatically controlled recirculating pump into the loop. Not being a CPA I haven't crunched any numbers so I don't know if the cost of running the pump outweights any energy savings of pre-heating the water going to the heater.
To prevent damage in the colder months I would plumb the loop so that I could isolate the attic lines. This would allow me the ability to drain and flush the lines using compressed air.
During the heating season we intend to supplement our heating requirements with an outdoor wood-fired boiler. As those lines feed into the house they would pass through a heat exchanger in the furnace plenum, then through a coil wrapped around the afore-mentioned tempered water storage tank and finally through a series of heating coils under the kitchen and bathroom floors, then back to the outdoor boilder, all as one, continuous loop. I would include the ability to isolate the floor heating coils in the event that it's too much warmth. We don't want to cook Mama's feet with too much heat radiating up through the flooring!
One last item I would like to install, and this is more creature comfort than energy savings, but it would be a gravity flow, hot water re-circulating system plumbed to the bathrooms. At this point, what's one more line and a bit of insulation?
I can see a potential for cost savings with a very minor expenditure. I guess this all falls into the catagory "experimantal plumbing = research and development."
So, for all you good and gracious professional plumbers, what do you think of my ideas? I know it's a lot of tinkering, but I am retired and enjoy that sort of thing. I look forward to you input. After all, you're the pros!