On Demand Water Heaters – Bad for the environment?
"On Demand?"
Back in 2005 when I bought the palace I made a mental note that I shouldn’t be renting an electric hot water tank. Pretty soon projects and priorities caused that note to be shuffled to the back of my mind and eventually out. I was reminded of the need to change this when I was reviewing a recent hydro bill. I pay more than most for hydro (more about Bullfrog Power in another post) and my hot water tank was eating the lion’s share of the bill.
I knew that I could save 30% of the cost by moving from electric hot water to natural gas fueled heaters. What intrigued me however was the claim that I could save an additional 30% moving from a water tank to a “tankless” hot water heater. Tankless hot water heaters use very intense heating elements to only heat water the instant it flows through its maze of pipes. The theory is that keeping a large tank of water hot is inefficient. It turns out that the savings are less real than claimed and the so-called benefits to the environment are questionable.
I remember when I first became aware of these they were called on-demand water heaters. When I went shopping for a solution, I should have taken note that they are now referred to as tankless hot water heaters. They are more expensive but I figured my purchase could be justified given the savings in utilities I’d realize. There are two major factors to consider when purchasing these. Firstly, the cost of the heater, while higher, becomes much higher when you consider that the unit needs to be vented outside the house. For me it wasn’t a big deal since I planned to locate the tank on an outside wall anyways, so a vent could be installed cheaply. The other consideration is the amount of natural gas required at one time is so high that you will have to update your gas lines to the house. This was quite frustrating to learn given that I thought the 1 inch feed that I had upgraded for my stove a year ago would suffice. I should have realized that with a BTU rating of 200,000 this unit needs a lot of natural gas. The bottom line was while the heater cost about $1,000 the installation easily doubled that price.
Now that I’ve been using tankless hot water for a couple of months I have some observations:
I know now why they stopped calling them On Demand. When I turn on the kitchen faucet at full pressure I have to wait a full minute before the water flows hot. And the kitchen faucet is about ten feet from the heater, albeit upstairs. I realize that 60 seconds doesn’t seem like a long time, but trust me, it is. Now I find myself trying to anticipate when I’ll need the hot water, turning on the tap and walking away.
I’ve saved lots of real estate downstairs. The units are small and can be fastened to a wall. The result is that in my small basement I’ve gained valuable square feet to store even more of my crap. Hooray.
We’ll never run out of hot water. Last week we had five visitors in the house as well as our family. It’s safe to say that hot water was constantly flowing all the time. Because of the nature of these heaters, there was never a time we would run out of hot water.
I’m not sure of the environmental benefits. Any savings in electricity and gas is consumed by the additional water wasted getting the water hot enough. I’m lucky that in Canada, our water bills are relatively low and we have a great deal of fresh water available. My water bill has risen but not as much as my electric bill has been reduced. I can only imagine living in Arizona or where water is more dear. I imagine any fuel savings would be wiped out by the water usage.
If I were to revisit my decision to purchase an on demand water heater I wouldn’t. Instead I’d consider an efficient condensing natural gas water tank. Then I could enjoy the fuel savings with the lessened impact on the environment.
This is why you need to measure TWICE
Like most of my woodworking projects, my bookcase project always seemed to get shuffled down the priority list against things such as running water and doors that close. One of the downsides of getting older is that memories fade. I’m sure I made a mental note NOT to put on the crown until I moved the bookcase upstairs. But that memory faded.
Doh!!
If. I. Could. Just. Push. Harder
It seems the added crown was enough to make the bookcase not fit up the stairs. Missed by about 1 inch. The only solution? Tear out the ceiling and thus create one more damn thing to fix.
One project always creates another
Now I get to fix the drywall ceiling in the staircase leading down to the basement. You can bet that job will take another year to get to!
THIS is what’s wrong with contractors
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this blog post today. This clown from Citadel Renovations has the arrogance and nerve to tell us that if we want to work with him we’d better suck up and treat him nicely. This is exactly what drives all of us crazy about so many contractors in Canada these days. The unbridled arrogance in this case will blow you away.
NEWS ITEM: YOU ARE NOT THE CUSTOMER. WE ARE.
He starts by saying ‘You may think that being professional is the way to go, but that may not be helpful in having a smooth project experience.’ Um. Really? So we should be unprofessional? Like you? He probably meant to say “hardass” rather than unprofessional so I’ll cut him some slack on that point, but why shouldn’t we be asking the difficult questions and expecting the right answers.
Then he tells us that it inconveniences him when he’s meeting with homeowners and they have distractions like family and work. Could we all please focus on the delicious pearls of wisdom coming from his mouth so that we can beg him to take our money?
Then he goes on to say that if you don’t make a good impression on the contractor they will rightly not return your calls. Right. That must be the reason so many contractors are so unprofessional: because they’re offended we didn’t suck up enough to them.
I won’t repeat much more from the article since you can read it yourself (you’ll absolutely love the part about how we should have morning coffee ready for them and cookies at break time!). In my professional life I am reminded of a meeting where a supplier (a large computer company with the initials I.B.M.) came to visit. The representative turned to our senior manager and said “let me give you some advice on how best to deal with us”. Our senior manager turned red in the face, cut him off and replied “no sir, let me remind you who the customer is”. The room went quiet and the meeting ended shortly after. It wasn’t long before new, more agile suppliers were found and the relationship with that vendor tailed off.
Too many contractors have forgotten who provides them their livelihoods. Perhaps that’s because our relatively strong market hasn’t had a real dip for some time. I suppose if and when the economy turns, guys like Mr. Wright will finally get their comeuppance. In the meantime I guess we should break out the coffee and cookies!
Canadian Reno Stores and Non-Code Products
In Ontario the electrical code changed almost a year ago (May 1, 2009). Did you know that now when you install an electrical outlet, it has to be of the tamper-proof variety? Most of us don’t know this or have any way to find this out, but that’s the subject of another rant. Usually we find out as we’re failing the electrical inspection.
This brings up two important issues:
- When you walk into the electrical department of Home Depot (or any retailer for that matter) all you see is huge bins of the cheaper non-compliant variety. You have to look a lot further to find the new tamper-proof variety. Okay, agreed that you can’t blame the retailer. But isn’t this a great opportunity to deliver on the “We can help” part of their slogans? Wouldn’t it be a great upsell opportunity for these stores to offer a display that says: ‘Electrical code has changed. Are you compliant?’ or label their bins so that you know which one to pick?
- Why is the electrical code so inaccesible? It used to be available in a simplified form in a book Electrical Code Simplified. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a handy guide available on the intertubes? What about a handy guide for homeowners. It’s more likely that the fear of liability and the influence of professional electricians have prevented that!
The 50% Rule of Contractors
There’s so much to say about why we DIY. Perhaps it’s the ability to see progress, unlike what many of us experience in our working day. Perhaps its where we work off our frustrations from our day jobs. Where we have time to enjoy the simple act of making things better. And where we reflect on life while we toil on what looks to others as mundane tasks.
Or.
Maybe its because we couldn’t get a professional in if we wanted to.
My own 50% rule:
- When calling around to find a contractor, 50% will not return your initial call.
- If/when they do, 50% will miss the appointment to view the project, or show up too late.
- Of those who have come out to view your project, only 50% will provide a quote
- Of the contractors that actually gave you a quote, only 50% of those will follow through with questions, clarifications, references, etc.
So what does this mean? If you want two full quotes you’re going to have to call 32 contractors! Maybe it’s worth calling 32 contractors for a big job but certainly not for anything smaller. THAT’S why so many of us DIY! The percentages probably differ based on the size of the job or the type of job (plumbers are the worst in my opinion), but the fact remains, it’s too difficult to find enough contractors who are professional enough or have enough time to return your calls.
It begs the question: are home contractors recession-proof? Do home contractors ALWAYS have enough work that they can treat potential customers like this? Is this a Canadian phenomenon only? Or is this writer completely off base?
I’m happy to argue this point with other’s experiences!
Clipped Head vs. Round Head Nailers – Which are legal?
Is this legal?
I noticed that the big box stores (that I love to roast, yet always end up wandering through) are selling a lot of inexpensive air powered framing nailers. Those cheap nailers use “clipped head” nails which are nails that don’t have a full round head so that they can be stacked together closer. Sometimes the stack of nails looks more like a stack of pins. Don’t get me wrong, I think these nails are perfectly fine. Many building codes don’t allow the use of clipped nails for framing, so you should check your local codes. It may be that technology hasn’t caught up to the codes. It may be that the clipped head is that much less strong.
I don’t want to go on a rant here, but good luck trying to interpret codes to find out if you comply or not. Most codes are hundreds of pages long and not meant for your average homeowner/renovator. And “check your local codes” is a nice way of saying “you have no way of knowing, but now I can say I warned you”
The reality is that you don’t want to build that new addition/garage/house and then have to tear it apart and redo it with full head nails. Yet another reason to skip those promising-looking low-cost power tools!
Painting Radiators
Do you have an old home that’s heated with water or steam radiators? Too many people try to cover them up with fancy radiator covers. They do a great job….of keeping the heat trapped inside and not circulating. Even more people paint their radiators the same colour as the trim. Nothing like shouting “Hey, over here! Look at me! I’m a big, fat, ugly radiator!”.
Never paint a radiator to contrast
I learned that the best way to paint a rad is to paint it the same colour as the wall. As a matter of fact you want to use the same latex paint that you use on walls so that it doesn’t insulate the heat from the radiator.
Make it blend into the wall with the same colour
It takes a lot longer than you’d think to paint the radiator, but you can pull up a chair, turn on something to listen to, and with a small roller the results will be fantastic.