saved 85% of gas bill by turning water heater to pilot then turning it to

[sam sarrha]

warm first thing in the morning, had warm water to shower for 2 and dishes.. i turned it back to pilot before the shower.

we had a propane tank in the country, the landlords said they came by every month and filled it up.

the first time they came by, like 3 weeks we got a bill for $265.. :wow:

i started looking for the leak with a sprayer and soapy water.. i got to the water heater and it makd a 'Woosh' when it started.. they had put in serious big heater..

they didnt put any gas in it the tank for 5 months and only put in $160 then. we had a fire place and i picked up wood at mill, end cuts and knot holes, 2x6 and 8 peices 4 to 10 inches and a lot of little oak end cuts.. it was on the coast of california so winters werent that bad

[NMDemDist2]

1. wonder how much it would be to retro fit it to a pizeo electric ?

I have those on my stove and love em

and we put a timer gadget on the water heater in AZ for it only fired up certain parts of the day before we replaced it all together with a tankless system. not sure how that would work on a gas heater though.....

[sam sarrha]

2. i am not fimular with the pezio electric, the story is from 18 years ago a

propane was dirt cheap then.. the water heater in the story was a comercial unit the land lord put in.

i have looked at the flow-thru heaters, but that was many years ago. makes sence

[NMDemDist2]

3. it replaces the pilot light, not the heating (on demand lighting)

and I realized after I posted your savings came from not keeping 60 gallons of water HOT 24/7

my bad :rofl:

the flow thru (tankless) is a good choice for some folks like us with no kids and minimal hot water usage

it's a bit tougher for families with kids, multiple showers and hot water clothes cycles

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. I had a flow-through heater when I lived in Japan

It seemed like such a sensible idea, but then Japan, with no petroleum supplies of its own, is very energy-conscious.

[LiberalEsto]

4. They should have programmable thermostats

for water heaters. That way they can be shut off at night and start heating water at 5 a.m. or whatever time works best. It would also be good to program them to shut off once everyone has left for work or school for the day.

[NMDemDist2]

5. they do for electric ones

not sure about gas though...

[KitSileya]

6. Be very careful that the water doesn't go too tepid.

If the water in your water heater cools to below 131F, and then doesn't reach 140F at least 32 minutes before you shower, you may be at risk for developing legionella in you water tank and you may get legionnaire's disease.

http://hcinfo.com/ldfaq.htm

[silverweb]

8. Great idea!

I just discovered this forum and have been learning, learning, learning! I thought I was already living pretty efficiently, but have learned so much more here.

My gas hot water heater has long been set to just one notch above "hot" and I thought that was the best I could do short of using hot water only when necessary. I didn't even know until I looked just now that there was a separate "pilot" control and will be looking forward to comparing gas usage on the next billing cycle.

Thanks!

:hi: