I\'m Summer, a mouthy, sarcastic bitch. I\'m passionate about natural birth, long term breastfeeding, and living naturally. I curse too much, love tattoos, and will some day be crushed to death by my book collection. I homeschool, dream of gardening, and swing to the left. 
Got Hot (Water)?
photo credit: kevindooley
I am always looking for a new way to save money and be more eco-friendly. That’s why there are bottles of water in our toilet to turn them into low-flow toilets and why I collect the cold water that runs waiting for it to heat up and use it to clean and water plants. I’m frugal and I like to hug a few trees along the way.
Last week I was flipping through some eco-blogs and someone mentioned having a tankless water heater that saved money and used less energy. I’ve only ever known big tank heaters so it had me scratching my head trying to figure out how you have hot water without the big tank. A little searching and I found the answer.
- When you open a hot water tap, cold water enters the heater and triggers the powerful heating elements or burners. Your hot water tap acts as an ignition key for the energy used to heat the hot water you need.
- The water is heated as it flows through the heating elements or heat exchanger. As the water flow varies, the unit adjusts the heating elements or burner flame to maintain a constant temperature and maximum energy efficiency.
- When the hot water tap is turned off, the heating system also turns off. The energy that is consumed is only for the hot water that is being used.
That actually sounds pretty cool. No huge tank of hot water sitting there all day, using energy to keep it hot, complaining when Dearest takes a shower that there’s no hot water left for me. The problem is that they are pretty expensive and we live in a rental. A rental with a landlady cheaper than me and dying to sell the place off. She’s already made it clear that she won’t pay to replace a single thing in this house. Have I mentioned how badly I want to move out?
Does anyone else use one of these? I can’t believe I’ve never even heard of it before. Sheesh, I’m living under a rock!
[tags]money, frugal[/tags]
My parents have one and it ROCKS!
Beckie’s last blog post..Menu Planning Monday.
I saw an article about those in a Mother Earth News magazine, and was intrigued. My SIL, who lives in Ireland, has one.
when we had our house built we didn’t know about them until it was too late or we would have had one- it’s our goal to get one
Can you explain the bottles of water in your toilet? Do you just put a water bottle in the tank? If so that is brilliant and I will try it.
kim’s last blog post..waiting
Kim, I took two 1 liter soda bottles and filled them with water then put them on either side of the tank. It definitely reduced the amount of water the tank fills up with. I’m not sure how much, but I marked the water line with and without the bottles and with them it is about an inch and a half lower.
We do the water saving in the toilet too! Love that. I’ve heard about the tankles water heaters and its ABSOLUTLY on the list for when/if I ever make my dream home a reality. We’re in a rental right now so there’s no getting one now, and in our new home I may be able to talk gran into it but I doubt it…they are quite expensive.
My parents have 2 of these, but then they live in a large house. 1 is for the kitchen and laundry and set to a higher temp, and the other is for the 3 bathrooms and is set a bit lower to avoid scalds… They love them… I love them… that’s one of the best things about going home to visit… a good hot shower. (We too live in a rental, and it’s so old we don’t even have a shower… just a tub.)
The really nice thing about the on-demand water heater is that all 2 showers can be running at once, and it still provides enough water.
One note- the electric ones are INSANELY expensive to run. My parents suggest the gas ones.
Jessica’s last blog post..My, How Time Flies