I came up with a way of reducing my electrical consumption for water heat that may or may not be of general interest, but thought to share it with the forum, and possibly get some feedback on pros or cons. I have heard that heating water with electricity accounts for 20% of of household power consumption, and have noticed this substantial drain on my alternative energy system. I am currently operating off-grid for over 90% of the time with solar and wind power and seeking to make that 100% eventually. I realize that electricity is not the most cost effective way to heat water, but this modification cost me nothing and no outlay for an alternative method of heating using solar or wind. I have a 52 gallon water heater, and use only about 10 gallons of hot water a day, since I wash clothes with cold water and find that they get just as clean that way. The hot water is only used for showering and washing dishes.
The water heater has two heating elements.......top and bottom. The top element is for quick heating of water near the outlet and has the overheat thermal safety breaker as a part of the thermostat, so I did not wish to mess with this safety feature and left it alone. I disconnected the bottom heating element, which is the "cooker", and heats the entire tank after the top element has done its job. As a result, I am heating a smaller volume of water, and using less energy to do that, with no adverse effects of depleting the hot water supply. The energy saving is dramatic with much less load on my system. I could opt for a smaller volume hot water heater, but find that they use a 4700 watt heating element, as compared with the 2000 watt element in my current heater which is more friendly to my energy system and produces less instantaneous drain. Are there any negative effects of doing this? Any feedback or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Jon C.
Jon C.
