[Greenbuilding] old question revisited-tankless heater

Reuben Deumling 9watts at gmail.com
Tue Feb 21 11:18:53 CST 2012


*From:* greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org [mailto:
> greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] *On Behalf Of *Sacie
> Lambertson
> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 21, 2012 7:34 AM
> *To:* Green Building
> *Subject:* Re: [Greenbuilding] old question revisited-tankless heater
>
>
>
>
> Thinking out loud here, I'm wondering if I might better go to the old
> fashioned small usual tank heater and simply insulate it well?
>
Just to throw out an idea I think I've floated here before for how to get
hot water out of a tank water heater for ~36 therms/year.
To do this you need to proceed with caution, and use a bit of common
sense. It is very simple but you need to keep track of certain risks:
(a) turn off the burner, which often means setting the thermostat to
'vacation.' It is important to make sure that someone else in your
household doesn't accidentally or unwittingly turn this back on, so if
there is a chance of this you might want to tape it in this position
or affix a warning sign to it. It is also a good idea to mention this
change to them and explain the risks.
(b) remove the flue pipe at the top of the heater and place a piece of
tinfoil over the round hold. Poke a small hole in the middle so the
water vapor can escape. You can attach the foil with a rubber band.

Depending on the incoming (cold) water temperature, your tank size, &
demand for hot water you may find--as many have--that this works fine for
much or all of the year. Some folks report hotter water than before they
made this adjustment!

It is easily and quickly reversible, and
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20120221/afa0654b/attachment.html>


More information about the Greenbuilding mailing list