[Elecraft] (no subject)

[Phil Kane]

On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:58:26 -0700 (PDT), Fred (FL) wrote:

>Just turning off HOT WATER HEATER,

  Why are you heating your hot water ??  <ggg>

>during long non-use daily periods, can save big bucks.

  In this household, there are no "long non-use daily periods"
  and anyhow, when we turn on the tap we expect hot water whether
  for cooking/dishwashing, personal washing/showers, etc.

  Color us spoiled!

>We turn ours on, about 1 hour per day, rather
>than heating it continuously all day and all
>night.

  If we did that, we would be using cold water most of the time.

  Doesn't your water heater have a thermostat that cuts off the
  juice when the water in the tank reaches the desired temperature?

>We just kill breakers, when we turn it off.

  Ah, you have an electric water heater!  That answers a lot of
  questions.  Our uses natural gas.

  We replaced the water heater when we moved into this house 8
  years ago.  If I had to do it again, I would get a demand
  heater - the type that heats the water when it passes through,
  without storage.

  Back on topic -- the equipment in the comm room (including the
  K2) is left on all day, powered from a 12V DC battery supply,
  because we run two packet boards as well as an APRS display,   
  monitor and log data transmission from several HF and VHF marine
  and public safety channels, as well as the computers connected to the
  net and packet servers, respectively.

  Idle current is 3A (36W nominal) on the DC side and
  approximately 50W on the AC side.  Even counting the standby
  mode on the TV set - necessary because killing the AC to the
  cable box and the TV results in "cold" starts requiring
  rescanning all channels on startup, a manual "push the button"
  procedure - the total standby load is less than 100 watts -
  about 72 KWH per month - a small fraction of our house load
  which includes electric ovens, stoves, clothes dryers, and
  central air conditioning which are heavily used.  Even at an
  egregious 30 cents/KWH, that's only a little over $20 per
  month.  I consider that a hobby expense.

  For several years in the 1960s I lived in an electricity- and
  hot-water-rationed country -- doing that when I was in my 20s
  (and being DX) was fun, but - never again.

--
   73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane   (ex-4X4UQ)
   Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402