Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - heating oil vs. gas for hot water
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hotwired99
10-08-08, 04:06 AM
Hi All
I have a heating oil vs. other fuel question.
I have a cold start boiler, 1996 or thereabouts. It has the "super store" water tank where the hot water is another "zone" off the furnace. We installed a woodstove last winter and completely eliminated the use of oil for heating, but still need it to heat our 40 gallon water tank.
Our usage has dropped from around 900 Gallons to 275 gallons which is great. But this "victory" has me chomping for that "next" battle. Would it be wise to install one of those "on demand" gas water heaters?
My initial thought is that the CURRENT system I have is already somehwat "on demand", as it only comes on when we're using hot water, or when the water in the tank drops a few degrees over the course of the day. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. I know this is one of those questions that might not have a solid yes or no answer ...
Also, would this little use (275 gallons) possible justify a solar HW heater, as long as I actually had enough sun for it to work properly?
Thanks all!
Ken
I have a heating oil vs. other fuel question.
I have a cold start boiler, 1996 or thereabouts. It has the "super store" water tank where the hot water is another "zone" off the furnace. We installed a woodstove last winter and completely eliminated the use of oil for heating, but still need it to heat our 40 gallon water tank.
Our usage has dropped from around 900 Gallons to 275 gallons which is great. But this "victory" has me chomping for that "next" battle. Would it be wise to install one of those "on demand" gas water heaters?
My initial thought is that the CURRENT system I have is already somehwat "on demand", as it only comes on when we're using hot water, or when the water in the tank drops a few degrees over the course of the day. Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. I know this is one of those questions that might not have a solid yes or no answer ...
Also, would this little use (275 gallons) possible justify a solar HW heater, as long as I actually had enough sun for it to work properly?
Thanks all!
Ken
Grady
10-08-08, 03:11 PM
When figured on a per day basis that amounts to 3/4 gal./day.
At $4.00/gal, that's $3.00/day for hot water. Sounds pretty high to me. I don't think an on demand would take that much especially if it were natural gas. With propane, all bets are off.
At $4.00/gal, that's $3.00/day for hot water. Sounds pretty high to me. I don't think an on demand would take that much especially if it were natural gas. With propane, all bets are off.
hankhill6018
10-09-08, 02:44 AM
Something else you need to take into account is the added costs involved of the tankless water heater. First, the heater is expensive as opposed to a standard heater. Then you need to take into account of the likely hood of modifying the gas piping to supply the extra gas needed to run the heater. Lastly, the tankless heaters require regular servicing.
When everything is said and done it could very well take the life of the heater to truly save any money once the savings (of the gas) vs the cost (of the new set up) are figured out.
When everything is said and done it could very well take the life of the heater to truly save any money once the savings (of the gas) vs the cost (of the new set up) are figured out.