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Old 11-20-11, 11:24 AM   #1
iamgeo
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Default Hot Water Lobster

I just saw a commercial for this product.
The commercial is very cheesy.
The website needs an overhaul.
Hot Water Lobster Instant Hot Water Valve Home Page
Although I am curious if the product is sound.


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Old 11-20-11, 01:50 PM   #2
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This isn't unique technology. It's called hot water recirculation. It gives you hot water on demand. Personally I think it's not such a good idea unless, 1) it's winter and 2) all of your plumbing is within the thermal boundary of the house. If both of these criteria aren't met then you are just wasting energy to keep the water constantly warm. Maybe in some places water is really expensive but where I live the only water problem we have is that there can be too much. The cost of keeping the circuits hot would far outweigh the savings in water. Mostly this is a nicety for people who need things NOW.

It does sound cool though, doesn't it.

EDIT:

Oh snap!

Look what I just found!

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...circEnergy.htm

That site never ceases to amaze me. Who is this Gary and why haven't I heard about him being nominated for the Nobel Prize? Is it because I don't watch television or read news papers? Or talk to people that do those things either, for that matter.

And I get a bad feeling about this hot water lobster. The name is a little weird but what puts the icing on the cake is that bugged out face staring at me out of the paused youtube video in the opening post. Damn! Plus that thing costs $180!

Last edited by S-F; 11-20-11 at 02:12 PM..
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Old 11-21-11, 08:21 AM   #3
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Yeah, Gary does have a great site which has loads of info. He also does post here under the name GaryGary.
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Old 11-21-11, 11:23 AM   #4
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When you look at that Lobster rig, it's obvious that it's going to waste BTUs..
(Depending on how long your pipes are and how well your plumbing is insulated & etc.)

But, reading Gary really brings it home, how bad this Lobster idea is..
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Old 12-14-11, 02:23 PM   #5
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Default Hot water lobster

What it boils down to for a normal 1-story house, is which is more costly; heating fuel (gas-propane-oil-etc) ... or water. We have natural gas at our 'new' house, and am now considering this since our farthest faucet in the kitchen ... wastes what is in the feed line from the h/w heater to the outlet.

My 'presumption' is that water here in the Austin area, is more costly than the few gallons of natural gas usage over a year's time.

Comments???


Quote:
Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
When you look at that Lobster rig, it's obvious that it's going to waste BTUs..
(Depending on how long your pipes are and how well your plumbing is insulated & etc.)

But, reading Gary really brings it home, how bad this Lobster idea is..
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Old 12-14-11, 02:43 PM   #6
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I once stayed in the "guest house" during a visit to my rich uncle in SAT,
my bathroom had one of those instant heaters under the sink..

I got up all groggy, real early in the morning, turned on the tap and quickly
tossed a big double handful of scalding hot water into my face!
WOW, boiling water sure has a way of waking you right up!!



Anyways, isn't the water sitting inside the pipes in Austin already about 70 to 86 deg F??

When I was a kid in Del Rio, we would run about a gallon of warm water down
the drain before getting a glass of slightly cool water.

Here, the 'Hot' water out of our kitchen sink tap feels like it just came out of
the refrigerator water bottle.. It slowly warms up after about a gallon..
I never should have used that extra 3/4" copper to replace the old 1/2" stuff..
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Old 12-14-11, 03:07 PM   #7
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[QUOTE=doonboggle;18308

My 'presumption' is that water here in the Austin area, is more costly than the few gallons of natural gas usage over a year's time.

Comments???[/QUOTE]

It's pretty easy to figure out. Check your bill and let us know what a gallon of water costs. Then measure how much you waste waiting for hot water. estimate how often you'll waste that much and you can get a yearly cost on the water. If that number works out to anything reasonable then continue the exercise and work out how much natural gas you'll use to heat the water and how much electricity to constantly pump it around the place.


my water at it's most expensive tier is $0.006 per gallon. a 30 watt circulating pump running 24/7 would cost me 5 cents a day. so I can run 8 gallons a day down the drain before the water costs more. Looking online most kitchen faucets are 2 gpm these days so 16 minutes of run time.

This is still ignoring the cost to heat that water. Your water must be amazingly expensive for this to make financial sense.

<edit> I just read the page and see that it doesn't use circulating pumps so no electric cost. Works fine I suppose if you don't have heat traps anywhere in the system. I still highly doubt it will save money though </edit>

Last edited by strider3700; 12-14-11 at 03:11 PM..
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Old 12-14-11, 03:13 PM   #8
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While still in Travis county, more closer to Elgin (Bastrop county) than Austin; just to clarify.

Anywhoo ... our kitchen faucet these days 'seems' to be ice cold for estimated 1 gallon or more in the morning. Also at nite, when ready for shower, same effect.

Just got water bill yesterday, and was SURPRISED ... to say the least. Only recently moved here from Nevada, where H2o was not a problem; river right thru the community.

Here in Elgin, after 6-7 years of horrific drought, seems the 'powers to be' have VERY increased the cost of H2O by estimated 25% or more ... thus my concern ... while heating fuel ... here in 'warm' Texas ... does not seem to be out of handle ... IMO that is.

So definitely looking for a way to stop wasting water in morning ... and nite ... and during the day as well. Being on SSI ... with no pay raise in 3 years, thanks to 'O' in DC ... is tough these days of escalation items.
TIA





Quote:
Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
I once stayed in the "guest house" during a visit to my rich uncle in SAT,
my bathroom had one of those instant heaters under the sink..

I got up all groggy, real early in the morning, turned on the tap and quickly
tossed a big double handful of scalding hot water into my face!
WOW, boiling water sure has a way of waking you right up!!



Anyways, isn't the water sitting inside the pipes in Austin already about 70 to 86 deg F??

When I was a kid in Del Rio, we would run about a gallon of warm water down
the drain before getting a glass of slightly cool water.

Here, the 'Hot' water out of our kitchen sink tap feels like it just came out of
the refrigerator water bottle.. It slowly warms up after about a gallon..
I never should have used that extra 3/4" copper to replace the old 1/2" stuff..
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Old 12-14-11, 06:11 PM   #9
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http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/dow...erates2012.pdf
UNIT COST PER 1000 GALLONS
Single-Family Residential
0 - 2,000 Gallons 1.17 $
2,001 - 9,000 Gallons 3.08
9,001 - 15,000 Gallons 7.92
15,001 - 25,000 Gallons 10.95
25,001 - over Gallons 12.19

Water Use Calculator | The Power of 10%

I used the water use calculator and got less than 2,000 gallons a month
(in winter), for my retired family of two..

If we used a full 2,000 gallons, that would be $2.34 cents a month???

But, If we were in the 2,000 to 9,000 gallon a month bracket,
8,000 gallons would cost us $63.36 a month. A bit more than $2 a day! (for 266 gallons a day).
A little less than a penny a gallon.?.

Seems like the smart thing to do in Austin, is to stay under 2,000 gallons a month..
If that's even possible..
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Old 12-14-11, 06:20 PM   #10
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Elgin uses these guys.?.

Aqua Water Supply Corporation - Water Services - Providing water and wastewater for home, farms and ranches
They start off with a $24.75 charge and add $3.35 per 1,000 gal, up to 10,000 gals..

Seems pretty tame, if you only use a few thousand gallons a month..
You should be able to keep it under $2 a day if you conserve..

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