EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Conservation
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-12-11, 12:57 PM   #31
benpope
Helper EcoRenovator
 
benpope's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Little Rock, AR
Posts: 95
Thanks: 16
Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by strider3700 View Post
I'm curious what is the cost/kwh for off-peak, mid-peak, and on-peak. They are still debating going to smart meters here but when it happens I expect to see this type of scheme looked into.
Entergy (TX, AR, LA, MS) charges $.118 peak and $.023 off-peak. The normal rate is $.06/kwh. This is all, of course, before additional fuel charges, taxes, user fees, graft and corruption fee, etc. are added. All told, I pay something like $.10/kwh now, so it would translate to about $.14 peak and $.06 off peak.

EDIT:

I also found their three tier prices:
* On Peak - $.10658
* Mid Peak - $.05143
* Off Peak - $.04389


Last edited by benpope; 09-12-11 at 01:02 PM..
benpope is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-11, 02:16 PM   #32
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

I'll bet a lot of Entergy customers do the wash at night..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-11, 11:25 AM   #33
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
09-04-11 09:45 PM
Home heating oil is around $4 a gallon right now, but since we are timed to be only burning
0.5 gal per day, $2 for hot water isn't that bad of a deal. But Solar HW is starting to look better and better!


About 15 gallons a month for the 8 warmer months, comes to 240 gallons.
Our typical fill-up in the early fall is normally around 200 gallons..


But, that might be way off base this year. The last bill I can find shows a fill-up on 02-02-11.
I just looked at our 275 gallon tank, and it looks pretty full.. Just under 3/4 full.
It goes up to 7/8 after a fill-up, so it only looks like we've used about 40 gallons during the last 7 months.
Should have been more.. 214 days * 0.5 gallons is 107 gallons (of burn per the timer).

I wonder if the new lower water temp setting (140F) has the Aquastat
shutting off the burner after 10 or 15 minutes.?.

I'm never up at 7AM when the timer starts it up..

Anyways, I'm looking forward to only needing about 60 or 70 gallons for our fall fill-up..

Even with the 140F water, we've never had any problems taking showers
in the evenings. I think the solar PV assist might be bigger help at low water temps..
I'm working on boosting the PV power to the heater. Got the parts,
just need to do some soldering etc..

Today we had the (late) Fall Fill-up.. 80.7 gallons @ $3.59 = $281.64 (after QPD).

Since the last fill up on 02-02-11, It's been 288 days or 9 months, 15 days.
That equals 0.28 gallons a day.?. $1 a day (at today's prices)!!

This little timer has paid for itself and then some..
Seems that solar assist is helping out too. Dang, I've got to optimize that thing ASAP..
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-12, 09:38 AM   #34
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default 50.7 gallon oil fill..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xringer View Post
Today we had the (late) Fall Fill-up.. 80.7 gallons @ $3.59 = $281.64 (after QPD).

Since the last fill up on 02-02-11, It's been 288 days or 9 months, 15 days.
That equals 0.28 gallons a day.?. $1 a day (at today's prices)!!

This little timer has paid for itself and then some..
Seems that solar assist is helping out too. Dang, I've got to optimize that thing ASAP..

It's been 73 days, and we just had a visit from the Oil truck! He Pumped in 50.7 gallons.
@ $3.49 quick-pay-discount, is $176.94
50.7 / 73 = 0.6945 gallons a day, which is only a tad high.
That's more than our goal (0.5 gal per day), but we did have a couple
of nights when we used some back-up oil-heat, and a few evenings,
when we needed extra hot shower water..

Over all, we've been very happy with the operation of the Timer..

Edit:
This morning, we decided to change the timer to 8:30 AM.. For reason, see
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/solar-...html#post19447
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

Last edited by Xringer; 01-30-12 at 10:45 AM.. Reason: Adding link note
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-02-12, 11:45 PM   #35
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

It's been 95 days and today the oil truck was here again!
45.3 gallons ($3.69/gal) is 0.477 gallons per day. Pretty close to our goal of 1/2 gallon.

In the fall, when I did the burner maintenance, I was really pleased to see how clean the filter and flame retention unit was. Running 1/2 hour a day has it's good points too.

If I can get the heat pump project running, we might end up using much less (if any) oil.
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-12, 06:04 PM   #36
ferg75407
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: north texas
Posts: 15
Thanks: 4
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

I hacked my water heater today before I read this thread. Its electric 4500watt elements. The top one comes on first, when it meets its setpoint it lets the lower have power to make its set point. I set the top to ~110 qnd the lower to 125. My timer is an intertec, ifound, it nneded a clock motor( $18 ). I put the timer in to interupt the lower elements normal cycle. It now only comes on when my solar pv panels should be producing. It is better to use than to sell. I have thoughts of putting lower powered elemnt in lower position. solar panels can barely hand an element.
I am retired so in the day time I try to do things that can use the solar power, and avoid night uses. I welcome suggestions and thoughts on my hack job.
ferg75407 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-13-12, 07:46 PM   #37
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

Hi Ferg,
I installed a new GE hotwater heater this summer. I think it also has 4500w elements.

But, I got it for my A7 Airtap ASHP project and didn't plan to use the 4.5kW power hog mode at all.

I did test the tank using the 120vac.. Works nice!
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/geothe...html#post23896

Only uses 1.130 kW. Making 3856 BTUh of warmed up water..

Maybe your PV can handle the load at 120vac? At least during the daylight hours..?.

The negative side is very long recovery time. But, it might be okay,
depending on your hotwater needs.

~~~

Anyways, we're now using a timer that keeps the A7 off, between 10:30PM & 6AM.
Since we aren't going to be using any hot water during those hours,
I don't think we are going to run short of hot water at any point.
(During our normal waking hours).

There might be some small power savings.. I really don't care,
since the power use by the A7 AirTap is already pretty insignificant at 15 cents a day.
This PC uses a LOT more than that per day!!
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-12, 08:11 AM   #38
MN Renovator
Less usage=Cheaper bills
 
MN Renovator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 940
Thanks: 41
Thanked 117 Times in 91 Posts
Default

"Only uses 1.130 kW. Making 3856 BTUh of warmed up water.."

Umm 3.412 * 1.13 = 3.855.6
You've got the same efficiency as power hog mode, except with a long recovery time? ..or you've made a mistake somewhere along the line with the output or the input number.
MN Renovator is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-12, 09:25 AM   #39
Xringer
Lex Parsimoniae
 
Xringer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Woburn, MA
Posts: 4,918
Thanks: 114
Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MN Renovator View Post
"Only uses 1.130 kW. Making 3856 BTUh of warmed up water.."

Umm 3.412 * 1.13 = 3.855.6
You've got the same efficiency as power hog mode, except with a long recovery time? ..or you've made a mistake somewhere along the line with the output or the input number.

I don't use the 4.5kW elements, I just tested them, using 120vac.
I only use the A7 ASHP to heat my hotwater. Which is super efficient. <1kWh per day .

I do use some resistive electrical heating in the old oil burner.. But it's all from PV.. (DC @ 800W max).
__________________
My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits
EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..
Xringer is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Xringer For This Useful Post:
ferg75407 (11-14-12)
Old 11-14-12, 09:37 AM   #40
ferg75407
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: north texas
Posts: 15
Thanks: 4
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

120 volts huh, I,ll try that since the outlet was wired with neutral.
Any more suggestion to insure I make hay while the sun shines ( use solar automatically).

ferg75407 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Tags
boiler, timer, water heater

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:51 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design