Print

[12valve]

Hey all.  So the last thing in my house that sips propane is my hot water heater, and thats only in the summer.  I have to fire up my old in efficent boiler just to have hot water.  I have a boier mate hot water system which workds great when the OWB is fired so i dont want to rip that out.  I would like to get ride of the propane all together, I dont want to fire the OWB all summer so for a few months I would just like electric hot water. 

Any suggestions?  I was thinking of plumbing in a electric hot water heater on a ball ball valve, so I would use the boiler mate when OWB was fired and switch over to electric in the summer.  Are there any other suggestions any one can think of?

[slimjim]

Have you thought about an electric on demand wall hung boiler for you domestic

[12valve]

NO SlimJim I hadn't.  I guess I knew they made those with Propane but I was not aware of an electric one.  I will look into that.

[slimjim]

I have never used one but they use a lot of them in Canada as power is so cheap there

[12valve]

Anyone have one.  My summertime load should not be to heavy.  whats a good brand?

[Crow]

I have never used one but they use a lot of them in Canada as power is so cheap there

Hard to pick out sarcasm on the internet Slim. I believe WillieG calculated his power to be almost 21 cents/kwh. ( total bill/kwh used = 20.52 cents/kwh on my last bill)
Rates are cheaper across the rest of the country compared to Ontario.

[Scott7m]

I know on demand water heaters are frowned upon down here. 

I have heard of a few customers complaining about them burning up and not saving much

Id go with a simple regular style or perhaps a hybrid model..     Hybrid meaning heat pump style water heater

[ITO]

 Don't know where you are at but solar panels seems a great choice for summertime use if you can make that work, you have the storage tank already.

[RSI]

Get an add on DHW heatpump and connect it to the boilermate. If you use a lot of hot water you may need to add an electric heater too or set it up so it runs more and store heat in the OWB.

[mlappin]

I have never used one but they use a lot of them in Canada as power is so cheap there

Hard to pick out sarcasm on the internet Slim. I believe WillieG calculated his power to be almost 21 cents/kwh. ( total bill/kwh used = 20.52 cents/kwh on my last bill)
Rates are cheaper across the rest of the country compared to Ontario.

Ouch, I'm paying a tad over 10 cents a kilowatt. The wifes family in England pay about 3-4 times what I do for a kilowatt.

[12valve]

Thanks for all the advice.  I have a little research to do/.

[12valve]

OK Guys I like the idea of the heat pump which I had never heard of.  I did some research, one, I cant find one that hooks in with a boiler mate?  RSI do you know of any.  The other thing is they seem pricey and I will only be using for aprox 4-5 months a year.  That puts me back to traditonal or on demand electric.

[RSI]

This one is about $350 on ebay. Hot and Cold: Heat Pump Water Heater

[RSI]

You could also use something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/AirTap-A7-water-heater-Add-on-heat-pump-energy-saver-local-pickup-only-/111233077833?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e6021249
With this one you need to have a fitting in the top of the tank to insert the hot coil into. If you don't have any available, I don't see any reason you couldn't just use a section of pipe and pump water through it to your tank.

[12valve]

Perfect RSi. and my wife has been bugging me about a dehumidifier for the basement.   2 birds 1 stone.  Thanks again.