It is a chicken and egg scenario. $700 bill arrived today and Dh thinks of it as guests paying the bill (toward the bill), but every 2 degrees upstairs hikes it up that much more. We still have snow on the ground after 3 weeks.Most around here don't have any guests right now and so have closed at least weekdays.When we were open, we didn't have enough guests during the winter to make it worth staying open..so we always closed from Nov. - Feb..
THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.
On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
Any room that is not near the hot water tank is already waiting. As an example, I can brush my teeth, take my meds (which is kind of involved) and sort laundry while I'm waiting for the hot water to reach my shower. At this time of year, when the building is basically cold, that 'hot' water lasts not as long as my shower. It gets progressively less hot the longer I'm there.Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
My parents installed solar panels this summer. We looked into it here but our exposure is not due south so it wouldn't work. They are happy with the results and are getting a hefty tax break based on the current incentives so they are happy with it.Any room that is not near the hot water tank is already waiting. As an example, I can brush my teeth, take my meds (which is kind of involved) and sort laundry while I'm waiting for the hot water to reach my shower. At this time of year, when the building is basically cold, that 'hot' water lasts not as long as my shower. It gets progressively less hot the longer I'm there.Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
We will definitely do the research. Last thing I want to do is get this all set up only to find out it doesn't work!
The other option is solar pre-heating of the water. We have a nice chunk of south-facing roof that is unshaded year round. Gomez just took a certification class to do the installations so we'll have an in-house service tech! For that, we can get grant money.
That also requires some 'backup' work as the power goes out here frequently and if the system is fully heated there needs to be an 'outlet' for the excess heat and that is generally powered electrically.
.
Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
Are they gas or electric?Rupert said:Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.
Doing lots of research really is the key.Any room that is not near the hot water tank is already waiting. As an example, I can brush my teeth, take my meds (which is kind of involved) and sort laundry while I'm waiting for the hot water to reach my shower. At this time of year, when the building is basically cold, that 'hot' water lasts not as long as my shower. It gets progressively less hot the longer I'm there.Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
We will definitely do the research. Last thing I want to do is get this all set up only to find out it doesn't work!
The other option is solar pre-heating of the water. We have a nice chunk of south-facing roof that is unshaded year round. Gomez just took a certification class to do the installations so we'll have an in-house service tech! For that, we can get grant money.
That also requires some 'backup' work as the power goes out here frequently and if the system is fully heated there needs to be an 'outlet' for the excess heat and that is generally powered electrically.
.
There are also individual units for on the spot hot water...I can't remember what the offical name is, but they go in at each location hot water is needed. We looked at this when we were doing our remodel 10+ years ago and at that time all of this technology was still way too new and too expensive. Today there are more options and more advanced too. I think we will be looking at this again in the next couple of years.Any room that is not near the hot water tank is already waiting. As an example, I can brush my teeth, take my meds (which is kind of involved) and sort laundry while I'm waiting for the hot water to reach my shower. At this time of year, when the building is basically cold, that 'hot' water lasts not as long as my shower. It gets progressively less hot the longer I'm there.Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
We will definitely do the research. Last thing I want to do is get this all set up only to find out it doesn't work!
The other option is solar pre-heating of the water. We have a nice chunk of south-facing roof that is unshaded year round. Gomez just took a certification class to do the installations so we'll have an in-house service tech! For that, we can get grant money.
That also requires some 'backup' work as the power goes out here frequently and if the system is fully heated there needs to be an 'outlet' for the excess heat and that is generally powered electrically.
.
Yes, the savings are coming in better than even we expected...I sure hope the summer savings are good too. We could even out quicker than we predicted.THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.
Rats. We have no space 'along the way'. Those pumps would have to be IN guest rooms. That's ok, solar preheat may be the way to go.Doing lots of research really is the key.Any room that is not near the hot water tank is already waiting. As an example, I can brush my teeth, take my meds (which is kind of involved) and sort laundry while I'm waiting for the hot water to reach my shower. At this time of year, when the building is basically cold, that 'hot' water lasts not as long as my shower. It gets progressively less hot the longer I'm there.Be sure to do some research. What we've seen with a brand new B&B here who did a total gutting and re-do is that the on-demand system is NOT good for a B&B situation. You have to wait MANY minutes (we're talking 5-10 full minutes) to get hot water. Guests are not at all happy.We would be sharing the hot water among all the rooms, the laundry and the kitchen. We would probably have a separate unit for ourselves. Definitely needs to be properly sized!THAT is an amazing amount of savings! Good for you. At MY electricity rates, you just saved over $600 in 2 months! We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.We have just changed out our 3 large central units that handled the whole house to help with these issues. FYI we are all electric here. After talking with several AC/Heat specialists, we did the following:
Common area on Main floor - Common rooms, kitchen and family guest room - a energy star central unit.
Second floor - all guest rooms - new individual split system units sized to control each room size comfortably - off when not in use, timer if guests out most of day to reset to cool/heat prior to return (if they are in and out, unit is kept on)
Private family area - energy star central unit
Savings - October reduced kWh use by 1500 over same time last year, room nights rented within 2-3 (note our Oct. temps are usually mild, low heat only at night)
Nov - reduced kWh use by 2300 over same time last year and 20 MORE room nights!!!
Dec. bill is due soon so we shall see if the trend continues..
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
.On-demand hot water is definitely a big energy saver. The downsides are the installation costs which are quite high, due to the need for 1" copper pipes (instead of the more common 3/4" pipes) and the logistical need to place the water heater fairly close to the bathroom. Sharing an on-demand heater with more than 1 room works but generally requires some adjustments to make it work well.Morticia said:We're thinking of going to on demand hot water as that will probably save us quite a bit. But, I need to do a comparison first.
Right now I am essentially heating and reheating 80 gals of water every couple of hours for no reason. That goes on well into spring.
Still, after the initial outlay, the immediate monthly savings are pretty impressive.
I've had them installed at a few places and have been pleased each time, although it took a few years to recover the upfront expenses.
.
.
.
We will definitely do the research. Last thing I want to do is get this all set up only to find out it doesn't work!
The other option is solar pre-heating of the water. We have a nice chunk of south-facing roof that is unshaded year round. Gomez just took a certification class to do the installations so we'll have an in-house service tech! For that, we can get grant money.
That also requires some 'backup' work as the power goes out here frequently and if the system is fully heated there needs to be an 'outlet' for the excess heat and that is generally powered electrically.
.
It's not just the issue of the size of the on-demand. It's the distance.
If it's going to be moving the hot water more than a room or so away, you might find it best to also get small pumps and 2-gallon hot water heaters along the route.
The little 2-gallon heaters bring hot water fast while the pump moves the water from the on-demand system more quickly than the venting alone can do. By the time the 2-gallon is empty, hot water's there from the on-demand. No delay at all.
This particular workaround works really well as long as you can find a good quiet (read: insulated) spot for the pumps, which make some noise.
.
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