Thermostat + Timer
in [Design]
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From: mpm on 16 Oct 2009 12:01 On Oct 16, 5:12 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote: > Why not use a solar water heater then? At US latitudes they should be > commonplace and available relatively cheaply. It's only cheaper if you don't factor in the cost of a new roof, or a whole new house! You can loosely translate that as "Hurricanes".
From: Michael A. Terrell on 17 Oct 2009 02:29 mpm wrote: > > On Oct 16, 5:12 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> > wrote: > > > Why not use a solar water heater then? At US latitudes they should be > > commonplace and available relatively cheaply. > > It's only cheaper if you don't factor in the cost of a new roof, or a > whole new house! > You can loosely translate that as "Hurricanes". Martin is a clueless European. He has no idea what Florida is really like. Hail storms will destroy a solar water heater as well. Large areas have no natural gas, so that leaves propane, fuel oil or electricity as the only way to heat water. My well was 100 feet from the house at my last home. The pipe was about 18 inches between the exposed 30 gallon tank and the house. Two people could take a hot shower in the late afternoon before you ran out of hot water. You had to let the 'cold' water run for a couple minutes to let it cool down enough to get it to a comfortable temperature. The only time the water heater was turned on was during the few cold winter days. The well here is in the shade most of the day, and the underground pipes are in real dirt instead of sugar sand. The water heater is on a manual switch that is turned on about 15 minutes before a shower, and turned off when you finish. That leaves enough hot water to wash the dishes in the morning, except on the coldest days. Of course there are more of those each year, thanks to 'Global Warming'. I use the AC less each year, and the heat more days. -- The movie 'Deliverance' isn't a documentary!
From: Martin Brown on 18 Oct 2009 08:54 mpm wrote: > On Oct 16, 5:12 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> > wrote: > >> Why not use a solar water heater then? At US latitudes they should be >> commonplace and available relatively cheaply. > > It's only cheaper if you don't factor in the cost of a new roof, or a > whole new house! > You can loosely translate that as "Hurricanes". The Japanese seem to manage OK with them although they call their "Hurricanes" as Typhoons the effect is pretty much the same. Are you saying that US homes are so shoddily built that the additional load of a solar water heater on top would cause them to collapse in the wind of a hurricane ? Can't do much about tornadoes most things fly apart in those. Regards, Martin Brown
From: mpm on 19 Oct 2009 11:53 On Oct 18, 8:54 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote: > mpm wrote: > > On Oct 16, 5:12 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> > > wrote: > > >> Why not use a solar water heater then? At US latitudes they should be > >> commonplace and available relatively cheaply. > > > It's only cheaper if you don't factor in the cost of a new roof, or a > > whole new house! > > You can loosely translate that as "Hurricanes". > > The Japanese seem to manage OK with them although they call their > "Hurricanes" as Typhoons the effect is pretty much the same. > > Are you saying that US homes are so shoddily built that the additional > load of a solar water heater on top would cause them to collapse in the > wind of a hurricane ? > > Can't do much about tornadoes most things fly apart in those. > > Regards, > Martin Brown It's the wind force loading, not the weight that causes the problems. To meet local code, it's VERY expensive. And regardless, my hot water bills are no so high as to justify the risk of losing the whole house. I wonder if Japan mandates solar use.
From: Martin Brown on 19 Oct 2009 12:13
mpm wrote: > On Oct 18, 8:54 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> > wrote: >> mpm wrote: >>> On Oct 16, 5:12 am, Martin Brown <|||newspam...(a)nezumi.demon.co.uk> >>> wrote: >>>> Why not use a solar water heater then? At US latitudes they should be >>>> commonplace and available relatively cheaply. >>> It's only cheaper if you don't factor in the cost of a new roof, or a >>> whole new house! >>> You can loosely translate that as "Hurricanes". >> The Japanese seem to manage OK with them although they call their >> "Hurricanes" as Typhoons the effect is pretty much the same. >> >> Are you saying that US homes are so shoddily built that the additional >> load of a solar water heater on top would cause them to collapse in the >> wind of a hurricane ? >> >> Can't do much about tornadoes most things fly apart in those. > > It's the wind force loading, not the weight that causes the problems. > To meet local code, it's VERY expensive. I don't remember seeing any Japanese houses fall down and we lived there through several powerful direct hit typhoons. > And regardless, my hot water bills are no so high as to justify the > risk of losing the whole house. That is a problem. Even though the capital cost is relatively low the total cost of hot water is tiny compared to space heating/cooling. > > I wonder if Japan mandates solar use. I doubt it. This was long before AGW was even on the agenda. They like gadgets though and Japanese baths require copious hot water. Regards, Martin Brown |