My gas bill was $15 this month.

Moderaters- I'm hoping this highly speculative forum will do. So that you don't have to.

My fellow members,

You are all on a need to know basis as far as I'm concerned and this is something, I feel you need to know.
Let's begin with the newest version of, " The karate kid " with Jaden Smith ( son of Will Smith ), who seems
to have cloned his Pappy's movie persona to the T.



This scene, is just before the scene I was hoping to find, ( you tube is so cluttered with crap ) Where Mr. Han makes contrast between China and America. Over the years I've noticied certain things about Hollywood. One of the things I've noticed that seems, rather benevolent, while most of these observations seem malevolent ? Is if you pay attention close enough, you can find tip offs like the one that ensues. When Mr. Han finaly goes with Dre, to fix wata heata. The problem, is with Americans it seems, as Dre and his mother don't realise there is what is commonly known as an on off switch, on every water heater in China. Are things beginning to take a little shape here yet? You should be getting some form of the idea right about now

So, I said to self, " Epiphony ! No wait I mean, Eureka ! " I realised immediatly, after watching the film about 20 times, ( kids ) that this was a tip. That it should also be seen as a test even a gage of the AMERICAN audiences observational and applicable intelligence. Now I'm not wanting to appear as the sharpest tack in the cork board or anything of that nature. Hence the years of honing my realisation to this understanding of the entire entertainment industry. This is an observation, that for me has proven itself to be fact again. Quit frankly,
to critisize myself. It took at least 20 friggen times of seeing that seen, before it sunk past the concrete cranium.

Well, on the other hand , I don't see anyone else offering up this kind of whip ass, money saving, easy to apply practicle information. I got this one, so yay for Randy. Question to the ATS mechanically incline is, find us the
easiest way to rig an on off switch to our water heaters ? Why ? Why do you have to ask? Because even if you have to walk to your water heater everytime, before using hot water ? It's way worth it people. Think of your pilot light burning up the money in your checking account, every minute of everyday..

My gas bill, for this month, barely peaked above 15 bucks and I know, for an absolute fact, that can be far out done by a simple switch. Mr. Han says, "Switch on, switch off " and I deserve to be a millionaire ! But instead,
my gas, will most likely be turned of this month, in retaliation for this information. What you should be doing now, is getting up off your ass and using your pilot shut off nob. I can't believe how much money it saved me and my family for one month. I hope this helps.

Love your brother and your sister as you love yourself

Randyvious

Well done You've discovered the mystical OFF switch Very few people know it exists, even less know how it works.

I currently pay £33 a month for gas AND electric.

That's a typical English modern 2 bedroom house with 2 occupants. Gas for hot water and heating. I cook my own meals (no take away). Washing machine, but no tumble drier.

Pretty sure if my house mate left and I lived alone it would be quite a bit less as he's less energy conscious (well, not energy conscious at all - leaves his bedroom light on all night!)

I really don't understand how people manage to run up high gas and electricity bills!

Our electric ones come with on/off switches. I have no gas, that's the best way to save on gas, lol.

im purchasing a hot water heater in the near future and i read about this idea. some people say its not worth it in colder areas because more energy is used to heat it up every time. inversely the same forum also said that the hotter the water is the faster it will lose heat making it less efficient to leave on. guess the best way to find out is to try shutting it down when you dont need it for a month and compairing the bills to when you left it on.


i wouldnt be surprised to the result where different on different heaters in different climates.

reply to post by randyvs


Been turning the water heater on and off as needed for ummpteen years, so no biggy there for me. It does save money and I can go 2 days without having to turn it back on again in the summer, only one in the winter.
Loved that new version of the Karate Kid.!!!

Be sure to wrap it with insulation first. Rather than a switch I put a 30amp electric timer with a switch on it that would override the timer when needed. It saved a lot and with the insulation it would hold hot water for days when the electric was off. The best way is an "on demand" unit that only operates when you are actually using the hot water. You have an unlimited supply and don't pay to keep 40gal hot on "standby" 24/7.

Originally posted by Essan
Well done

You've discovered the mystical OFF switch

Very few people know it exists, even less know how it works.

I currently pay £33 a month for gas AND electric.

That's a typical English modern 2 bedroom house with 2 occupants. Gas for hot water and heating. I cook my own meals (no take away). Washing machine, but no tumble drier.

Pretty sure if my house mate left and I lived alone it would be quite a bit less as he's less energy conscious (well, not energy conscious at all - leaves his bedroom light on all night!)

I really don't understand how people manage to run up high gas and electricity bills!

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

Fascinating. Is that a water heater or a combi central heating boiler?

Originally posted by Essan
Well done

You've discovered the mystical OFF switch

Very few people know it exists, even less know how it works.

I currently pay £33 a month for gas AND electric.

That's a typical English modern 2 bedroom house with 2 occupants. Gas for hot water and heating. I cook my own meals (no take away). Washing machine, but no tumble drier.

Pretty sure if my house mate left and I lived alone it would be quite a bit less as he's less energy conscious (well, not energy conscious at all - leaves his bedroom light on all night!)

I really don't understand how people manage to run up high gas and electricity bills!

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

Fascinating. Is that a water heater or a combi central heating boiler?

S&F.

You are on to something here. And in fact, "rigging up an on/off switch" has profound implications if you are familiar with electrical wiring.

Basically you can put the switch anywhere in your house. Heck, you could even put one in your bathroom, all you need is a switch, and enough romex to reach where you need to go.




I'll up the stakes a little further. Now that there is digital control switches, you could install one to only run your hot water at certain times of the day. Perfect for people who work standard schedules and will be away from home at consistent periods.

The only way this idea fails I think is for larger families where people are using the hot water all throughout the day and on off hours.

Originally posted by Essan
Well done

You've discovered the mystical OFF switch

Very few people know it exists, even less know how it works.

I currently pay £33 a month for gas AND electric.

That's a typical English modern 2 bedroom house with 2 occupants. Gas for hot water and heating. I cook my own meals (no take away). Washing machine, but no tumble drier.

Pretty sure if my house mate left and I lived alone it would be quite a bit less as he's less energy conscious (well, not energy conscious at all - leaves his bedroom light on all night!)

I really don't understand how people manage to run up high gas and electricity bills!

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

edit on 28-8-2011 by Essan because: (no reason given)

Is yours £33 for both gas and electric or £33 each? Ours is £67/month for both. For the past 11 months we have been paying £40/month but we got a letter a couple of weeks ago saying it has gone up to £67.

Originally posted by KaiserSoze
The best way is an "on demand" unit that only operates when you are actually using the hot water. You have an unlimited supply and don't pay to keep 40gal hot on "standby" 24/7.

Point of use water heaters, tankless. I've heard a person can save a fortune, but they start out expensive.

www.gotankless.com...

They're coming down in price a bit, and if your plumbing is all close together you don't need too many units. Whoever built this house I'm in, put the plumbing all over the place, one bathroom here, and I still need 3 units.

It might be a good investment soon, my electric bill is way too much

reply to post by boncho


Boncho, with the digital controled timer switch, like the ones that run sprinklers and irragation right ? A little more expense but well worth the savings and convenience. I like it.

I save tons of money by not leaving things plugged in like the microwave, dvd player, even my alarm clock, and other things like that. I haven't figured out how I can get the fridge off with out the food tasting funny yet.

I also use power cords and shut them off when I'm not up. All the little clocks and things being plugged in still use energy.

Sometimes I get lazy and I pay for it. When I'm not and get the bill and its under 40 bucks even with the AC blasting all day sometimes its worth resetting the alarm clock and waiting for the internet and stuff to boot up.

During the winter I heat the house to 70 and turn it off till it gets to about 60. People always tell me just set at 65 and keep it thier it will save you money. My bill seems to be higher if i just keep it on.

You could opt for a tankless water heater, they cost more than a regular water tank, but save you a ton of money in the long run. These only heat the water as it's being used, as opposed to keeping a full water tank (50 gallons, typically) heated all the time.

What you're doing is still not efficient, when you turn the water tank off, you're letting all that water cool down. Then when you turn it back on you have to heat all 50 gallons back up.

Originally posted by randyvs
reply to post by boncho

 

Boncho, with the digital controled timer switch, like the ones that run sprinklers and irragation right ? A little more expense but well worth the savings and convenience. I like it.

edit on 28-8-2011 by randyvs because: (no reason given)

Exactly. And actually, with communication technologies they are already making smart homes that let you control your appliances, air/con, etc from your cell-phone.

In theory, most of this could be done with a little bit of ingenuity and know-how. Basically, if you put a lot of time into it, you could build your own smart home.

to the idea of hot water heater. It never even occurred to me while considering the smart home tech before.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Wow ! A $ 75 gas bill last month down to $15 dollars this month feels conservative at least. As I said in my OP, I wasn't really putting alot on it. So the calculator, in my little pea brain, says I can get it down to around, maybe even below ten dollars. I think that's somewhere in the realm of efficient.

I could just let em shut it off for good, I suppose. Cha ching ! Then go ask the neighbor if I can use her shower everynight. Damn, I like the way you think .

been using a timer on the hot water heater for 25yr.
set to come on at 4:30am to 6:45am. and in the evening at
4:45pm to 7:30pm.
man i thought every knew about timers.

Originally posted by hounddoghowlie
been using a timer on the hot water heater for 25yr.
set to come on at 4:30am to 6:45am. and in the evening at
4:45pm to 7:30pm.
man i thought every knew about timers.

Yeah, I wish they did. That way I might of known about it. Any way just be glad you kept the secret as long as you did !

Randy, do you heat with a gas furnace? Turn the pilot off during the summer months, saved us 10 bucks a month on our bill from April to mid October. That would mean you pay nothing! This is until the utility co. catches on and sticks you with a minimum usage charge like the water co. does. Just a thought....

Sorry, couldn't resist, but I always get a chuckle when someone says "hot water heater". If the waters hot, why do you need a heater??

Carry On ...