Proof in the Pudding

So I've been watching our electricity usage closely since installing the solar hot water heater two weeks ago.  I did some calculations last night and so far we've seen a 29% reduction in daily power consumption.  That's based on comparing our daily average over the last 10 days to the daily average over the previous 16 months.  I'm pleased with these results so far given the time of year and how much sun we've had.  Our average usage in the last ten days was 16.5KWh. 

I'm hoping this number will be over 30% now that I've completely insulated the hot water pipe from the solar storage tank to the hot water heater.  It is recommended that everyone insulate several feet of pipe leading in and out of the hot water heater to improve their efficiency.  I insulated most of the hot water pipes in the basement years ago.  It's cheap and easy to do.  I actually insulated most of the cold water pipes too in order to stop them from sweating so much (and dripping on the floor) during the summer in our humid basement.

Now I get a certain satisfaction every time I'm using the hot water knowing most of it comes from renewable solar energy, well at least for the next couple billion years...

Comments

[Kristin]

Hi Duane,
Congrats on the power reduction! Thanks for informing us all through your blog about how you went about your solar heater and the energy you are saving. You are an inspiration!
Cheers,
Kristin