Cold Water and Geysers

Posted: March 6th, 2007 | Author: saldarji | Filed under: stuff | 1 Comment »

My hotel had some issues with one of their boilers this morning, and I had to take a cold shower. It was a terrible way to start the day.

I’m at a work site that is very consciously moving towards greener offices. The real reason behind this is probably not to conserve energy but to conserve money. Even if it isn’t completely altruistic, it is still a good thing they are on that path.

Because of this green focus, it made me think about “Geysers“. Geysers, atleast in India, are electric water heaters that are mounted in the bathroom to provide hot water on an as-needed basis. The bathroom I used while in Paris had one.

I wonder if they are more or less efficient than traditional boilers. Greanpeace seems to think that they are extremely inefficient, and recommends solar power. However, there is another type of geyser that provides instantaneously heated water.

Demand (or instantaneous) water heaters eliminate the storage tank by heating water directly when there is a call for hot water. These units are growing in popularity in the U.S. The energy consumption of these units is generally lower since standby losses from the storage tank are eliminated. Demand water heaters with enough capacity to meet household needs are gas- or propane-fired. They have three significant drawbacks for some applications: Large simultaneous uses (two showers and the clothes washer, for example) may challenge their capacity, particularly in winter,when the inlet water is coldest. They will not turn on unless the hot water flow is ½ – 3/4 gallon/minutes. Retrofit installation can be very expensive. Finally, because the efficiency tests were not developed with these designs being considered, it is not known if the “EF” accurately estimates energy consumption. If you choose a tankless unit, look for one eligible for 2006-2007 federal tax credits (EF levels). – Link

Doing some additional research, I found some tankless water heaters for sale online. I wonder what the ROI is with installation, tax credits, lower power consumption, etc. (Yes, I’m a business geek.)

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