Jooooooe
Well, it wasn’t the first time I heard her call me, so I immediately recognized the tone of distress. Uh oh! I’m in some kinda hot water for sure! I gently replied upstairs to the bathroom,
“What is it sweetie?” (Surely putting the best face on this dire situation. Seat up . . . again?) A shout back.
“There’s NO HOT water for my shower! How can I take a shower without hot waaater?”
“Oh no!” I thought. There’s no worse curse than being in hot water because there is no hot water!
“Let me look into it!” said I, the ever-responsive Dark Knight of Repairs, Restorations and the Ridiculous. The trick is to voice no immediate panic – yes this has happened before. The Ecosmart 27K self-modulating hot water system installed by Vara USA® has turned off before. I’ve been down this road a few times. You see, this eco-beast technology reads grid line fluctuations caused by storms, wind, and line gremlins (bugs, anomalies), and then protects itself by quickly shutting down the tender hardware if required. And we had a whopper of a storm the night before! I went downstairs to my basement, simply powered off the unit, waited a minute or so for a full reboot, and then powered it right back up and adjusted that output water temp to a blazing 135 degrees.
“Try it now sweetie. The pipe feels warmer down here.”
<drum beating as cliff hanging moments pass>
“It’s working! It’s working!! Hot water! Hoo-ray!! My hero!!!”
Sheesh. All that for flipping a switch a few times. (PS – I’ll take it.)
I changed out my methane hot water tank about eight years back. I went full home on-demand electric. I feel flipping switches is easier than, say, relighting a methane pilot. Oh, and there’s no carbon monoxide venting required (who needs that?) Just run that power feed anywhere you need to and hot water is possible, even for a pool! There’s no worry of a methane explosion, say, from a high volume methane on-demand system. And since I collect my own solar energy right on site, I don’t pay very much for electricity to make hot water or use anything else. So I’m the guy who knows just about every bump in this on-demand hot water road. And y’know what? There haven’t been many. The system works great, protects itself, and hasn’t given me one bit of real trouble since installed in 2013.
The only caveat? This system fits best in homes with modern main electric panels of 150 amps or more, and because you really don’t use as much hot water as you think, and the system isn’t running constantly to warm water in a tank, your hot water pipes will cool to ambient home temperatures, and it may take a few minutes, say, in the morning, to get hot water going with low flow shower heads or faucets.
Although it’s max draw is hypothetically 105 amps, this demand is peak rating. The system heats (and powers) only as necessary to attain the correct water temp going out, whether for a shower, load of wash, or even your pool. How sweet is that?
Don’t have that service panel size? Vara USA® can get it installed. Or depending on needs and your home’s solar exposure, which Vara USA® can leverage to your best advantage, Vara USA® can possibly install a thermal water heating system for your pool or home needs. These systems supplement your existing methane or electric heat without interfering with it. In the case of the pool, often the existing filter pump is all that is needed to circulate water through the system to warm it. Water is simply circulated through black mesh sheeting and plastic tubes to pre-warm for your existing set up (if even needed at all), and it will use far less energy to heat water from, say, 85 or 90 degrees to 135, instead of from 45-50 degrees. That is a significant boost to your potential savings everyday from day one!
I’ve been a solar pv convert since 2010, and an EV lessee since January 2016, and I believe electric is our universal friend. It’s good to have a plan when it comes to these upgrades. For instance, if you’d like to power your BEV, in my case a TESLA Model S 100, the kitchen, the home heat pump, the dryer, the hot water, and even more down the road, the base building block starter items are 1) a modern 150-200 amp electric service panel, 2) a solar pv array of at least 10-15k if space permits, and 3) a decent 60 amp sub panel feed to supply power to your BEV plug. Later you may decide on item 4) a battery backup for home life critical systems such as refrigeration, air conditioning, and lighting.
Sound complex?
Then don’t get yourself into hot water! Talk with Vara USA® pros and get a game plan you can work on one step at a time to develop the winning combination you require to knock down energy usage and clean up your energy act all at the same time.
Feel good about using energy again — clean energy you can create right at home.
Next go . . . That unsung black box hero strikes again!
