Glenn Hubbers

The Toronto Star had a completely one-sided article today on the pitfalls of switching to a tankless water heater.

For those who may not be aware, yes, you can have a water heater that does not involve heating up a tank and keeping it hot forever just in case you might want some.  Here’s a typical installation if you’ve never seen one.

The first time I ever heard of tankless hot water was from my mother after her trip to Europe in 1978.  These heaters were commonplace in Holland then and still are.  In fact, tank based systems for residential use are hard to find there. (Likely since they make less sense that the tankless version.)

Mollie and I switched to tankless two years ago after buying our “recession house.”  Yes, it was a bit of a learning curve, but the savings are there if you are willing to adjust your thinking a bit.

But back to the Star…

A tankless water heater needs extra maintenance, he found. It has to be serviced once a year with a vinegar solution to keep it clean and functioning properly.

“Estimated cost is $100 a year – more than the gas savings.”

This is an apples and oranges comparison.  Yes, you have to be aware to keep the unit clean by doing the annual flush AND/OR by having a water softener for all water going into it.  But if the owner was not ALSO flushing his tank every year and willing to live with the constantly degrading efficiency, why the double standard?

He had to remove his water-saving shower heads, since there wasn’t a strong enough flow to keep the water heater on.

Admittedly there are issues with pressure and this takes a bit of work/thought.  There can be a problem with these shower heads, but I think it’s more likely that there are other contributing factors.

The tankless heaters have an inherent pressure drop just from the design of the heat exchanger that tanks don’t have, so if you make the mistake of installing them without any other changes in your piping system you might notice a pressure problem.  I had this problem and had to go back and replace a few gate valves with ball valves to avoid the problem.  You also have to look at your cold water system to make sure you have somewhat equal pressure drops in hot and cold sides, or else adjusting your temperatures can be problematic.

It should also be noted here that this problem would be avoided with a tankless unit installed in new construction since the system could be designed to accomodate.  It’s only an issue for retrofits and it just takes a bit if careful thought.

“I now waste more water waiting for the hot water to arrive. It takes 10 to 15 seconds every time you turn on the tap for the hot water to get up to temperature – and up to a minute with the tap on full for the hot water to arrive on the second floor.”

Really?  And the hot water residing in your tank was magically transported to the second floor?  Instantaneously?  No waiting?  Gimme a break.

But seriously, in new construction the heater could be placed closer to the faucets and avoid some of this delay.

“Many households take longer showers. From 10 minutes, they go to 12 minutes, knowing they won’t run out of water. So, what happens to the savings? Zero.”

Yeah.  I don’t know what to say to that.  Apples … meet oranges.  Comparing 10 minute showers with a tank to 12 minute showers with tankless and being disappointed with the result is rather a giant mental leap.  So, if the price of gas were higher this article would say that people are switching to 15 minute showers and saving nothing?  BS!  THEY ARE HAVING 15 MINUTE SHOWERS, which I think we could all agree is the basis of the problem.  Forget the tankless water heater, why don’t you start by keeping your showers to under 5 minutes!

Realistically I think that most people who go so far as to install one of these things is already in the mindset to save water as well as energy, so this comment is moot.

You may be disappointed with what you get when you need a trickle of water – say, to clean a razor blade while shaving. The cold water has to flow through the tankless unit and kick on a heating mechanism. This can take a while.

“Tankless systems won’t give you the same hot water in a low-flow scenario as what you get from a storage tank,” Krill says.

No kidding.  So try putting some hot water in the sink and leave the tap off while you shave.  Was that so hard?  Again, these tankless hot water heaters require a bit of thought about your habits.

A hot water tank uses about 40,000 BTUs of energy (British thermal units) but a tankless unit uses five times that, or 200,000 BTUs. “It fires up the burners and pounds the cold water to raise the temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit,” he says.

Well, mine is 130,000 BTUs.  They come in different sizes just like tanks do.  So what?  This represents an instantaneous energy flow.  To get to total energy used you have to consider how often the burner is firing compared to the smaller burner on a tank that fires far more often.

And there’s a second problem here.  120 degree F?  Are you kidding me?  Why would you possibly need your water that hot?  If you have it set that high you will have to mix in cold water for your shower and lose all that energy that you just paid for in heating the water for nothing.

A friend bought a model that has a remote panel so he can dial in the temp water he wants and then only needs to turn on the hot water for showers.  Each family member has their prefered shower temp.  Sadly, the one I bought does not have this but my next house will.

The municipal water temperature is about 70F in summer, but can drop as low as 40F in winter.  The tankless unit has to work harder to heat water from 40F to 120F. This means your endless supply can run out in the cooler months.

I see.  And the tank does not have to work harder because it is on that different, magical municipal system?  I’m sorry, but if you run out in the winter you merely did not choose the correct size of heater for the conditions in your house.  End of story.

So, scale back your expectations in winter. Instead of two showers and doing dishes at the same time, do the dishes later.

Ah, now we get to the heart of the problem.  [Dripping sarcasm deleted.] As I said before, these heaters do take a bit of getting used to and some adjustment of habits.  Yes, larger units are available which would allow for two showers and doing dishes at the same time, but they will not have nearly the savings of a smaller heater which requires that showers not be simultaneous.  Two people in the same shower works well, but this could also results in substantially more than 12 minutes. 

Next week we’ll look closely at the cost of buying/renting a tankless water heater system.

I can’t wait.

Glenn Hubbers Energy, Water

Since my previous post a couple of days ago, a number of people have asked me more about SPP (the friendly sounding Securing and Prosperity Partnership) and how it would affect water supplies.

There are many resources out there on the web discussing this point, but for a start here is a presentation by Dr. Janet Eaton, PhD, the Green Party of Canada Shadow Cabinet Critic for International Trade.

Threats to our Water – May 2007

Contact me, post comments, whatever. If I can’t answer your questions about this I’ll be happy to contact Dr. Eaton to get her response. It’s in all of our best interests to pay attention to this one and demand public transparency of the negotiations.

Glenn Hubbers SPP, Water

All summer long, I’ve seen York Region newspapers report the ups and downs of water supply.

There have been many articles (most reporting there’s a water ban; no wait, it rained, no more ban; scratch that, there’s a ban) or letters-to-the-editor from residents who can’t understand how we have shortages in a country blessed with so much water.

• June 16 – Conservation urged as reservoir levels drop
• June 26 – Outdoor water ban issued for Newmarket, Aurora, Oak Ridges, Maple
• June 27 – Dry weather creates early water crisis in region
• June 27 – Strict water ban in effect
• July 1 – Region issues low water alert
• July 3 – Outdoor water ban lifted, but advisory remains in place
• July 4 – Water woes
• July 4 – Water restrictions raise questions
• July 4 – Officials fail to see water crisis re-occurring
• July 23 – Water use advisory remains in effect
• July 27 – New reservoir won’t solve current water woes
• August 8 – Water, water everywhere, except here in Aurora
• August 2 – Water Ban Issued for Aurora, Oak Ridges
• August 9 – Low water advisory issued for York
• August 13 – Water Ban Lifted for Aurora, Oak Ridges
• and many more if you just type “water” in the search box…

Now, I understand that my engineering fascination with infrastructure (you know, all that stuff that everyone takes for granted till it doesn’t work like water, sewer, power, etc.) is pretty geeky and doesn’t really appeal to most people, and I’ve had to learn over the years that as long as people like me make sure it works, most people just don’t care. But this approach to basic infrastructure is now coming back to haunt us.

There are a long list of reasons why we have water shortages, but here’s a few quick ones:

• For too long, people have been charged far less than it costs to bring the water to their homes.
• We actually still have un-metered systems some places in Canada, so people are not charged for the amount they use.
• Federal and provincial downloading has put more financial pressure on municipalities, and the one area they could cut is long term maintenance.
• Population growth, without the infrastructure to support it.
• And the latest biggie, climate change which will likely impact lake water levels and aquifer levels which will continually increase the duration of water shortages.

Taking water from one large sink and discharging to another large sink seems like an OK idea, until the effects of a large and growing population are taken into account. This is not unlike a couple billion people not being able to change earth’s atmosphere much, but 6.5 billion sure can.

So we now are seeing regulations against doing this, and municipalities are going to have to make massive investments in their water and sewer systems. Not to mention the investment needed just to maintain an aging system. (It should be noted that York Regions system is fairly young as these things go, so we are in better shape than most of the country.)

But the letters that struck me most were these…

• August 8 – Town sells water while flowers die, pool dries up
• August 11 – How can Newmarket afford to sell water during shortage?

What struck me was the indignation of people that, in the midst of a water crisis in their own community, water would be sold to the neighbouring community. (Never mind that I don’t consider the in-ability to fill a pool or wash a car a crisis)

It makes me wonder what these same people will think when, as we have our annual summer water bans in the future, Canadian water is being sold, or even piped with no compensation, to arid areas in the United States?

Don’t think that will happen?

For years, people have tried to have water exported under NAFTA since the rules of that agreement make it so that it’s a tipping point. Once it starts it’s very hard to stop.

And now, the SPP negotiations are about to make things orders of magnitude worse.

So when those of us raising the alarm bells, in this case primarily the Green Party, are asking you to take an interest in a high level negotiation going on behind closed doors, we’re not kidding.

It really will impact your lives. Perhaps it’s time to get geeky.

Glenn Hubbers Climate Change, Green Policy, SPP, Water

This article is American, but serves to highlight our looming infrastructure problems, the link to global warming, and the results of our focus on uninhibited growth instead of sustainability.

Water consumed by electric utilities could account for up to 60 percent of all nonfarm water used in the US by 2030.
– from the Christian Science Monitor

The drive to build more power plants for a growing nation – as well as the push to use biofuels – is running smack into the limits of a fundamental resource: water.

Already, a power plant uses three times as much water to provide electricity to the average household than the household itself uses through showers, toilets, and the tap. The total water consumed by electric utilities accounts for 20 percent of all the nonfarm water consumed in the United States. By 2030, utilities could account for up to 60 percent of the nonfarm water, because they use water for cooling and to scrub pollutants.

This water-versus-energy challenge is likely to be most acute in fast-growing regions of the US, such as the Southeast and the arid Southwest. Assuming current climate conditions, continued growth in these regions could eventually require tighter restrictions on water use, on electricity use, or both during the hottest months, when demand for both skyrockets, researchers say. Factor in climate change and the projections look worse. This is prompting utilities to find ways to alleviate the squeeze.

Read the rest of the article here…

My favourite bit:

In the end, “there is no single silver bullet” for coping with the projected effects of global warming, Mr. Jones says. “Renewables will play an important role, but energy efficiency is the only way you can deal with it without environmental impacts.”

Who would have thought!!!  Of course, that Timothy Jones is not to be confused with our own Tim Jones here in Aurora.

Glenn Hubbers Climate Change, Economics, Energy, Urban Sprawl, Water