Tankless Water Heaters

Q. Do you have a tankless water heater? What do you think of its performance? I am purchasing a condo with a 10 year old water heater, which I will have to replace some day, so I want to know about the tankless models. I am, at least for now, alone, so I don't need a lot of water at one time. On the Home Depot web site, they tell you how many gallons per minute they can put out, but how do I know how many I need?

A. Tankless water heaters are great - very efficient from an energy standpoint - possible problem is that they consume large amounts of electrical power for short periods of time. A house unit may require a 60 amp 240 VAC circuit, it is like having a second range. You need an incoming electrical service that can handle the extra load. I would say in a condo, minimum 150 Amps service - 200 would be better. Another problem can be, the wiring to a tankless heater is much larger than to a tank - you will need to run a new cable - if the building is concrete this could be a problem.

As far as sizing a unit, most manufactures have sizing calculators for their units based on number of showers, etc. If you follow the links on the link page, I am sure you will find the calculations you are looking for.

Link

Radiator Heating Problem

Q: I have forced hot water heat and I have the old cast iron radiators. My problem is this, I have a couple of heaters that don't want to heat, (they are located directly above each other). When I first moved into the house, these heaters worked fine the first winter, while the ones in the bathrooms didn't work. Then the second year the ones in the bathrooms worked , but these two don't. I really didn't do any work on them between the two years. Any ideas?

A: If they are directly above one another it sounds to me as if you have an air
bubble in the line and the lines need to be purged or bled.

Australia’s Drought – It Could Happen Where You Live!

Australia may seem like a long way away for many of us, but what they are experiencing could happen in any country.

For whatever reason weather patterns are changing, Australia is in a drought, it has been going on for six years and if they do not get heavy rains in the next six to eight weeks, they are going to implement rationing. This is not rationing where you cannot water lawn on certain days of the week, this is serious rationing whereby they are going to stop any irrigation of farmland in order to conserve water for urban needs.

The economic consequences, of the water rationing, will be bankrupt farmers and exceptionally high prices for Australians when they try to buy any fruits, vegetables, grain, and meat products.

It was recently announced that the Australian government had signed a technology pact with Israel in the area of water conservation. Israel turned desert into cultivatable land and are experts in water conservation and drip irrigation.

Drip irrigation is what we should all be practicing, there are fresh water shortages everywhere in the world and one of the best conservation methods is drip irrigation not only on farms but at home as well.

To learn more about drip irrigation follow the link below.

Link