Has anyone turned the hot water off and relied on hot water from a jug?
How much did you save on the electricity bill?
I grew up without a shower, washed in a basin, to me its normal.
Will turn the hot water off one day, just can't at the moment.
Does it hurt your hot water cylinder when you turn it off for a month, a year and turn it on again?
Turned Hot water off
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dot_com_vet
- Posts: 603
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:07 am
Re: Turned Hot water off
I like to conserve - super efficient washing machine. Navy showers. But to go without is what I call "camping".
Re: Turned Hot water off
Speaking of camping... our camper (we don't live in it full time) has a 6 gallon hot water tank, which is supplied first by electricity if it is available, and as a secondary source by propane if we are off grid or if we deliberately choose to fire the propane to heat the water rapidly (say, for successive showers.)
One would think that one might run through a 6 gallon water tank too easily but neither of us has taken a cold shower in the camper yet. It does depend on "Navy showers" as you say, dot_com_vet, and if we wash dinner dishes and shower in quick succession, we probably would switch to propane.
My point is, one can shower with a surprisingly small amount of hot water if one is careful.
I have experimented with turning our natural gas water heater in the brick and mortar house off during the day and overnight. The water heater is inside the house, in the conditioned envelope, and its a relatively modern water heater, i.e. pretty well insulated. I didn't notice a difference in our bill. I've since paid attention to exactly when the water heater fires up and why- and it doesn't fire up, on a daily basis, unless we take hot water out of it, and the hot water is replaced by incoming cold water.
We turn the house water heater to the "vacation" setting when we leave overnight, for any length of time that involves at least one overnight stay. I'm not sure exactly what the "vacation" setting does and I haven't bothered to look it up. I'm guessing that it provides enough gas to keep the pilot light lit, but doesn't turn the water heater on to keep the water at any specific temperature.
Once the water heats up, it seems that the water heater inside the conditioned envelope of the house keeps the water hot until we use it, however many days later. I've only noticed the water heater firing up when we turn it back to "normal" from the "vacation" setting after extended absences- more than a weekend, even more than a long weekend. Otherwise, when I turn the water heater thermostat dial from "vacation" back to "normal," nothing happens until we ask for hot water. When we pull the water out of the tank, and it is replaced by incoming cool water, then the water heater will fire up- as expected.
During the summer, our natural gas bill is solely for the water heater which supplies our showers, our dishwasher and occasional sink use. Our last natural gas bill was $17.26, and only $3.00 of that was for the actual gas. The remainder of the bill was access/delivery charges. This $3.00 was during a period when I did turn the water heater back to "vacation" when we were gone but otherwise, I left the water heater thermostat alone. Also, we weren't being particularly careful about the hot water during that period of time.
Of course, this is if you live in an area with relatively inexpensive energy prices. In places where energy prices are higher, or the only energy sources are higher priced (for instance, if all of my hot water and heat was supplied by propane, or by electricity at a higher rate than here) you will see a more significant savings from rationing.
We wash our clothes in cold water routinely. Hot water is for showers and the dishwasher, which is run every other or every third day when it's full.
Unless energy prices are particularly high in your area (it happens) then I wouldn't torture myself too much with cold water showers.
One would think that one might run through a 6 gallon water tank too easily but neither of us has taken a cold shower in the camper yet. It does depend on "Navy showers" as you say, dot_com_vet, and if we wash dinner dishes and shower in quick succession, we probably would switch to propane.
My point is, one can shower with a surprisingly small amount of hot water if one is careful.
I have experimented with turning our natural gas water heater in the brick and mortar house off during the day and overnight. The water heater is inside the house, in the conditioned envelope, and its a relatively modern water heater, i.e. pretty well insulated. I didn't notice a difference in our bill. I've since paid attention to exactly when the water heater fires up and why- and it doesn't fire up, on a daily basis, unless we take hot water out of it, and the hot water is replaced by incoming cold water.
We turn the house water heater to the "vacation" setting when we leave overnight, for any length of time that involves at least one overnight stay. I'm not sure exactly what the "vacation" setting does and I haven't bothered to look it up. I'm guessing that it provides enough gas to keep the pilot light lit, but doesn't turn the water heater on to keep the water at any specific temperature.
Once the water heats up, it seems that the water heater inside the conditioned envelope of the house keeps the water hot until we use it, however many days later. I've only noticed the water heater firing up when we turn it back to "normal" from the "vacation" setting after extended absences- more than a weekend, even more than a long weekend. Otherwise, when I turn the water heater thermostat dial from "vacation" back to "normal," nothing happens until we ask for hot water. When we pull the water out of the tank, and it is replaced by incoming cool water, then the water heater will fire up- as expected.
During the summer, our natural gas bill is solely for the water heater which supplies our showers, our dishwasher and occasional sink use. Our last natural gas bill was $17.26, and only $3.00 of that was for the actual gas. The remainder of the bill was access/delivery charges. This $3.00 was during a period when I did turn the water heater back to "vacation" when we were gone but otherwise, I left the water heater thermostat alone. Also, we weren't being particularly careful about the hot water during that period of time.
Of course, this is if you live in an area with relatively inexpensive energy prices. In places where energy prices are higher, or the only energy sources are higher priced (for instance, if all of my hot water and heat was supplied by propane, or by electricity at a higher rate than here) you will see a more significant savings from rationing.
We wash our clothes in cold water routinely. Hot water is for showers and the dishwasher, which is run every other or every third day when it's full.
Unless energy prices are particularly high in your area (it happens) then I wouldn't torture myself too much with cold water showers.
Re: Turned Hot water off
I have a natural gas water heater in my house with a pilot light. For the past ~5 years I try to keep the pilot off except as needed. As I shower at the gym at work, and wash dishes once a week, I can just turn it on over the weekends. It doesn't save me much, maybe $5-$10 per month (I figured this by comparing summer months when I didn't do this), so I don't stress if I forget to do it from time to time. As my gym membership is only $9 / mo., I figure this pays for the gym, which motivates me to keep doing it (the gym and the pilot light!). And as mentioned by others, with good insulation, it will keep moderately hot for days. (In addition to the built in insulation, I insulated all the exposed pipes next to the heater, which is where most of your heat loss will occur.)
As for hurting the cylinder, I haven't had an issue (though the longest I have turned it off was 2 weeks). Mine is (at least) 15 years old and have yet to have any problems.
As for hurting the cylinder, I haven't had an issue (though the longest I have turned it off was 2 weeks). Mine is (at least) 15 years old and have yet to have any problems.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Have enjoyed reading all your thoughts.
We don't have particularly cold winters here. Its winter now. The coldest it can get where we live is -10 at night, but this is very unusual, today was a high of 13 and a low of 6 degrees celsius which is about average for winter.
The comment about camping hit the right note, I like to live like my home is a holiday home. I enjoy doing the dishes by hand and not getting the furniture to match, lack of appliances etc.
The hot water is really well insulated, and the pipes are very short.
I envy your gas water heaters. Gas is expensive here, and we know someone in the business who tells us that our gas supply isn't going to last much longer. We're in New zealand, an island quite a distance from Australia so we rely on our own countries gas supply. We have a gas bottle for emergencies. Coal and wood fires are banned due to air pollution, so we really rely on electricity.
We pay on average $120 per month in the summer and $240 in the winter. We're on a special rate because we use so little, but this still seems like a lot of money to me. Have managed to avoid increases in the power bill by washing instead of showering, and am considering turning off the hot water in the future when I'm on my own. I'm a bit of a planner and I don't like being fleeced.
Bennkar, I swim once a week and shower at the pool before hand so the money i save on showers pays the $3 .50 pool admission.
We don't have particularly cold winters here. Its winter now. The coldest it can get where we live is -10 at night, but this is very unusual, today was a high of 13 and a low of 6 degrees celsius which is about average for winter.
The comment about camping hit the right note, I like to live like my home is a holiday home. I enjoy doing the dishes by hand and not getting the furniture to match, lack of appliances etc.
The hot water is really well insulated, and the pipes are very short.
I envy your gas water heaters. Gas is expensive here, and we know someone in the business who tells us that our gas supply isn't going to last much longer. We're in New zealand, an island quite a distance from Australia so we rely on our own countries gas supply. We have a gas bottle for emergencies. Coal and wood fires are banned due to air pollution, so we really rely on electricity.
We pay on average $120 per month in the summer and $240 in the winter. We're on a special rate because we use so little, but this still seems like a lot of money to me. Have managed to avoid increases in the power bill by washing instead of showering, and am considering turning off the hot water in the future when I'm on my own. I'm a bit of a planner and I don't like being fleeced.
Bennkar, I swim once a week and shower at the pool before hand so the money i save on showers pays the $3 .50 pool admission.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Natural gas in the US is dirt cheap, so the savings from turning it off and on would be minimal.george wrote: I envy your gas water heaters. Gas is expensive here, and we know someone in the business who tells us that our gas supply isn't going to last much longer. We're in New zealand, an island quite a distance from Australia so we rely on our own countries gas supply. We have a gas bottle for emergencies. Coal and wood fires are banned due to air pollution, so we really rely on electricity.
We pay on average $120 per month in the summer and $240 in the winter. We're on a special rate because we use so little, but this still seems like a lot of money to me. Have managed to avoid increases in the power bill by washing instead of showering, and am considering turning off the hot water in the future when I'm on my own. I'm a bit of a planner and I don't like being fleeced.
Re: Turned Hot water off
+1 for Chad's response. Our second house relies on propane for hot water and to fire the gas furnace. The builder very thoughtfully put in an on demand water heater and a heat pump instead of just a central a/c unit. The heat pump keeps the HVAC from going directly to the propane fired furnace.
If/when we live there full time, you bet we're going to be looking for a third heating source- a wood stove or perhaps a highly efficient gas fireplace so we can "space heat" instead of heating the entire house to the desired temperature all of the time during very cold weather.
We use a pellet stove in town but we have relatively few power outages in town during the winter. Our second home is in a remote location. We aren't off-grid there (obviously) but winters can be sporty. We are strongly considering having a whole house generator installed in that house before we move there full time. Can you imagine what it will cost to run a whole house generator on propane??? Maybe it's more efficient than I know, but given my typical economic scale, the thought scares the heck out of me. Not so much that I won't have the generator installed (frozen pipes and spoiled food are expensive too, and frozen wives tend to make for unhappy homes) but enough that I don't want to use that generator like it's a full substitute for grid power. I sure don't want to use a generator to run a pellet stove, ergo a wood stove or a super efficient gas fireplace or gas stove makes more sense to me.
We are also keeping a close eye on solar power. Right now our electricity is so inexpensive and so reliable that it doesn't make any financial sense to buy solar unless one is completely off grid, and running power to the house would be prohibitively expensive. If/when solar becomes a better deal, we'll have panels on that roof so fast that tomorrow will be trying to catch up. I don't know if that will ever happen here. In the meantime, I'm very happy with our electricity provider.
George, it seems like you are being pushed into a total electric solution, and like you, I never like having all of my eggs in one basket.
Have you considered a solar hot water heater? Are you positioned for that relative to sun exposure, building codes, etc?
Hrm. I'll bet that solar power really takes off in New Zealand in the coming years.
IN THE MEANTIME, WE'LL ALL JUST SIT HERE AND BE ENVIOUS OF YOU LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND DARN YOU WITH YOUR GORGEOUS ISLAND ANYWAY!
Be a dear and send me a New Zealand wool sweater! 
If/when we live there full time, you bet we're going to be looking for a third heating source- a wood stove or perhaps a highly efficient gas fireplace so we can "space heat" instead of heating the entire house to the desired temperature all of the time during very cold weather.
We use a pellet stove in town but we have relatively few power outages in town during the winter. Our second home is in a remote location. We aren't off-grid there (obviously) but winters can be sporty. We are strongly considering having a whole house generator installed in that house before we move there full time. Can you imagine what it will cost to run a whole house generator on propane??? Maybe it's more efficient than I know, but given my typical economic scale, the thought scares the heck out of me. Not so much that I won't have the generator installed (frozen pipes and spoiled food are expensive too, and frozen wives tend to make for unhappy homes) but enough that I don't want to use that generator like it's a full substitute for grid power. I sure don't want to use a generator to run a pellet stove, ergo a wood stove or a super efficient gas fireplace or gas stove makes more sense to me.
We are also keeping a close eye on solar power. Right now our electricity is so inexpensive and so reliable that it doesn't make any financial sense to buy solar unless one is completely off grid, and running power to the house would be prohibitively expensive. If/when solar becomes a better deal, we'll have panels on that roof so fast that tomorrow will be trying to catch up. I don't know if that will ever happen here. In the meantime, I'm very happy with our electricity provider.
George, it seems like you are being pushed into a total electric solution, and like you, I never like having all of my eggs in one basket.
Have you considered a solar hot water heater? Are you positioned for that relative to sun exposure, building codes, etc?
Hrm. I'll bet that solar power really takes off in New Zealand in the coming years.
IN THE MEANTIME, WE'LL ALL JUST SIT HERE AND BE ENVIOUS OF YOU LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND DARN YOU WITH YOUR GORGEOUS ISLAND ANYWAY!
Be a dear and send me a New Zealand wool sweater! Re: Turned Hot water off
$18 gas bill this month, only $4 of it is due to gas usage. The rest is a "customer charge".
I'm not taking cold showers to save on that four bucks. I'd have to turn my gas off to get any real savings, but cooking and heating make doing so impractical.
I've been at the gym a few times in winter, with no hot water. Cold showers can be very unpleasant.
I'm not taking cold showers to save on that four bucks. I'd have to turn my gas off to get any real savings, but cooking and heating make doing so impractical.
I've been at the gym a few times in winter, with no hot water. Cold showers can be very unpleasant.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Looked at solar power when this house was built, we are the ideal climate for it. For a small family the pay back period was more than 30 years, Because of really small demand theres lots of types with a poor record of reliability, Its the sort of thing DIY engineers find worthwhile, One day we'll see the light and the country will buy in bulk. House is built for the sun and really well insulated.
Isn't propane petrol based?, that would be expensive.
I really wish we could have a wood fire.
Heat pumps are cheap and a lovely form of heat, we have a large inverter. We don't use AC here in summer, its not an unbearable heat.
Woollen jerseys, jumpers sweaters. I wear them all the time, it saddens me that man made fibres seem to be more popular here. Wool is expensive, I buy them at second hand shops for about $10. If you buy them new or knit them they can easily set you back $200. Pure good quality wool isn't cheap, but I love to knit and its worthwhile knitting hats, chair covers, babies and toddlers clothes.
Compared to other types of farming, sheep farming has a lot of environmental pluses and its a real struggle no matter where you live. So I guess its fair that wool is expensive.
Isn't propane petrol based?, that would be expensive.
I really wish we could have a wood fire.
Heat pumps are cheap and a lovely form of heat, we have a large inverter. We don't use AC here in summer, its not an unbearable heat.
Woollen jerseys, jumpers sweaters. I wear them all the time, it saddens me that man made fibres seem to be more popular here. Wool is expensive, I buy them at second hand shops for about $10. If you buy them new or knit them they can easily set you back $200. Pure good quality wool isn't cheap, but I love to knit and its worthwhile knitting hats, chair covers, babies and toddlers clothes.
Compared to other types of farming, sheep farming has a lot of environmental pluses and its a real struggle no matter where you live. So I guess its fair that wool is expensive.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Hi Bigato
We have to have electricity even if we have solar because there are times when we don't have enough sun and some solar units use a little electricity, I'm not sure if they all do, but the ones I looked at did.
Technically we can use wood, but noone has been able to design a wood fire that meets the requirements.
It does suck that we're in this situation. And it seems the only thing for rebels like me to do is turn the heater and hot water off.
Although people here complain a lot about electricity prices, I don't know of anyone else who is turning the hot water off, but I guess its not something you discuss over a cup of tea.
We have to have electricity even if we have solar because there are times when we don't have enough sun and some solar units use a little electricity, I'm not sure if they all do, but the ones I looked at did.
Technically we can use wood, but noone has been able to design a wood fire that meets the requirements.
It does suck that we're in this situation. And it seems the only thing for rebels like me to do is turn the heater and hot water off.
Although people here complain a lot about electricity prices, I don't know of anyone else who is turning the hot water off, but I guess its not something you discuss over a cup of tea.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Propane is expensive. The second house does not have access to natural gas, and our geographic area is sort of on the limit for heat pumps. During the shoulder months- fall and spring- heat pumps do fine. If we have a particularly mild winter the heat pump will do OK. If we have a cold winter, the heat pump will not keep up. My father in law installed multiple heat pumps in his former house before he gave up on heat pumps for good.
We're OK with the heat pump in the second house only because the builder also installed the gas furnace- but the gas furnace heating an entire house on propane is not the cheapest way to heat a house. It's comfortable but given the price of propane, I sort of cringe every time the furnace fires up.
It's also why we want some way to heat the house other than using a whole house generator to fire the furnace in the event of an extended power outage. Using propane to power a generator to run a furnace ignition, fan and thermostat to use propane to fire a furnace is sort of the stuff of my heating plant nightmares. Better than frozen pipes but not the most cost effective solution.
We are really lucky and happy that the builder put the on demand hot water heater in this house. Hot water when we need it and only when we need it.
GEORGE! YOU LIVE IN NEW ZEALAND AND YOU KNIT! You are my new ERE BFF.
And you are right, it can be very expensive to knit. I mostly knit socks- it's the most cost effective thing I can knit. I can make a pair of socks that last longer than wool socks I buy off the shelf (although I do buy wool socks off the shelf at Costco) for about the same price. I don't know if that's because I use wool with a different fiber content, or if it's because I crank way down on the gauge for the sole of the foot. I've thought about adding a reinforcement thread in the heels and toes, but I haven't done that yet.
Everybody stand back and give Bigato room. He's going to fall over because I'm going to agree with him. I wonder if there's any way that you can install a solar water heater that directly heats the water? Some series of dark tubes on your roof? We have these sturdy black bags in our camping supply sections of stores that one can hang in the sunshine at the campsite for hot water off grid. I'm thinking about a larger version of that. I've heard of people who've done this for at least part of their hot water.
Also, are pellet stoves popular in NZ? They do use electricity to run the auger and the fans, but not to directly produce heat. It could be a less expensive way to heat the house (or not, depending on the cost of pellets in NZ, if available.) Pellet stoves have the reputation for high burn efficiency vs. air pollution. They are popular in Europe.
We're OK with the heat pump in the second house only because the builder also installed the gas furnace- but the gas furnace heating an entire house on propane is not the cheapest way to heat a house. It's comfortable but given the price of propane, I sort of cringe every time the furnace fires up.
It's also why we want some way to heat the house other than using a whole house generator to fire the furnace in the event of an extended power outage. Using propane to power a generator to run a furnace ignition, fan and thermostat to use propane to fire a furnace is sort of the stuff of my heating plant nightmares. Better than frozen pipes but not the most cost effective solution.
We are really lucky and happy that the builder put the on demand hot water heater in this house. Hot water when we need it and only when we need it.
GEORGE! YOU LIVE IN NEW ZEALAND AND YOU KNIT! You are my new ERE BFF.
And you are right, it can be very expensive to knit. I mostly knit socks- it's the most cost effective thing I can knit. I can make a pair of socks that last longer than wool socks I buy off the shelf (although I do buy wool socks off the shelf at Costco) for about the same price. I don't know if that's because I use wool with a different fiber content, or if it's because I crank way down on the gauge for the sole of the foot. I've thought about adding a reinforcement thread in the heels and toes, but I haven't done that yet.
Everybody stand back and give Bigato room. He's going to fall over because I'm going to agree with him.
I wonder if there's any way that you can install a solar water heater that directly heats the water? Some series of dark tubes on your roof? We have these sturdy black bags in our camping supply sections of stores that one can hang in the sunshine at the campsite for hot water off grid. I'm thinking about a larger version of that. I've heard of people who've done this for at least part of their hot water.Also, are pellet stoves popular in NZ? They do use electricity to run the auger and the fans, but not to directly produce heat. It could be a less expensive way to heat the house (or not, depending on the cost of pellets in NZ, if available.) Pellet stoves have the reputation for high burn efficiency vs. air pollution. They are popular in Europe.
Re: Turned Hot water off
When i looked into solar power 10 years ago, when the house was built, the cheapest quote was $7.000 just to heat the hot water.
I have heard of pallet fires, never met anyone with one.
The house is either going to be substantially repaired or demolished. I'm waiting on others to do geotechnical investigations and engineers reports before I know what will happen. At the moment there's little I can do so I try to do what I can, like save electricity.
Today I was at the salvation army and bought some beautiful old thermal curtains for $10. Made me feel so good to buy something for the house for once. Yay for the ladies at the Salvation Army. Really lifted my spirits.
I haven't knitted woolen socks yet, but I want to, I like circular needles and am not very good with double point, but I want to get really proficient with them. I admire you BecaS for being able to knIt socks. At the moment I'm trying to be good and knit my way through my wool stash before I buy any more. That ravelry internet site is fantastic. When you buy socks they are often a mix of yarns because wool isn't very durable, and doesn't hold its shape, but some of those manufacturers seem to think 1% wool is a wool blend, tsk tsk. Pure wool socks would be great at night though.
I'm going to do some investigations into demand hot water, solar and pallet fires just in case, at the very least I can make sure the house can be adapted in the future, even if its not economical as its fixed.
The solar shower camping bag was really popular after the quakes, hadn't thought about it for me. I'm going to look at the price of that too, damn good idea.
I have heard of pallet fires, never met anyone with one.
The house is either going to be substantially repaired or demolished. I'm waiting on others to do geotechnical investigations and engineers reports before I know what will happen. At the moment there's little I can do so I try to do what I can, like save electricity.
Today I was at the salvation army and bought some beautiful old thermal curtains for $10. Made me feel so good to buy something for the house for once. Yay for the ladies at the Salvation Army. Really lifted my spirits.
I haven't knitted woolen socks yet, but I want to, I like circular needles and am not very good with double point, but I want to get really proficient with them. I admire you BecaS for being able to knIt socks. At the moment I'm trying to be good and knit my way through my wool stash before I buy any more. That ravelry internet site is fantastic. When you buy socks they are often a mix of yarns because wool isn't very durable, and doesn't hold its shape, but some of those manufacturers seem to think 1% wool is a wool blend, tsk tsk. Pure wool socks would be great at night though.
I'm going to do some investigations into demand hot water, solar and pallet fires just in case, at the very least I can make sure the house can be adapted in the future, even if its not economical as its fixed.
The solar shower camping bag was really popular after the quakes, hadn't thought about it for me. I'm going to look at the price of that too, damn good idea.
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retiredat47
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:27 am
Re: Turned Hot water off
I've done it while traveling, because I believe it's safer, but for routine use? This is 2013. No need to live without hot water if you don't have to.
Re: Turned Hot water off
This is not a brand recommendation, but a link that I found on pellet stoves that seems to be offered by a company in New Zealand.
http://www.naturesflame.co.nz/site/natu ... 12_WEB.pdf
Pellet stoves are
a. Dependent on electricity to run the auger and to run the fans. They don't consume as much electricity as producing heat from electricity, but they do need electricity.
b. Also you need a reliable source of wood pellets, preferably more than one source for the obvious reasons. Pellet stoves are touted for being super efficient burners, and pellets are typically made from the waste from lumber/wood manufacturing, so many communities welcome pellet manufacturers. There is some danger of fires in pellet factories... so that's a concern. I don't know if that would cause communities to oppose the presence of a pellet factories. There are some pellet manufacturing machines available to individual consumers but they are rather expensive, they require energy to run and of course raw materials for the pellets. Also I've read mixed reviews of the DIY product.
c. Some pellet stoves are multi-fuel burners- they can burn pellets, feed corn, cherry pits, and maybe some other things as well. If you have access to these alternative fuel sources it can keep you from being locked into one type of fuel, or one fuel source.
d. Pellet heat is, different. It's a gentler heat. Adequate insulation is necessary to keep those gentler BTUs from dissipating before they heat your space. (I know that's not a scientific evaluation of BTUs or thermal energy- don't bust me! But the from pellet stoves is convective, not radiant like a big honkin' wood stove.) The standard joke is that pellet stoves are space heaters- the space we are heating is our home! You're on the right track with the thermal curtain panels. We have them as well.
e. Allow me to point you toward a pellet stove forum that I like:
http://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-p ... stoves.14/
There are a good group of people on that forum, very helpful. A lot of stove techs, manufacturer reps and stove store owners hang out there as well. They've really helped me understand how our stove works, both mechanically and functionally.
Wool Socks:
a. I took a class. I could not teach myself to knit socks. The class made it all OK.
b. I took a subsequent class on how to knit two socks at one time on one set of circular needles. The advantage to this method is that you finish both socks simultaneously. I have issues with "laddering" between needles while knitting in a circle. Beginning as a crocheter really messed with my gauge. Using the circular needles means you have to shift the socks around on the circle during different parts of the construction. Due to my quirks above, I ended up with a big gap in the sole, right in the middle of my heel, where those "shifts" occurred. =( I'm happily back on dp needles. I compensate for the "orphaned sock syndrome" by knitting two socks at a time, in sections, on two sets of dp needles.
c. Bamboo dp needles compensate for a lot of the slippery hazards of dp's, plus they give a little- easier on the hands.
d. Right now I'm using a wool/nylon/bamboo blend. I like it. Others complain that it doesn't hold shape, but I have no problems- or I'm not that picky.
e. Be warned, knitting socks is addictive.
f. Ravelry is great.
http://www.naturesflame.co.nz/site/natu ... 12_WEB.pdf
Pellet stoves are
a. Dependent on electricity to run the auger and to run the fans. They don't consume as much electricity as producing heat from electricity, but they do need electricity.
b. Also you need a reliable source of wood pellets, preferably more than one source for the obvious reasons. Pellet stoves are touted for being super efficient burners, and pellets are typically made from the waste from lumber/wood manufacturing, so many communities welcome pellet manufacturers. There is some danger of fires in pellet factories... so that's a concern. I don't know if that would cause communities to oppose the presence of a pellet factories. There are some pellet manufacturing machines available to individual consumers but they are rather expensive, they require energy to run and of course raw materials for the pellets. Also I've read mixed reviews of the DIY product.
c. Some pellet stoves are multi-fuel burners- they can burn pellets, feed corn, cherry pits, and maybe some other things as well. If you have access to these alternative fuel sources it can keep you from being locked into one type of fuel, or one fuel source.
d. Pellet heat is, different. It's a gentler heat. Adequate insulation is necessary to keep those gentler BTUs from dissipating before they heat your space. (I know that's not a scientific evaluation of BTUs or thermal energy- don't bust me! But the from pellet stoves is convective, not radiant like a big honkin' wood stove.) The standard joke is that pellet stoves are space heaters- the space we are heating is our home! You're on the right track with the thermal curtain panels. We have them as well.
e. Allow me to point you toward a pellet stove forum that I like:
http://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/the-p ... stoves.14/
There are a good group of people on that forum, very helpful. A lot of stove techs, manufacturer reps and stove store owners hang out there as well. They've really helped me understand how our stove works, both mechanically and functionally.
Wool Socks:
a. I took a class. I could not teach myself to knit socks. The class made it all OK.
b. I took a subsequent class on how to knit two socks at one time on one set of circular needles. The advantage to this method is that you finish both socks simultaneously. I have issues with "laddering" between needles while knitting in a circle. Beginning as a crocheter really messed with my gauge. Using the circular needles means you have to shift the socks around on the circle during different parts of the construction. Due to my quirks above, I ended up with a big gap in the sole, right in the middle of my heel, where those "shifts" occurred. =( I'm happily back on dp needles. I compensate for the "orphaned sock syndrome" by knitting two socks at a time, in sections, on two sets of dp needles.
c. Bamboo dp needles compensate for a lot of the slippery hazards of dp's, plus they give a little- easier on the hands.
d. Right now I'm using a wool/nylon/bamboo blend. I like it. Others complain that it doesn't hold shape, but I have no problems- or I'm not that picky.
e. Be warned, knitting socks is addictive.
f. Ravelry is great.
Re: Turned Hot water off
Bamboo is nice and surprising soft, I have trouble working out which is chemical version or natural. Thanks for the sock tips. I think part of the problem with DPs is i can't get the right size needles second hand, next time I use them will buy new.
I looked up pellet manufacturers, we have one who appears to be in trouble, i just read that, don't sue me!. Also read it costs $11 for 3 nights pellets. We're such a small city we don't have the competition to make it viable. This thread makes me realise how important it is to be self reliant, compared to those in less isolated larger cities/ countries. Perhaps someone else who lives here will read this and provide a different view. I know a young engineer who will move home in a few years and build an off the grid house, he's going to look at the logistics of different energy sources when he does, he'll be a big help to me.
BTW I have very little stuff, but am a bit of a collector/ saver of woolen items/ blankets. I think shabby chic minimalism is the term.
Couple of things to do with them
1. Floor pillow. Take a couple of sweaters rolled up, then put jerseys on top, layer, put a large pillow case on top, cover with woolen vests, Blankets would work really well. Sheepskin would be great on top too. I use this every day.
2. For person with arthritis/ elderly, roll up pure wool blanket, place in several pillow slips, use as pillow at night.
3. really boring sweater, I'm going to do some experimenting with needle felting, elbow edging and find some nice colours, sew edge with blanket stitch, then stitch it on, even if i don't wear it, better than just getting rid of it, will have learnt something.
I looked up pellet manufacturers, we have one who appears to be in trouble, i just read that, don't sue me!. Also read it costs $11 for 3 nights pellets. We're such a small city we don't have the competition to make it viable. This thread makes me realise how important it is to be self reliant, compared to those in less isolated larger cities/ countries. Perhaps someone else who lives here will read this and provide a different view. I know a young engineer who will move home in a few years and build an off the grid house, he's going to look at the logistics of different energy sources when he does, he'll be a big help to me.
BTW I have very little stuff, but am a bit of a collector/ saver of woolen items/ blankets. I think shabby chic minimalism is the term.
Couple of things to do with them
1. Floor pillow. Take a couple of sweaters rolled up, then put jerseys on top, layer, put a large pillow case on top, cover with woolen vests, Blankets would work really well. Sheepskin would be great on top too. I use this every day.
2. For person with arthritis/ elderly, roll up pure wool blanket, place in several pillow slips, use as pillow at night.
3. really boring sweater, I'm going to do some experimenting with needle felting, elbow edging and find some nice colours, sew edge with blanket stitch, then stitch it on, even if i don't wear it, better than just getting rid of it, will have learnt something.
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jacob
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Re: Turned Hot water off
Initially we(*) used a[n electric] kettle in the RV before I figured out how to run the built in water heater (12 gal propane, electric ignition) a couple of weeks later. I doubt the impact on the electric bill was detectable.
(*) I am too lazy boil water, so I preferred to just get used to washing up in cold water. DW is less lazy.
(*) I am too lazy boil water, so I preferred to just get used to washing up in cold water. DW is less lazy.
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workathome
- Posts: 1298
- Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:06 pm
Re: Turned Hot water off
I've been only taking cold showers for a week now and love it. DW isn't convinced. We'll see how winter goes!