I forgot to trim the "trailer" from my original response to Mark and I don't
think it made it to the list, so I am resending ...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Marr" <mmarr@notwires.com>
To: "Mark Hooper" <mhooper@digiscreen.ca>; "Triumph List"
<triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: [TR] Off-Topic - Water heater, electric or Oil
> #2 Oil has a heating value of about 140,000 BTU/gallon, or say 37,000
> BTU/l. To heat 40 gallons of water per hour from say 45 degF to 140degF,
> you would need 8.33*(140-45)*40 BTU, or 31,654 BTU. At 80% efficiency,
> this would require you to burn about 1.06 litres of oil, costing you
> $0.85. On the other hand, one kW is equivalent to 3413 BTU and an
> electric water heater is say 98% efficient. So, to heat that same 40
> gallons/hour, you would need 9.46 kWh for a cost of $0.76.
>
> So, if you are making the decision on the basis of energy, right now,
> electric is a little cheaper. Plus, an oil-fired water heater has a
> greater first cost than a gas-fired heater and electricity is certainly
> cleaner and more convenient. On the other hand, recovery time has to be
> considered. Electric water heaters take longer to recover (i.e bring the
> water up to temperature) than gas or oil fired heaters, which is an
> important consideration for people with large whirlpool baths. So, what
> is the answer? Well, as the astronaut on the long distance drive said,
> when asked what she was wearing, "Depends."
>
> Personally, I'd go with a high-efficiency natural gas heater if gas is
> available. An 80% efficient unit (and higher efficiencies are available),
> using natural gas at $1.00/therm, would cost about 40 cents for the same
> duty.
>
> Please note that most water heaters do not produce 140 degrees because of
> the danger of scalding and I am not suggesting that you set your water
> heater at this temperature. 125 degrees is the recommended setting.
>
> Michael Marr
> 1960 TR3A
> Plainfield, IL
>
>
>
>>
>> I'm dithering over a 40-gallon oil-fired (with oil at $0.8/litre)
>> Or
>> 60 gallon electric (with electricity at $0.08c/KWh)
>>
>> I'm buying not renting this one, but want to decide which is best.
>>
>> Recently with the oil unit frequently not restarting automatically, I
>> have noticed that the tank cools amazingly fast. I attribute this to the
>> cold air coming down the chimney right into the tank. This does not seem
>> to be mentioned by the oil-proponents...
>>
>> I've even been looking at the tankless electric units that give infinite
>> (as long as the utility and one's wallet hold out) hot water with no
>> loss for keeping the big puddle in the tank warm.
>>
>> Has anybody gone through the exercise of calculating which costs more to
>> operate, oil or electric?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Mark
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