news article about saving on HOT water cost.

patofl · ‎11-18-2018

Last night on our local news they did a piece about saving costs on HOT water.They put big emphasis on not rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. In my personal experience they would not come clean if they aren't rinsed first. If your end result is to save on HOT water cost - why not just rinse them in COLD water? I would never waste hot water pre rinsing my dishes, I use cold water most of the time , unless it is something greasy, then hot water is best. Plus the manufacturers of the DW tell you to run the water until it's hot before starting the DW so the water it's using is hot.

Often these news articles are pretty much useless.I do not live in an area where there is draught or water is at a premium. Way too much water here - floods are common, no need to conserve water.

2blonde · ‎03-10-2010

@patofl I think sometimes they just run out of things to talk about on the news. What I spend on hot water would pale compared to what I spend on heat in the winter (I'm all electric)!

Laura loves cats!

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

@patofl I'm glad I'm not the only one who shakes my head at these "stories". Our electric company tells us to heat the house when the rates are lower......and turn the heat off when the rate goes up to almost 25¢ per KWH. Uh huh......that is 3pm when the outside temps go down......and a house cools off FAST when you turn the heat off.......... I wonder WHO writes these articles. di

♥Surface of the Sun♥

shopperqvc · ‎03-10-2010

@DesertdiOur electric company wants us to buy, for almost $200.00, a smart thermostat that they can turn off during the summer when it is the hotest outside so WE can save on electricity. Right, I spent $2,600.00 on a new central AC unit so you can turn it off when I need it most? Like that makes sense?

I'm sure the gas company will "think" up that same type of wonderful idea for us during the winter months, too.

They try to make it sound like they have come up with some earth shaking idea that will save us a ton of money. And it might save us a little bit, but we will be miserable while we are saving pennies.

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

@shopperqvc I have heard of those "smart" thermostats..........I live in Phoenix..........and I would DIE if the air conditioning went off when it's 115°.

Oh yeah, the electric company also recommends that customers go to a "cooling center" (library, church, public building, etc.) if they can't afford the electricity. This is an insane line of thinking...........

♥Surface of the Sun♥

KatieB · ‎03-10-2010

@patofl wrote:
Last night on our local news they did a piece about saving costs on HOT water.They put big emphasis on not rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. In my personal experience they would not come clean if they aren't rinsed first. If your end result is to save on HOT water cost - why not just rinse them in COLD water? I would never waste hot water pre rinsing my dishes, I use cold water most of the time , unless it is something greasy, then hot water is best. Plus the manufacturers of the DW tell you to run the water until it's hot before starting the DW so the water it's using is hot.
Often these news articles are pretty much useless.I do not live in an area where there is draught or water is at a premium. Way too much water here - floods are common, no need to conserve water.

I like stories like this. I always want to know how to save money. I know in the winter time, my hot water heater (run by natural gas) costs way, way more than it does in the summer time. I wish I had seen a news report about this type of thing..

And by the subject title it sounds like the report had to do with how to save money on your hot water heater. Not with a drought situation.

I'm retired and on a fixed income, so it's always good to know how to save a few dollars when ever I can....

patofl · ‎11-18-2018

@shopperqvc @Desertdi This summer we replaced our heat pump with an AC unit instead, & just a small electric furnace in the garage. We don't have a lot of use for heat here, a couple days a year only, & usually just in the morning. They tried & tried to sell us on a smart thermostat but we insisted we just wanted a basic thermostat, & that we don't mind having to walk over to it & set it as we wish it to be. But , believe me, it was a battle with them to not get the "smart" thermostat that is hooked up to the internet.

Deanie · ‎03-09-2010

I agree with all the posters. They have pointed out so called experts who talk about what you should do all the time. These experts pontificate on what foods to eat, what clothes to purchase, and how to live. It would be laughable if it were not so sad. Invariably, the self appointed and oh so important masters of just about everything have an opinion on what THEY want us to do. And, it is always counter intuitive as other posters have aptly pointed out. I wonder if they take their own advice? I especially am amused by the so called expert years ago that wanted us all to use only three sheets of toilet paper.

onlyshopsonline · ‎03-09-2010

If you want to save money on hot water costs, just turn down the temperature, lol. Nobody needs steaming hot water coming out of their faucet. It’s dangerous. And most dishwashers have settings that will heat the water at the proper cycle.

"I've been here since October 2006. Wow!"

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

@KatieB wrote:
I like stories like this. I always want to know how to save money. I know in the winter time, my hot water heater (run by natural gas) costs way, way more than it does in the summer time. I wish I had seen a news report about this type of thing..

And by the subject title it sounds like the report had to do with how to save money on your hot water heater. Not with a drought situation.

I'm retired and on a fixed income, so it's always good to know how to save a few dollars when ever I can....

I appreciate stories like this too - some are applicable and some are not. I'm pretty efficient with energy costs so, if nothing else, these articles confirm what I'm doing. The power company has a device on my a/c unit that shuts the unit off during periods of very high use - usually no more than a handful of times each summer, and each occurrence is about three hours. In return, I get $40 credit on my electric bill, spread over four months. I love it!

@KatieB My hot water heater also seems to use more gas as the weather gets colder. Not a lot, but I've noticed an upward trend in the Fall and a downward trend in the Spring. My guess is that the colder the incoming water, the more energy it takes to heat it.