Heating oil at 3.69 a gallon or $925 for a 250 gallon fill who can afford this

When we built our house 8 years ago, I went to one of the local gas suppliers and asked if I could buy a 100 gallon (not pound) tank and they had no problem with it. I actually still use them to fill the tank up. It is used only for cooking and the clothes dryer.

Its 5 Star energy rated GE, here is a list of all energy star products:http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_find_es_products
As for the Propane Tank Yes You can own your own Tank, call around to see who fills. I took my tank in to truvalue or who ever has the best price. Lowes sells Tanks and Regulators at a good price. I was lucky & bought my tank new for $100. Also to you handy guys you could also hook BQ grill if you want and do away with the 20lbs tanks, or have them for back up.Make sure you have your new tank and fittings call your propane company tell them come pickup their tank up, They will credit you whats left in the tank .what was left in mine covered the cost of my new tank and fillup. Here is the Tank I have from lowes http://reviews.lowes.com/0534/1080473/reviews.htm

I don't see any regular electric water heaters at the energy star website. What make/model is yours?

I'm usually over with the wood stove crowd, but once in awhile I jump over here to the darkside when I see something interesting. Great conversation going on here. In my quick look at this thread I don't think I saw anyone mention the new hybrid electric hot water heaters. I've been contemplating installing one instead of using the oil fired boiler to heat the hot water. Here are a couple links if anyone's interested:

http://www.hotwater.com/water-heaters/residential/hybrid/voltex/
http://www.geappliances.com/heat-pump-hot-water-heater/
http://www.rheem.com/products/tank_water_heaters/hybrid_electric/

If Ed Begley, Jr is endorsing it then it must be good!

It seems that the Rheem gets a lot of bad reviews due to heat pump failure. I couldn't find many for the GE yet but still looking.

Seems like it would be the way to go, but also relatively new to the market. It would probably work well in my household since I am the only one that showers first thing in the morning. My wife is an evening showerer since she teaches fitness class during the day. This would give the system plenty of time to recover the water temp between showers. Otherwise it is just standard sink stuff, clothes washer and dish washer.

If I recall correctly, some of these units have up to an 80 gallon storage tank. I would think that they should be able to handle at least a couple showers in a row. One of downsides to these units is the initial cost, but still far cheaper than solar and the payback is several years quicker. Although, I guess the solar option would be a "greener" alternative. Also, from what I have read, they can be a bit noisy and they can't be put into a confined space, like a closet, because they need the surrounding air to work properly. They also need about 7ft. of height. I would first like to talk to a few people that own them or some installers to get the real facts on these things. I know that in my area there are currently combined rebates of $700. That makes it a bit more appealing.

By the way, Ed Begley is great. He used to have a reality show on the Planet Green channel. It was all about his life along with his wife and daughter. It really concentrated on his efforts to be green, but the dynamics between him and his wife were quite funny. They are in many ways complete opposites.

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/politics/conn.-oks-lower-electric-rates-as-gas-prices-fall

The power price is rediculous. I pay .0895 per killowatt here.

That easily drops the break even point well down into the mid-3's, which is at/below where oil is currently priced.

Post 43 - Geyser - should be even better than a hybrid heater. Use your existing heater & put the heat pump where it fits the best. These types of water heaters should be everywhere.

Power rates where I'm at are about the same as whits.

Electric rates here in Central and Southern Maine are billed in two parts. One by the provider and the other for the delivery. Cmp is our delivery. So combined, my cost last month was .143 per KWO. Way too much for most heating. I will put a space heater near my wife when she starts ranting that the temp has gone below 73F. Sometimes I have run the furnace for back up, but a these high prices, I am trying to figure out which is less money. Spot heating with space heater, or whole house with the furnace, both as backup.

Last electric bill was $159.59 for two months with 950 kwh used. That comes to 0.168 per kwh. At 17 cents per kwh, an electric hot water heater would be out of the question. A hybrid might be worth considering. At first glance, they seem like a tempting idea, but... how much will that new fangled contraption raise my electric bill? Until someone can give me a realistic idea of what it will cost, I am staying in the "just thinking about it" mode.

I have two houses they both have electric hot water heaters, with insulating blankets I have the timers run 8 hrs a day. When I switched them over I saved 38.00 per bill.

Just out of curiosity, what 8 hours per day do they run?

thanks

Tom

6:30 to 12:30 I'm sorry after checking timer its 6 hrs a day. No problem with running dishwasher or washing machine during evening.

try this site for cost of hot water using electricity or gas: http://waterheatertimer.org/How-much-does-it-cost-to-run-water-heater.html

Thanks for link save$.

Using those figures and the electric rates were I live it would cost me $63.64/month or $763.76/year to run an electric DHW heater. Using a conservative .75 gallons of HHO per day @ $3.65/gallon to heat water it costs $83.26/month or $999.18/year to heat my DHW. If it turns out that an electric hot water heater ran for 4 hours a day, it would $19 more per year then oil.

At today's oil prices it would be pretty risky to spend the money on the electric water heater in hopes to save any money.

That is a great site! If you have a question, you will find the answer there.

Tom C.