[RE-wrenches] Electric Water kWh/ person

Ray ray at solarray.com
Tue Mar 20 17:15:09 EDT 2018


Rianai have 3 major issues when used off grid.

1) The phantom load when I checked was over 30 watts continuous. That's 
over 700 w-hr/ day.

2) They need pure sine wave, and even have trouble on Trace SW 
inverters.  (One system I took over has a separate Exeltech on its own 
battery and AC charger to run the Rianai, since they have Trace 
inverters.  Talk about a waste!)

3) They still have the hard well water scaling issues.

Ray

Remote Solar


On 3/20/18 12:03 PM, Dana wrote:
>
> It used to be that “tankless” water heaters were very sensitive to 
> stable temperature production as flows from single handle facets shut 
> down the hot and opened the cold flows.
>
> I can fully recommend the Rianai heaters of today as we have 2 in 
> offgrid and 0 issues. I have family members that have had them in 
> residential homes for several years also and 0 issues.
>
> They do require 120 vac & have digital controls. The water temperature 
> is very stable & consistent. I have not measured the phantom load but 
> could if someone needs to know.
>
> 2 thumbs up for Rianai heaters from MHO.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Dana Orzel                              Great Solar Works, Inc.
>
> *C - 208.721.7003                  dana at solarwork.com*
>
> Idaho Contractor - # 028765         Idaho PV # 028374
>
> NABCEP # 051112-136 www.solarwork.biz <http://www.solarwork.biz>
>
> _"Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" ___
>
> *P*Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>
> *From:*RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> *On 
> Behalf Of *cwarfel
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 20, 2018 11:48 AM
> *To:* re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Electric Water kWh/ person
>
> What are the issues with tankless water heaters?  I have heard them 
> described as having "issues", but I haven't read anything that 
> describes what they are.  They are very popular where I live.  Any 
> info? Thanks, Chris
>
> On 3/20/2018 1:07 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar wrote:
>
>     And a big maybe for Offgrid where we like multiple ways to
>
>     charge/heat/cool and make hot water. The default method is almost always
>
>     the most reliable. For a typical home a 50 gallon propane tank water
>
>     heater with a zinc change every 7 years is the norm.
>
>     An air to water heat pump, an open loop solar water panel or closed loop
>
>     if conditions warrant it are great secondary methods. To me heating water
>
>     with electricity does not work because of winter and is a last thing to
>
>     add.A tankless and their issues are near the end of the list. Ground
>
>     source heat pumps are even lower to me with very nice prices on extremely
>
>     efficient mini split air source pumps.
>
>     I always try and minimize generators but if you need them then it allows
>
>     one to have more options.
>
>     Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
>
>     "we go where powerlines don't"
>
>     http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
>
>     e-mailoffgridsolar at sti.net <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
>
>     text 209 813 0060
>
>         Maybe. I designed my own house to incorporate this. The most efficient are
>
>         the vertical type, and at 6' the company advertised 20% recovery for about
>
>         $1,300 if I remember correctly. This I'm sure is for a new copper pipe,
>
>         and
>
>         anyone who's ever taken apart a sewer pipe after a few years will know all
>
>         pipes get a bacterial mat of a couple mm thick. I suspect this might be a
>
>         pretty good insulator. At any rate there is a whole lot of copper involved
>
>         and associated inherent environmental challenges. I can't help but think
>
>         for the house design challenge to accommodate such a long perfectly
>
>         vertical pipe and expense another kW or more of solar would offset more
>
>         energy.
>
>         On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 9:50 AM, Drake
>
>         <drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org
>         <mailto:drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org>
>
>             wrote:
>
>             Daniel,
>
>             That sounds like an intriguing technology, much along the lines of an
>
>             air
>
>             to air heat exchanger. Thanks for the recommendation.  These systems
>
>             could
>
>             keep a lot of CO2 out of the atmosphere if widely used.
>
>             Drake
>
>             At 10:09 AM 3/19/2018, you wrote:
>
>             Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
>
>                       boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0077_01D3BF6A.5EF88420"
>
>             Content-Language: en-us
>
>             Drake,
>
>             Have you or the client looked into the drainwater heat recovery units?
>
>             They make both a vertical and horizontal mounted version. They just help
>
>             recover the waste heat from shower water going down the drain.
>
>             My understanding is that economically they are barely past the breakeven
>
>             point when considering offsetting grid power. If using PV costs as the
>
>             benchmark, the economics would be better. If somehow this is off grid,
>
>             then
>
>             I’d say it’s a home run. (Hopefully though this is not an
>
>             all-electric
>
>             off-grid building.)
>
>             The main benefit, as far as I understand it, is that you can get by with
>
>             a
>
>             smaller unit, with a smaller heating element to perform the same task,
>
>             OR
>
>             you can get much longer showers from the same sized unit. Depending on
>
>             the
>
>             clients goals, this might be a useful tool to bring into the situation.
>
>             Here are two brand names that I know of.
>
>             Vertical mount: renewability
>
>             Horizontal mount: ecodrain
>
>             I have not used these products, so I cannot endorse any of them, just
>
>             though it may be worth consideration.
>
>             With Regards,
>
>             Daniel Young,
>
>             NABCEP Certified PV Installation ProfessionalTM: Cert #031508-90
>
>             *From:* RE-wrenches<re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>             <mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>  *On
>
>             Behalf Of *Drake
>
>             *Sent:* Thursday, March 15, 2018 1:00 PM
>
>             *To:* RE-wrenches<re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>             <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>
>             *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Electric Water kWh/ person
>
>             This discussion has been a great help. The house is built and the
>
>             plumbing
>
>             is in, but could be modified. Wood stoves are not a likely solution. I
>
>             think we need a different water heating strategy.
>
>             Thank you all!
>
>             Drake
>
>             At 09:21 AM 3/15/2018, you wrote:
>
>             Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
>
>               boundary="------------EE4E9806B711DEF636076840"
>
>             Content-Language: en-US
>
>             This is what I came up with:
>
>             The calculation is Q = mcp delta T
>
>             Water Temp out =  120
>
>             Water Temp in = ground source Temperature @ 50F?
>
>             delta T = 70F
>
>             m =  mass flow rate.  ASHRAE is the source for this. 20gals per
>
>             person
>
>             per day = 20 gallons x 8.34 lbs/gallon =  167lbs/day/person
>
>             cp =  1 BTU/lb-degree F
>
>             Q = 167 x 1 x 70 = 11,676 BTU/day/person
>
>             Divide this by the efficiency of the water heating system (I'll assume =
>
>             .86)  =11,676/.86 = 13, 577 BTU/person/day
>
>             convert to kWh if necessarym 13,577/3412 = ~4 kWh/person/day, 120
>
>             kWh/month
>
>             I checked this against one month and it seems reasonable.
>
>             Website assuming ~3.5 family size comes up with @ 400kWh per month. They
>
>             approached it another way with assuming run times.
>
>             https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&source=hp&ei=
>
>             Z3KqWvXiNsGb5wKJ2Kf4DA&q=electric+water+heater+use+annual+consumption&oq=
>
>             electric+water+heater+use+annually&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.
>
>             33i22i29i30k1l3.279.9222.0.12475.35.19.0.7.7.0.451.2360.
>
>             0j6j4j0j1.11.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..18.16.1952.0..
>
>             0j0i67k1j0i131k1j0i22i30k1.0.CiU8wYZigpI
>
>             Chris
>
>             On 3/15/2018 8:09 AM, Mike Kocsmiersky wrote:
>
>             Barton makes a good point with regards to the incoming ground water
>
>             temperature and the amount of heat required to bring it up to shower
>
>             temp.
>
>             Â My recollection is that ASHRAE states 20gal/person/day for the first
>
>             2
>
>             people, then 15gpd or 12gpd thereafter.  However those rates vary
>
>             wildly
>
>             with consumers, from those that never bathe to the high schooler that
>
>             needs
>
>             3 showers a day.  In the northeast water heating can be up to 19% of
>
>             the
>
>             total household energy load for the year.  Also, I would recommend the
>
>             air
>
>             source heat pump water heaters if you have significant humidity or an on
>
>             demand unit.  Water tanks are typically under insulated and can lose
>
>             2kWh/day in standby losses.
>
>             Â
>
>             Mike Kocsmiersky
>
>             Principal
>
>             Spirit Solar Inc.
>
>             (413) 734-1456
>
>             Â
>
>             Â
>
>             Â
>
>             From: Barton Churchill [mailto:barton at solarips.com
>
>             <barton at solarips.com> <mailto:barton at solarips.com>]
>
>             Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 7:31 PM
>
>             To: RE-wrenches
>
>             Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Electric Water kWh/ person
>
>             Â
>
>             You first need to know your ground temperature. Then figure a delta to
>
>             100
>
>             or so degrees. Most but not all showerheads flow 2.5gpm and showers are
>
>             typically 10 minutes. You can then find a calculator online to calculate
>
>             how many Btus are required to raise water temp for your delta per
>
>             gallon.
>
>             Convert to kWh, add some contingency and you should be good.Â
>
>             On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, <drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org
>             <mailto:drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org>>
>
>             wrote:
>
>             Hello Wrenches,
>
>             Is there a good way to estimate the power that will be consumed for
>
>             electric water per person per day? We are estimating the amount of power
>
>             that will be used by an all electric duplex, and the water heater amount
>
>             seems high. The current model we have claims 3493 kWh/ year per 26
>
>             gallon
>
>             tank will be consumed. With the two units, that would add up to 6986 kWh
>
>             /
>
>             year for hot water, pushing the system size to humongous for a 1300 ft
>
>             sq
>
>             building.
>
>             Does that seem high? There will be a maximum of 2 people per unit.
>
>             The owner is considering going to 115 V units with a 15 gallon tanks. I
>
>             think the smaller tank would help, but it would seem that the amount of
>
>             hot
>
>             water consumed would be the main issue.
>
>             How can we get a good estimate for a per person energy usage for
>
>             electric
>
>             hot water? Any other suggestions are welcome.
>
>             Thank you,
>
>             Drake
>
>             --
>
>             --Â
>
>             Barton Churchill
>
>             406.587.5295 <(406)%20587-5295> Â
>
>             2430 North 7th Bozeman, MT 59715
>
>             www.solarips.com <http://www.solarips.com>
>
>             [image: Image removed by sender.]
>
>             Â
>
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>                      Christopher Warfel, PE
>
>                    ENTECH Engineering, Inc.
>
>             PO Box 871, Block Island, RI 02807
>
>                            (401)466-8978
>
>             <(401)%20466-8978>
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>         --
>
>         --
>
>         Barton Churchill
>
>         406.587.5295
>
>         2430 North 7th Bozeman, MT 59715
>
>         www.solarips.com <http://www.solarips.com>
>
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>     Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
>
>     "we go where powerlines don't"
>
>     http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
>
>     e-mailoffgridsolar at sti.net <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>
>
>     text 209 813 0060
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> -- 
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> Christopher Warfel, PE
>        ENTECH Engineering, Inc.
> PO Box 871, Block Island, RI 02807
>                (401)466-8978
>
>
> EEI logo <http://entech-engineering.com>
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