-> Tank heaters seem to be "the way we've always done it", which often
-> isn't the best way. I still stand by the theory that it makes more
-> sense to heat water only when you need it instead of always heating
-> 20-60 gallons just in case...
Ian, my naked 40 gallon tank on the roof has been quite a surprise.
'Course our weather has been pretty dang hot.
From about 10:30 AM on, you can take about as hot a shower as you like
for almost as LONG as you like.  After Noon, you have to be pretty darn
careful about jumping into the hot water!  "Recovery" such as it is, is
also amazing since you have to run the hot water full ON to get it to
cool off _any_.  Three of us have been taking several showers per
afternoon this last week, and we aint run out YET!
After sundown though the un insulated tank cools pretty quick, and
lukewarm showers are the rule after about 10:00 PM.  Feeding something
like this into your On Demand heater should certainly improve your LP
usage!
BTW, I was shown a videotape last night produced by a man over toward
Florida who runs his entire household, complete with HEAVY DUTY shop
tools and washer /dryer and Air Conditioning off a 1200 Amp electric
fork lift battery and a 8 KW invertor.  He doesn't even have PV or wind,
and charges the battery about 6 hours every three days off a 12 KW
Diesel generator.  His battery life is estimated to be about 15 years.
(2000 charge cycles.)  HE can of course fire up the generator when he
wants to run HEAVY AC loads like his arc welder and his giant table saw.
HE claims he doesn't live any different than he did on the grid, except
for some light maintenance, and that even with air conditioning a 3000
square foot house, his Diesel bills average about $75 bucks a month
during the heat and about $30 bucks a month otherwise.
Very interesting Video!
 ^..^
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