Hot Water Heaters - short or tall?

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Hot water heaters? Hot water doesn't need to be heated...
Probably enough comedians in the world...

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
I should see a significant cost reduction on the electric bill and a minor increase on the NG bill and much faster recovery times--a win all the way around IMHO.

Thanks everyone for the replies--all of the information is helpful!

Our natural gas bill is about $18-20/mo for summer and $30-50 more for winter. We have these gas appliances: 45 gallons water heater, stove top, cloth dryer and furnace.

I think the gas water heater alone costs about $10/mo or less. May be the cost of natural gas in California is very cheap too.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Our natural gas bill is about $18-20/mo for summer and $30-50 more for winter. We have these gas appliances: 45 gallons water heater, stove top, cloth dryer and furnace. I think the gas water heater alone costs about $10/mo or less. May be the cost of natural gas in California is very cheap too.
Compared to the cost of electricity, NG is very cheap--I am averaging $35 in the winter (December through March) and $17 in the summer (April through November). The month I outlined (October) was when I replaced the electric dryer with a gas model. The increase of the cost of NG was barely a blip, yet the electric bill dropped by more than $40. If I were using propane, I might have considered switching to a hybrid, but with NG, it does not make sense (for me).

 

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
My gas hot water heater is dying a slow death. I have to turn it to "B" on the thermostat to get hot water. This is two settings hotter than when it was new. The guys at the plumbing store theorize the bottom of the tank has a lot of hard sediment that wont flush out causing the flame to work very hard to get to the water to heat it.

It's a 75 gallon tank size and looking at all the choices, the cheapest one is the most economical one. Those fancy tankless and hybrid heaters cost a lot more money and have a tricky installation. Since yours is new install for gas, you should look at the direct vent types if you don't have the vent set up already.
My BIL had this problem. The drain valves are really small ID, around 1/4" If you take out the valve and use a 1/2" ball valve you will be able to clean it out fairly easy. I got almost a 2 gallon bucket full of scale from his water heater.

 

[MNgopher]

And that's the rub. While the Natural Gas fired water heaters can't touch the efficiency ratings on the new Hybrids, natural gas is so much cheaper than electricity it can be tough to beat, when its available.

And that Centerpoint graph is cute - 1.3CCF per day in January! lets just say we used a bit more (even though its been a warm winter...) The May-September is comparable though - we run a gas range, dryer, water heater, and a gas fireplace that isn't used in the summer. Ends up being about $20 a month with all the fees included...