Can Someone Tell Gas Co. that 15 Degree Night Heat Setback & 120º Stored DHW Is Not a Good Idea?

D107

This came in my email box today:



And that lowering you domestic hot water to 120 won't necessarily save you money; it will give you less capacity and not kill the Legionnaire's bacteria. And are the gas companies really interested in saving us money? They are pushing all the new mod-con boilers which are even less geared for big setbacks than the old bang-bang boilers...

Gordy

Lol. If your houses losses 10-15 degrees in 8 hours there is bigger issues like closing the front door........

D107

Correct; they may have to turn on the AC to get that setback...

KC_Jones

Gordy said:

Lol. If your houses losses 10-15 degrees in 8 hours there is bigger issues like closing the front door........

This, so much this. My house is way over 100 years old, less drafty with my improvements, but drafty nonetheless. I run 3 degree night setback for comfort, not savings. It takes hours to lose that even in the coldest weather. If a modern house can lose that much heat they have a major problem.

A few years ago my parents lost power for several days in the dead of winter. They have an oil fired furnace. After 3 days my father finally built a fire in the fireplace, it was finally getting into the 50's in the house. That was after days of zero heat on in the house.

People are looking in the wrong place to save energy.

Gordy

In all defense it does say “try”

Gordy

I’m assuming the “stay cozy” part means grab a blanket, or light a fire with your special other while you enjoy your savings

Zman

The average customer would save far more by having a properly sized and commissioned heat system that is regularly maintained. How many of those do you see?

Canucker

> @Gordy said:
> Lol. If your houses losses 10-15 degrees in 8 hours there is bigger issues like closing the front door........

Or finally getting around to putting the glass into your windows on your tent

STEVEusaPA

Nice! Sign up fast! Let your electricity supplier install a thermostat where they can control your system, like turning up the AC during peak demand, and they'll give you a slightly lower rate.
Then when you have a problem with the thermostat, THEY have to come out and fix it. And they aren't coming out very quickly at all. This is an 'upgrade' from the box they put outside on your AC unit.
I've run into this a couple of times. No A/C, only to find the thermostat is 'working it's magic'. Haven't seen it on the heating side yet, but who knows.
Remember Jimmy Carter? Besides dropping the ball on the metric system, didn't he advocate turning down the thermostat to 62° and put on a sweater? I'd be divorced.

STEVEusaPA

Zman said:

The average customer would save far more by having a properly sized and commissioned heat system that is regularly maintained. How many of those do you see?

At least they mentioned savings by updating your equipment. They used to help subsidize.

A better ad would be...
"Please turn down your thermostat 10-15° during peak demand. Despite our lobbing efforts, we can't get the government to pay for infrastructure updates that we've ignored by pocketing the money. Therefore we just don't have the capacity to supply everyone.
This is why we switch all our uninterruptibles (schools, factories, hospitals, large commercial buildings, etc) over to heating oil when it gets very cold, driving the price of heating oil up when consumers need it most . But on the bright side, this makes more people unhappy with heating oil and want to switch over to natural gas.
It's hurting our bottom line. Please help us.
Merry Christmas.
PS. As the CEO, none of our executives pay for natural gas, and we must keep our homes warm, so please, turn your thermostat down"

~~Ok, snarky rant over.~~

Gordy

Yup and Jimmy dropped the speed limit to 55 also I believe.

Gordy

I’ve dealt with the metric system which I had no problem with. The problem was getting manufacturers, and suppliers on board when only IDOT uses the system, and no one else. Lasted about 2-3 years I believe.

Henry

Once the mass is warm, it takes little heat to keep it warm. In my house, I have no more any setback. It is forced air but my 5 year average is less than setback. We have the same for large churches. BTW anything under 140F in a hot water tank is DANGEROUS!

Gordy

I’ll disagree @Henry. Heat loss is driven by delta t. The larger that delta the larger the heat loss, or gain.

Now I will agree that the savings verses comfort of doing setback regiments daily is a bit of a vicious circle. With out much to be saved unless you can lose a significant amount of temperature in a short period of time.

If that is the case, envelope upgrades will get you farther ahead of the game than setbacks, and more comfort.