Hot Water Heater

**KWLinda** · 08-22-2006, 06:25 AM

Two months ago I got my electric bill and it was $90. Now, 90 might not seem like much unless you look at the big picture. I have a 400 sf apartment and only used one ac, a window unit, 5000 btu's. I live in the Tropics but only cool the bedroom which is about 8 x 10 ft, I've never had an Electric Bill over $65.00 in the 5 years I've been in this apartment.

That bill was the reason I returned to trying to live a more Frugal lifestyle. Last month I was able to bring my bill down to $60. Liking a challenge I decided to see how much more I could bring it down. One of the things I did was turn down the temp on my HWH. I decided to take it a step further and unplugged it yesterday morning after my shower. When I got home yesterday afternoon I didn't bother plugging it back in for my afternoon shower (two showers because I work outside and it's a necessity if I want to have people around me! LOL). I almost burned myself when I turned the water on. It had actually held the heat all day!

Interesting, so I thought hmmmm, maybe because the temp here is almost 90 degrees during the day... So, since the day and night temp here only deviates about 10 degrees I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if I left it unplugged. This morning I got up, turned on the shower and the water was warm, almost hot! I may be able to leave it unplugged for months!! What an unexpected way to save.

**kabin63** · 08-22-2006, 07:55 PM

Wow! That's awesome!

**Amanda W** · 08-22-2006, 08:33 PM

Wow, I'm jealous! Let us know how it goes!

**KWLinda** · 08-22-2006, 10:26 PM

Unplugged for 36 hours and water is still very warm. I may not be able to leave it unplugged for months, but several days at a time, at least during our hot summer months. I'm curious to see how it will affect my elec. bill. I'm in the middle of the billing cycle so I'll have to wait a few weeks to see if my extreme measure is worth it LOL

**LastDragonfly** · 08-22-2006, 10:29 PM

Linda, Good thinking. I will be interested to see what your next bill will be.

**banana** · 08-23-2006, 11:28 AM

Wow. That is great.

**KWLinda** · 08-23-2006, 09:13 PM

I've found that 60 hours is the limit for holding the heat, BRRRRR that was a cold shower. But it only took 20 minutes for it to heat up again. I'm planning to just plug it in when I get up then unplug it til the next day. I would do a timer but it's right there and just as easy to pull out and put back in.

I'll let you all know how much I save when I get my next bill.

It's strange, but I feel totally at ease sharing this with all of you but if I were to tell anyone at work they would think I was bonkers!

Thanks for this wonderful site!!!

**Droppedonmyhead** · 08-23-2006, 09:31 PM

That's because we appreciate and applaud people's efforts to save money. I take it you live in the Keys where the cost of living is high. That's great that your electric bill is so low. Keep up the good work!!!!