[permaculture-oceania] Electricity usage of electric hotwaterheaters

[R Freeman]

 Jedd,

>On Thursday 08 June 2006 06:03, R Freeman wrote:
> In summary, these things [electric hotwaterheaters] don't warant being
left on at 
> all, except during the time that you are actually using it. 
> 
>  Thanks for the info, Robert.  How long have you been doing 
> this,  as I'm curious if there's long-term effects on the 
> longevity of the  system if it's cycled regularly.  

I did it for about 2 years. During that time the system worked fine, and I
believe it is still working fine now 5 years later. I confess I never really
thought about whether it would shorten the life of the system (but probably
wouldn't have stopped me even if I had thought about it.)

>  If cycling it each day used less power, then I wonder why 
> this  approach isn't promulgated more widely.  

As summed up by the Dead Kennedys* : "Give me convenience, or give me death"

>Maybe the 
> power companies  have enough trouble dealing with the surges 
> of a million kettles  being turned on each ad break .. 

Now there's a thought! Let's promote a kettle that is always boiling. Think
how convenient *that* would be. Yeah!

Cheers,
Robert

*Dead Kennedys: Punk rock band famous for their stinging satires on
consumerism, freedom, and atitudes of the 'masses'. I like it, but the music
is not to everyone's taste. The satire is pretty blunt too.