I have spoken to others about my ventures and trials in reducing power consumption from the grid. I have begun using the clothes dryer less, and put timers on my lights and sensors too. All these have helped to reduce the bill to 120 dollars from 230 dollars over a years time. I have six months to go and be at the 30 dollars nonusage phase. two months after that I will disconnect. That is the plan anyway.

I have revised my stratedgy for doing this several times as information changed my perspective. So here is my latest project which I installed today. I will have to find a way to post pictures. I will work on it.

Items needed:

enough cpvc pipe the same diameter as the feed pipe to your hot water heater to reach your heater from the outside and back.

3 cut off ball valves

1 one way check valve (to keep hot water from invading your cold water)

2 T couplers

and enough elbows to manuever your adapter from the hot water heater to your supplemental heater.

I realize that your heater may be somewhere different than mine. Yet if you can pull this off you will see a noticable drop in power usage and therefore your power bill.

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The idea of this is to install the check valve on the supply side of the heater. I did this by installing a 90 degree coupling and then the valve. I then installed the T and below that the first cut off ball valve. Below this I installed a union pipe coupling to connect to a 300 foot garden hose. If this works I will build a more permanent structure.

I then cut a 12 inch section out of the supply line and saved it. I installed a 90 degree coupling to the other cut I made and fastened the other T so that it was even with the previous T. I placed the second ball cut off valve below this T. I then installed another union pipe fitting so I could connect the other end of the hose to it.

The 12 inch section I cut out is now cut in half and the third ball valve is installed in the middle. I then installed this section between the two T's and make sure it all fits.

Once I am sure it will fit I go buy the cleaner and the glue. I then assemble everything exactly as I described above except this time I use the cleaner and the glue.

Once everything was dry and set I turned all the ball valves closed and turned the water back on to the house. I check for leaks and I then connect the hose to the adapter.

I open the ball valves to the hose and leave the ball valve in the T closed. This section is for bypassing the hose section and hopefully will not need to be opened. Be mindful that if you think it will freeze to disconnect the hose and open the bypass up. this way you won't freeze your hose. The hose should be placed in direct sunlight.

I will let you know how much of a difference this makes in my power bill. Last months usage was 1230 Kw of usage. The month prior was 1487 Kw of usage.

I am happy to answer questions or comment.

To reduce your electricty bill some more I suggest you don't run any air conditioning. You can run fans instead but to secure your house when you are not home bolt on expanded metal coverings over several windows you want to leave open and have a large fan blowing outward (or better yet get an attic fan). That way your house can be cooled by ventilation instead.

Also I would put up a clothes line for drying clothes instead of running the clothes dryer.

You could also turn off electricity to the water heater every time you leave the house or go to bed.

Convert all incandescent bulbs to low wattage florescents.

Use a clothsline instead of a dryer

Install a woodstove.

Install a point of use propane hot water heater

Install a 12/24 volt freezer, 2 deep cycle batteries and a 100 watt solar panel.

Oh baby! Have I got the perfect item for you guys!...

Just build a couple of these...
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.html

These can cover all your needs without relying on the grid. As I understand it, if you stay connected to the grid and create a "surplus" of energy, the utilities have to buy it from you in most states for the same price they would have sold it to you at,(not CA though... that state is just too jacked up! Big, VERY BIG scandles and corruptions in CA over "Power").

IHTH

Michael

OK, here's my hillbilly water heater. you need to build a three sided plywood triangle 4' high by 8' long. the front put corrugated metal recessed in about 2" no plywood behind corrugated metal. paint the metal flat black. Over the metal you attach 4'X8' lexan 1/8" is min. prefer 1/4".Leave that 2" space minus thickness on Lexan. Run copper pipe 3/4" back and forth from bottom to top up against the corrugated metal on the inside of the box. Keep the pipe within a couple inches at each pass. put box against house next to where your hot water heater is. insulate pipe to house and connect to cold and hot water supply. cold water comes in the bottom heats as it travels through the box and hot water comes out the top. you will be surprised how hot the water will be. Now during day even in winter you should have 1oo degree water supplied by the solar heater. At night it will take hours for it to cool. But make sure you have insulated the three sides of the box. Not the corrugated side. Now if your real ambitious like me you'll need a solar battery charger attach to the face of the box. inside the box put a 12 volt or two batteries. hook to charger. get a 12 volt blower and cut a hole in back and attach to your duct or directly into a room. you'll need a thermostat to turn on the blower when the temp in the box reaches 100 degrees. Get one that has a good cut off like 80 degrees. This will heat a couple rooms completely or supplement your gas or wood heat. Here is a couple important points, find the apex of the summer and winter suns and make the face angle in between that angle that way you get the best southern sun you can. This is not a material list but you can figure out what you need . If you can't I will draw up some plans and you'll be able to get them. I hope I stated this clearly, any questions let me know.