Hot Water Service With Less Energy Consumption to Save the Environment

Hot Water Service

One of the mandatory services most people need in their homes for a comfortable living is a hot water service. The energy consumption of different households is varied mainly due to two factors: the personal consumption levels and sources of production of energy used for water heating. It is thus one of the major concerns of households to reduce consumption levels both because of environmental concerns and because of cost concerns. We are thus on the continual lookout for finding a hot water service that could reduce both our electricity bill and our guilt of creating harm to the environment. 

How Does Energy Consumption Vary for Different Water Heating Systems? 

Storage systems and continuous (also called instantaneous) systems are the two kinds of water heaters that work either using electricity, natural gas, heat pump, or solar heating procedures. 

Storage tank systems provide the benefit of coming with off-peak energy tariffs which make them cheaper but are not available to all households though. They store a certain amount of heated water to make use of, throughout the day. Contrary to this, continuous or instantaneous systems as the name suggest, provide heated water at the instant. Though they require to be run, again and again, they are generally cheaper than storage water tanks and are also a more efficient form of hot water service. The efficiency of storage water tanks falls due to the reason that they often lose the heat over time, and hence the whole purpose of having stored heated water is no longer served. 

Flow rate is an important consideration to look at while choosing a continuous heating system. It depends on the number of water outlets in the home, the flow-rate being higher with a higher number of water outlets. 

How Is Energy Conserved in Hot Water Services Working on Different Energy Sources? 

The hot water service or water heating systems, that use distinct sources of energy, work on specific principles and procedures. These procedures determine the extent to which energy can be consumed in these systems. 

Heat pumps, for example, do not directly consume electricity unless installed is an electric boost element. They work on the reverse refrigerant mechanisms, which mean that the surrounding air is taken and acted upon by a refrigerant which gets converted to a gas. Upon the compression of gas, heat is released which is transferred to the water to be heated. 

Though this system of hot water service is a bit expensive than conventional electrical methods but is highly energy-saving and the initial costs can be recovered in a short time. 

Hot Water Service

The hot water service working on natural gas or LPG is cheaper to install and produce lesser greenhouse emissions but should not be considered a sustainable source since they are not renewable. Those that work on Liquefied Petroleum Gas are even more expensive than the natural gas systems. 

Then there are also solar energy-based water heating systems, that make use of water collectors to heat the passing water with the energy of the sun, which is then stored in an insulated storage tank to be used at a later time. In the geographical locations that experience frost, a frost protection system is also required. 

One should note carefully that the insulating material is of the best quality, otherwise, heating would take longer time and water in storage tanks will require reheating. Another important consideration here is that hot water services working on solar energy in Australia and New Zealand have to fulfill certain legal requirements, i.e. should not violate Section 8 of AS/NZS 3500.4:2003, Plumbing and drainage — heated water services. The Building Code of Australia (BCA) Volume 2, Part 3.12.5 contains the legalities regarding this and people should acquaint themselves with these guidelines. 

Installing a heating system after getting the catch of different systems available in the market is the first step towards ensuring lower bills. It should also be kept in mind that having a change in the water usage patterns, in the direction of cautious consumption of water and energy will have an even more pronounced and lasting effect.