Blog Thirty-Four: Loooong day
Today Switall! came over and we had sushi. Then we went to Home Depot to look at water heaters. This isn't going to be as boring as you think, so bear with me.
The soon-to-be Joneshouse has an electric water heater, which is A) relatively expensive to run and B) in this particular case, looks as if it was originally installed by Huron tribesmen in the 16th century.
The home inspector suggested that we replace it with a gas-powered heater. He also suggested we go for a tankless heater. A tankless heater is basically like a coffee percolator; it runs the water through copper tubes that are heated by flame, so the water is heated as you use it. We're not getting one. First of all, they're more expensive. A LOT more - like, at least a thousand bux more. So much more that there is no conceivable way they'd save enough money in gas to make it worth your while. Secondly, even whether or not they're more efficient than the tank heaters is open to some question.
What is interesting though is that it's not even worth it, by my calculations, to replace it at all. Replacing the electric heater with a gas tank would save some money - $20 a month, to be generous. Given that the cost of getting a new hot water heater will be at least $1200, we would have to enjoy that $20 savings for five years to get our $1200 back, not including inflation - really, it's more like six years. Assuming my lowball estimate is correct; it could be more. Installing a hot water heater from scratch is a big deal.
Of course it would add value to the house so it might be worth it, but it's an interesting case of the You're Screwed From Saving Situation; we could save $X on heating costs, but there is no way we could ever save enough to make the investment worth it. The inspector also suggested new windows, which would cost five large, easy. We won't spent $5000 on heating the house if we live there for five years, much less $5000 in marginal costs as a result of having lousy windows. So we're kinda stuck; really, the time to realize the benefits of this stuff is when you BUILD the house.
Anyway, after leaving Home Depot, we went to Leon's and found a living room set - sofa, love seat, chair and ottoman - on clearance for $700. I would be insane to turn that down, so we grabbed it, and can now furnish three rooms, as the current sofa will be relegated to the rec room/office while the current recliner goes to the bedroom. A real steal.
Holy crap... I'm old!!!
The soon-to-be Joneshouse has an electric water heater, which is A) relatively expensive to run and B) in this particular case, looks as if it was originally installed by Huron tribesmen in the 16th century.
The home inspector suggested that we replace it with a gas-powered heater. He also suggested we go for a tankless heater. A tankless heater is basically like a coffee percolator; it runs the water through copper tubes that are heated by flame, so the water is heated as you use it. We're not getting one. First of all, they're more expensive. A LOT more - like, at least a thousand bux more. So much more that there is no conceivable way they'd save enough money in gas to make it worth your while. Secondly, even whether or not they're more efficient than the tank heaters is open to some question.
What is interesting though is that it's not even worth it, by my calculations, to replace it at all. Replacing the electric heater with a gas tank would save some money - $20 a month, to be generous. Given that the cost of getting a new hot water heater will be at least $1200, we would have to enjoy that $20 savings for five years to get our $1200 back, not including inflation - really, it's more like six years. Assuming my lowball estimate is correct; it could be more. Installing a hot water heater from scratch is a big deal.
Of course it would add value to the house so it might be worth it, but it's an interesting case of the You're Screwed From Saving Situation; we could save $X on heating costs, but there is no way we could ever save enough to make the investment worth it. The inspector also suggested new windows, which would cost five large, easy. We won't spent $5000 on heating the house if we live there for five years, much less $5000 in marginal costs as a result of having lousy windows. So we're kinda stuck; really, the time to realize the benefits of this stuff is when you BUILD the house.
Anyway, after leaving Home Depot, we went to Leon's and found a living room set - sofa, love seat, chair and ottoman - on clearance for $700. I would be insane to turn that down, so we grabbed it, and can now furnish three rooms, as the current sofa will be relegated to the rec room/office while the current recliner goes to the bedroom. A real steal.
Holy crap... I'm old!!!
posted by RickJay @ 8:20 PM
2 Comments:
At 7:43 AM,
Unknown said…
You're old? Read that again. I went WITH you guys while you did this. I'm 22 years old going on 65.
Of course, by carrying Smaddy around, I just figure I look like your hot nanny. And who doesn't want to get with the hot nanny? Jude Law wishes he knew me.
Ohhhh yeah.
At 7:51 PM,
Anonymous said…
I would like to state for the record that if we win the lottery, Heather can quit her crappy-assed job and become our permanent Hot Nanny as we globetrot.
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