Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread

[melev]

Our neighborhood doesn't have gas lines. And when they were recently digging up the easement for new phone lines, I asked if they were going to run fiber optic cable for future FIOS needs. And they said no. What a wasted opportunity!

Hire you for what, Nanogurl? Rather than give you money to feed your reef needs, we'll just share this tank.

[NanoGurl]

To run my hot water heater! I was wrong it's a 125g water heater they installed... so if yours cost that much to run... i'm in trouble!

[melev]

Originally posted by Stile2
OK, WOW. Out here in California we just pour a pad and put them in the sideyard. (above ground) Would you really have to bury it?

I honestly don't know. I don't think I'd want to look at it though, nor would I want some nutcase to take shots at it. You never know.

[Kentanner11]

129g!!! How big is your house?

[melev]

Originally posted by NanoGurl
To run my hot water heater! I was wrong it's a 125g water heater they installed... so if yours cost that much to run... i'm in trouble!

How many tangs can that hold?

Perhaps yours is better-rated than the one I bought. At Home Depot, they had various ones - 3, 6, 9, or 12 year warrantied water heaters. I opted for 6 because I don't know how long I'll live here and didn't really see a reason to pay so much more.

Some people put their water heater on timers so it warms up the water when you are home and need it. My hours are varied, so mine is just on all the time.

Btw, as I told y'all, I turned off the power to the water heater yesterday. When I had to drain it a day later, it was still quite hot.

[Kentanner11]

/\ At least your old one was insulated well to keep it warm wo/ power.

[jnarowe]

Yeah, well the electric ones should be thoroughly researched.

I'll just post since it seems a lot of people are interested in this judging by my PM box!

There are big differences between them in materials and function. I bought mine direct because at the time they did not have any electric ones on store shelves.

Mine is smaller than a briefcase and can be installed between studs/in-wall saving a crapload of space. It has a 125A breaker in the main panel and 100A sub-panel. You need 2 x #2 leads and 1 x #6 ground. The wire alone cost about $200 in my application.

The trick is to get one that measures incoming water temp. and only uses enough electricity to get the water up to your set temp. at whatever flow is being demanded. Mine will display chamber temps., incoming temp. outgoing temp, flow rate, and electrical usage as a percentage of available power. My set temp. is 109F and I lose about 1F to the far end of the house.

Benefits:

1. Never having a leak due to corrosion. Mine has no parts that can corrode.

2. Never heating water that is being stored.

3. Being able to run multiple fixtures/appliances without affecting water temp.

4. Because I set mine to exactly what we use hot water at, I don't have to "mix" at the shower or sink. This saves water, and also takes the toilet out of the equation. I can be in the shower and someone can flush the toilet without a rise in shower temp. because I am using virtually no cold water.

5. No element or anodes to replace.

6. Huge space savings.

7. No need for a plumber to install. You just screw it to the wall and attach the water lines.

8. No vent to the outside.

9. It's cool! Mine takes the place of 2 large 125g water heaters.

10. You don't run out of hot water...

WARNING! Do not buy into the saving money hype like I did. When I first installed it, my electrical bill dropped by $25/month immediately. Man was I happy... then reality set in. When house occupants, including myself realized that it is never-ending hot water, showers get a lot longer.

Anyone is welcome to PM for more discussion, or to start a thread about it. Phone calls are fine too.

[NanoGurl]

Originally posted by Kentanner11
129g!!! How big is your house?

BIG!

[NanoGurl]

Originally posted by melev
How many tangs can that hold?

Perhaps yours is better-rated than the one I bought. At Home Depot, they had various ones - 3, 6, 9, or 12 year warrantied water heaters. I opted for 6 because I don't know how long I'll live here and didn't really see a reason to pay so much more.

Some people put their water heater on timers so it warms up the water when you are home and need it. My hours are varied, so mine is just on all the time.

Btw, as I told y'all, I turned off the power to the water heater yesterday. When I had to drain it a day later, it was still quite hot.

lol!

No idea, I'll look when we go up next time and I'l take a photo of the details.

[kmacartney]

My Bosch tankless water heater is sweet. My gas bill in the summer is $5, and that is with a gas stove. I expect that an electric model would be nearly as cost effective.

[Kentanner11]

/\ so you have a gas tankless H20 heater? /\

[michika]

jnarowe, any chance for a photo or a link to the system you have?

[TCU Reefer]

This thread should have it's own sub-forum...Melev's Lounge. How bout it RC admins?

There's more BS here than a cow pasture.

[bohlke]

Originally posted by melev
Our neighborhood doesn't have gas lines. And when they were recently digging up the easement for new phone lines, I asked if they were going to run fiber optic cable for future FIOS needs. And they said no. What a wasted opportunity!

wow what tools, why cut up the ground twice. Why even run new copper (sigh)......

[melev]

Originally posted by TCU Reefer
This thread should have it's own sub-forum...Melev's Lounge. How bout it RC admins?

There's more BS here than a cow pasture.

[jjmcat]

I just had some time to catch up with your thread and your tank is still looking great.

[melev]

Thanks Jarrod.

[jjmcat]

Been trying to get the tank built back up since we had that ice storm.Saved some of the corals and fish but not all of them.I still have that tri color millie for you when you make it up here.

[melev]

I'm sorry to hear that ice storm affected you. How many club members were involved?

[jjmcat]

Quite a few people here.One shop closed down due to the storm.I know we were out for 5 days and some longer.Worst ever in Oklahoma history.I think there was a total of 600,000 without power.

[melev]

That part I knew. Our local news reported how many of Oncor/TXU crews were heading to OKC to help get power restored.

I spoke with Paul Whitby and he told me he was prepared with firewood and a generator. I just didn't know if more people in your area / club were just as proactive, or caught in a bad situation.

[Micki]

Originally posted by kmacartney
My Bosch tankless water heater is sweet. My gas bill in the summer is $5, and that is with a gas stove. I expect that an electric model would be nearly as cost effective.

We run propane as well. Sounds like something I need to check into!

jnarowe, thaks for the info I may contact you!

[kmacartney]

Yeah, I think there is a slight mod to run propane, nothing big. The main reason we got was for space saving. It's about the size of a suitcase and mounts to the wall.

[melev]

It looks like bklynmet tried to post to my thread around 9:01 pm, but it never appeared.

FYI, my article on sumps came out today in Reefkeeping Online:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/newbie/index.php

[chrismunn]

how long have you been writing for reefkeeping mag now marc?