Friday, October 15, 2010

Hot Water Heater - Electric vs Gas

The hot water heater in the manufacturing area serviced wash basins and a bathroom. It was gas fired, 50 gallons, and needed replacement. We switched to a 6 gallon electric which we believe will yield substantial savings.

A physical review revealed that use of hot water occurred only at end of work periods (break-time, lunch, end of day). Otherwise, the system was maintaining 50 gallons of hot water during off periods (such as evenings and weekends).

An on-demand system would not work due to the heavy load that occurs upon lunch time as an example, when all the workers are using actively washing up before a meal.

A 6 gallon tank was found to be the right size for our peak use. The tank takes up less room, and doesn't require the venting like the former natural gas fired tank.

The comparison of costs and determining payback of investment is offered via this government website.

The system has been in place for 2 months, and functions as projected. We have ample electricity surplus from our PV solar array, so we have eliminated a natural gas purchase for the energy, as well as have eliminated the pollutants from burning the gas. All hot water in our facility comes from electric heaters, with electricity gathered from our Photo-voltaic array of panels.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Electric Vehicle Delivery Truck


Electric delivery vehicles are a possibility of the future, which is why we are currently testing the feasibility via the electric passenger vehicle (the only pure EV available is the Tesla Roadster).

Our typical market served requires a 150mile round-trip capability. Currently the trucks being tested or shown in auto-shows have a 100mile range (and that is not descriptive of the load they may carry).

This link provides a glimpse at what may be to come for larger vehicles, and this link shows that smaller delivery vehicles powered by electricity (solely) are becoming available (to fleet owners).





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