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Actually, if you run the numbers that you bolded from that article, that unit costs over $1000 per year to run.---5.5kW x 3 hr /d = 16.5kW @ 16c/kW = $2.64/d x 365 d/yr = 963.60 then add 10% because of the 0.9EF (efficiency factor).
So your estimate of your current cost is in the right ballpark...The sticking point is that you probably don't need AC to be actually running 12h/d everyday of the year....That unit draws 1.5kW--so running for 12 h (needed to produce 50 gal of hot water) uses 18kW-- 1.5 more than the electric water heater.
Maybe the way to go to achieve frugality is to conserve more-- wash dishes by hand in a small dish pan- you can get by with <2 gal per event....When you shower, get wet and turn off the water. Soap up, scrub and then turn it back on to rinse. That 10 gal shower can be reduced to 4 gal or less, and do luke warm, not hot showers....Wash clothes less frequently/bigger loads &/or cold water.
Maybe the way to go to achieve frugality is to conserve more--
Ha Ha This is a rental in Waikiki. I live year round in CA and HI without AC. In CA I pee on my compost pile and precycle/recycle etc. And I have my water heater on the lowest setting that I can take a shower in without using cold water. Most people run AC in Honolulu year round to the extent that they can afford it. My tenants are using over 1100 kwh a month. I have to provide AC to be competitive in the market. I pay for the hot water and charge overage to the tenants. Everything else is energy star and LED! So all the electric is HW, AC and electric clothes dryer. And yes I've told them to throw a dry towel in with their wet towels to dry quicker (I do and it seems like it works).
I could raise the rent so that the overage makes the tenant cut back on use or go to a building that electricity in included in the owners maintenance fee and even the owners have no idea what their tenants use is. I am trying to be a good landlord and a good earth citizen so that is my interest in the HWAC unit. I'd like to save me money, them money and the earth. This system seems like it may accomplish that.
What would you do? And again, mahalo for your input.
Back in the 20s, 30s, 40s, before AC, cheap hotel rooms were often equipped with coin operated electric fans...Give you any ideas?
If these tenants over whom you have no real control of their usage, are keeping the AC running most of the day and night, then this new unit may be the way to go--- but I'd wait until the old AC is ready to be replaced. In addition to the cost of the unit itself, there's installation costs, including re-plumbing the place. It adds up fast.
When we lived in Boca Raton FL the water heater was on a clock, it only ran 12 hours a day.
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