Comments on: Insulate Your Hot Water Heater

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:11:00 +0000

We did this two years ago, and the savings were significant! One of the best $20 we’ve spent so far.

By: Ethan

Ethan — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:41:00 +0000

I take the track of every little bit helps (save money / planet). So I’m all about these kinds of tips.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:30:00 +0000

I’m showering away dollars by the day. But, it’s mostly because I’m going to insulate the entire basement (which is a nice, “toasty” 62 degrees nowadays), particularly the area around the utility room, once I get around to resuming the basement family room renovation. That should save me beaucoup bucks. Once I get to it. Hopefully sooner than later.

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Aimee,

You know, I thought the number was pretty high. So I went a did some math on the subject. I think the savings is actually more like $3-5 / mo for a family of 2 with an older water heater. So I updated the post. It could get much higher if you have several negative contributing factors:

1) You have a cold/drafty water heater location, like in an open area of a poorly-insulated basement.

2) You keep your hot water heater at a very high temperature (say 125 deg. or more)

3) You have a particularly old (20 years+) water heater with a low R-value of insulation.

But, I think most families will experience somewhere in the $3-5 dollar/month range. Not bad when you consider that you shouldn't ever have to replace the insulation, and it's only a $20 investment. Over the course of a few years, the return could easily be more than $100.

By: Aimee

Aimee — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Wow, I didn’t realize it was that big of a savings. We have a blanket but my hubby has yet to put it on the heater. Of course we just replaced our heater to an energy saver model which helps too. I am going to have to make sure we put that blanket on!