I always find it fascinating that a monthly magazine mailed to all power utility customers in my state often has “power saving tips” which suggest the authors flunked middle-school science class. Among my favorites:
"Heat pumps are more energy efficient because they move warm air from the outside to the indoors in the winter and move warm air from the indoors to the outside during the summer."
Fortunately, the illustrations which appeared in that article came from a reputable source and got everything correct—but the author apparently didn’t read and/or understand them.
“When your turkey is roasting away, the heat from the oven will warm up your home, so you can turn down the thermostat.”
Interesting. (And I hope turning down the thermostat doesn’t turn on the AC, as it does in many homes in this state.)
That last tip arrived just in time for Thanksgiving. (And it’s even extra counterproductive when the HVAC blower fails to move the hot air from the kitchen to the rest of the house.)
And my favorite which I read when visiting a state with long, cold winters and most older homes in the region used electric resistance heating:
“Replace your inefficient indoor light bulbs with energy efficient LEDs and you will enjoy major electric bill savings year round.”
Oh, this one is certainly not funny but it does manage to be potentially dangerous: “During the hottest summer months you may be comfortable turning off your water heater completely and just enjoy the savings!”
Which (for Andrew’s benefit) was a real hazard for older gas appliances, because the gas would keep flowing when the pilot went out, creating the potential for a gas explosion. This still happens occasionally when equipment malfunctions.
My experience was a propane heater in the lift shack at the top of a ski area. When the thermocouple gave out someone bypassed it so the heater would still work, but this meant you to had to be very careful lighting it. One day I wasn’t careful enough, and it cost me my eyebrows.
Indeed. I have plenty of memories of those days. But turning off ANY water heater can be for this reason: For people not on chlorinated water systems—or are further from the municipal water treatment plant and chlorine levels have dropped at the distance where the water reaches their homes—the water heater is the last line of defense against all sorts of dangerous water-borne microbes. And a cooled-off water heater is also a great incubator for the bacteria which cause Legionaire’s Disease etc.—and while taking a shower it is very easy to breathe in the water mist and get a fatal infection. Water heaters are 24/7 STERILIZERS.
