I have spoken to others about my ventures and trials in reducing power consumption from the grid. I have begun using the clothes dryer less, and put timers on my lights and sensors too. All these have helped to reduce the bill to 120 dollars from 230 dollars over a years time. I have six months to go and be at the 30 dollars nonusage phase. two months after that I will disconnect. That is the plan anyway.

I have revised my stratedgy for doing this several times as information changed my perspective. So here is my latest project which I installed today. I will have to find a way to post pictures. I will work on it.

Items needed:

enough cpvc pipe the same diameter as the feed pipe to your hot water heater to reach your heater from the outside and back.

3 cut off ball valves

1 one way check valve (to keep hot water from invading your cold water)

2 T couplers

and enough elbows to manuever your adapter from the hot water heater to your supplemental heater.

I realize that your heater may be somewhere different than mine. Yet if you can pull this off you will see a noticable drop in power usage and therefore your power bill.

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The idea of this is to install the check valve on the supply side of the heater. I did this by installing a 90 degree coupling and then the valve. I then installed the T and below that the first cut off ball valve. Below this I installed a union pipe coupling to connect to a 300 foot garden hose. If this works I will build a more permanent structure.

I then cut a 12 inch section out of the supply line and saved it. I installed a 90 degree coupling to the other cut I made and fastened the other T so that it was even with the previous T. I placed the second ball cut off valve below this T. I then installed another union pipe fitting so I could connect the other end of the hose to it.

The 12 inch section I cut out is now cut in half and the third ball valve is installed in the middle. I then installed this section between the two T's and make sure it all fits.

Once I am sure it will fit I go buy the cleaner and the glue. I then assemble everything exactly as I described above except this time I use the cleaner and the glue.

Once everything was dry and set I turned all the ball valves closed and turned the water back on to the house. I check for leaks and I then connect the hose to the adapter.

I open the ball valves to the hose and leave the ball valve in the T closed. This section is for bypassing the hose section and hopefully will not need to be opened. Be mindful that if you think it will freeze to disconnect the hose and open the bypass up. this way you won't freeze your hose. The hose should be placed in direct sunlight.

I will let you know how much of a difference this makes in my power bill. Last months usage was 1230 Kw of usage. The month prior was 1487 Kw of usage.

I am happy to answer questions or comment.