Saving on household electric water heating : what works best and by how much
Date
2017-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IEEE
Abstract
Electric heating of water for domestic use is a
substantial component of total household energy costs. Thermal energy in a water heater is either used (as warm water) or lost to the environment. Various approaches to reduce the losses and improve the efficiency of these notoriously inefficient and
costly water heaters have been proposed and are employed. However, given the complex factors at play, making sense of the savings approaches and choosing the right one for the right use case is not a simple task and often misunderstood. This paper addresses this problem by comparing some of the commonly
employed approaches, including schedule control, change in set temperature, use of thermal insulation, and reduction in consumed volume. We also compare the impact of environmental factors, such as changing the ambient temperature around the water heater and the cold inlet temperature. The results show that
for the consumption profiles and use cases evaluated, schedule control is the most effective, followed by insulation of the tank and piping. Combined, these two interventions save up to 25%. We also find that the effect of the temperature of the cold inlet water dwarfs that of the ambient temperature, is in line with
other approaches, and means the installation status quo needs to be reconsidered.
Description
CITATION: Nel, P.J.C., Booysen, M.J. & Van der Merwe, B. 2017. Saving on household electric water heating: What works best and by how much?, in IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies - Asia (ISGT-Asia), New Zealand: Auckland: 1-6. doi:10.1109/ISGT-Asia.2017.8378439.
The original publication is available at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org
The original publication is available at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org
Keywords
Understanding, Perception, Electric water heaters, Thermal insulation
Citation
Nel, P.J.C., Booysen, M.J & Van Der Merwe, B. 2017. Saving on household electric water heating: What works best and by how much?, in IEEE Innovative Smart Grid Technologies - Asia (ISGT-Asia), New Zealand: Auckland: 1-6. doi:10.1109/ISGT-Asia.2017.8378439.