It is the cold months again and we started using hot water for bathing. Last night my wife and I had a friendly argument on the cost of heating water. I am using the stove to heat a kettle of water that I use for my own bathing and my wife needed 2 kettles. What if we use the electric water heater which is plugged and the other end has a round object that is submerged in a pail of water. I couldn't answer which is cheaper so I am now in the process of computing.
We use immersion heater and I don't think it eats up a lot of electricity. Gas would be costly. The overhead heating system takes too long in my opinion and takes more electricity.
I use solar water heater, which has zero cost. Installation is costly, however, once you install the solar water heater, you will virtually have zero maintenance fee and zero running cost. Since I have solar water heater, I use hot water in my home through out the year. It it better to bathe in warm water compared to cold water. Electric or gas water heating system cost less to install but has high running cost.
We use geyser for heating water. Other forms of heating is not that feasible for us as we need warm water throughout the year. It might be little costlier but safe. And as I've checked, there has been only a moderate increase in the electricity bill which I guess would be there in any format.
Now that the weather is colder I heat up my bathing water with my small electric stove. I usually heat my daughters water almost year round unless the water is somewhat warm. I only heat mine during the months of December and January and sometimes when it rains.
We have a combination boiler that heats our home and hot water and to be honest I'm not even sure if there are cheaper ways to do it.I know that boiling a kettle consumes a lot of energy and to fill a bath tub you'll need a lot of kettles so I would imagine that would cost a lot more but I don't know the exact figures. When it comes to heating I'd guess that a lot of people don't know exactly what they are spending and if they could save money, as heating and hot water are essentials and so people just budget accordingly.
Since the middle of last month I can't take my bath if I didn't heat the water, now the cold is become more intense and the more I need my water heated. At the moment I am using electric heater, I don't quite know if it's more economical or not since I have not compared the cost with use of gas or other means to get my water heated.
I must be the only person who loves bathing in cold water haha! I think it's more reasonable to just heat your own water if you have a gas stove. My stove is gas but it also uses electricity but it saves more because it's not 100% dependent on it. I just bathe in cold water so I don't worry about that. Maybe it's because I'm from a Tropical country.
I use the gas stove to warm water for bathing. I don't know if my immersion heater is faulty because it consumes alot of power. I also live in the tropical where it doesn't get really cold. When I have alot of time I take the water outside with a metallic basin and the water gets warm enough for bathing. When it's hot outside I neither use electricity nor gas, it saves alot.
You're not alone, @Belovedad . I don't like hot baths at all, not even during cold or rainy seasons. There are a number of reasons why. As a child, I never had hot baths because I'm always in a hurry to go to school and had to compete with my siblings for the bathroom. Now that I'm older, I have to hurry off to work and have no time to wait for water to get hot. I didn't want an electric heater installed on the shower because I'm scared of accidents or malfunction. The habit of using tap water for baths have benefits, after all, and that's saving on electricity or gas.
I don't think you will save any money if you are heating your water on a stove. Using hot water is a necessity and is very difficult to use less to make an economy. I advise you to use hot water as much as you need and try to cut the expenses from somewhere else!
I remember a few years back when I actually compared my water bills and really noticed not a large difference despite taking a large step towards cutting back. I think it was then that I just decided not to really stress about it, but I do try to limit the hot water, but I still like my shower.
I have more than two decades since I stopped using hot water for bathing. This was due to my secondary school having cold showers which forced me to adapt. Bathing with cold water is beneficial to the skin as well as saving on costs likely to be incurred from heating.
I think the heater would be much better. This is especially if you use prepaid tokens. You will therefore be able to manage your usage and ensure that you are aware of the remaining units. I once used to heat water for bathing using gas. It did not last a month. I was cooking and it suddenly went off. I think the heater would be more economical.