General > General Technical Chat
WHO USED ALL THE HOT WATER!!! Need a simple temperature data logger ** UPDATE **
Kim Christensen:
Put a fake webcam high up in the shower stall. Put a sign next to it that says, "Webcam activates 10 minutes after water is turned on"... Have a motion sensor that turns on a red LED on the "cam" after 10 minutes of motion.
EDIT: It's a joke!
SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: Kim Christensen on August 20, 2023, 10:56:41 pm ---Put a fake webcam high up in the shower stall. Put a sign next to it that says, "Webcam activates 10 minutes after water is turned on"... Have a motion sensor that turns on a red LED on the "cam" after 10 minutes of motion.
--- End quote ---
Uh huh, nothing worse than "lying" to close people. Once they figure out the lie (which would probably happen pretty fast), they'll stop trusting you or even listening to you in any serious way altogether.
tautech:
There are many fish hooks in a problem like this.
1. Already mentioned that Powerco's manage their demand by switching water heating loads.
2. Hot water storage capacity is insufficient for the demand.
3. Mum did a large load/s with the washing machine that day.
4. Heating regulation settings are just too low for the capacity/demands.
5. The plumbing installation can be substandard with long runs to each HW draw point wasting HW just supplying each outlet. Smart systems use a constant return system to have HW instantly on tap.
6. While there are often local regulations as to how hot water heating can be set these can be overridden with the installation of a tempering valve at the HWC outlet that mixes cold to maintain a constant and safe HW temp for consumers.
Addressing any one of the above can have problems miraculously vanish.
Engage a smart/experienced plumber for a fix.
Someone:
--- Quote from: ejeffrey on August 20, 2023, 06:18:48 pm ---I'm not sure what plumbing fixtures you have but that's not generally how it works. The flow is mostly regulated by the shower head.
--- End quote ---
Which is usually the easiest/cheapest way to balance hot water demand, replacing the tank with a larger unit is $$$ but replacing the shower head (or changing its restrictor) with a very low flow will also balance the supply vs demand.
Can get a practical shower from 3-5l/m, but some people will remove the restrictors and "enjoy" their 20-30l/min (4-10x difference in consumption/cost/energy/etc).
--- Quote from: Brumby on August 20, 2023, 02:31:19 am ---My idea is to have a temperature sensor mounted on the main hot water pipe before it splits off to the various taps, with temperatures recorded at regular intervals, including timestamp. This will show when hot water was used - and for how long.
4. Suggestions.....
--- End quote ---
The "proper" industrial solutions work offline and are easy to deploy (would suggest putting the thermal sensor at the grey water exit, as temperature rise will then be a proxy/estimate of the flow rate at the time) but are $300/400/500 units. Solution is to have the people in question work with each other.
vad:
--- Quote from: coppice on August 20, 2023, 10:50:25 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on August 20, 2023, 09:15:57 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on August 20, 2023, 07:10:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zucca on August 20, 2023, 04:59:04 am ---
--- Quote from: vad on August 20, 2023, 03:41:25 am ---Tankless water heater is one of the best solutions.
--- End quote ---
Until the teenager daughter will brake daddy bank causing astronomical gas bills.
--- End quote ---
The bathroom repair bills after she causes anything not solid plastic, metal or glazed to peel or blacken with mould can exceed the gas bill.
--- End quote ---
Why would that happen with an instant hot water heater but not with a hot water tank?
--- End quote ---
Er, isn't that obvious. So many of them only stop showering when the water runs cold. Continuous hot water means they steam up the bathroom until it falls apart. If you have a really effective extractor fan you can stop it, but in the winter that means you are exhausting a lot of expensively heated air, so going wild with the extractor was more for when we lived in a hot and super humid climate.
--- End quote ---
Exhaust fan, smart switch, humidity sensor, and home automation are the way to go. Throw in a door stopper to keep the bathroom door open when not in use; it'll help save a few dollars on the running costs of the whole-house humidifier during winter.
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