Contact us/ About us 

About: I am a retired residential contractor. I started in home repair and evolved into remodeling and finally specialized in fixing and painting homes. People in the west suburbs of Houston, Texas might remember my business called Paint’N. Along with a few helpers, we fixed and painted houses in assembly-line fashion, making sure the customer got the complete job before they paid a nickel.

Why water heater timers? Water heater timers came up because I wanted to cut household costs.

Frankly, attic insulation should be FIRST on any home improvement list because it will save the most money right away. While crawling around in the attic, use a strip of newspaper taped to a stick and check your heat/AC ducts for leaks. An efficient heat/air unit should follow attic insulation as the biggest money-saver. While you're figuring expensive items, make a list of daily energy-users, including the water heater ... here are 9 ways to save with your water heater

After taking care of attic insulation and the heat/air unit, I focused on household electric use. I saw that all electric appliances could be switched off except the refrigerator-freezer and water heater. I cleaned the back and bottom of the refrigerator and called that good enough. Next came the water heater. I was surprised that my water heater consumed up to 16% of the electric bill in colder months, yet I consumed very few gallons of hot water each day.

It took a few months of research before coming up with a simple timer that people could put on the wall see. This was a success. Now I had control over my electric bill. 

However a timer for electric heaters is only half the job. Many homes have gas water heaters, but right now there is no off-the shelf timer available for gas see ideas. The reason for this is water heaters have traditionally not come with a switch. The gas furnace can be switched on and off, but not the gas water heater.

The work continues. I speak to folks about their water heater experience. Tradespeople instantly understand the timer idea, and many already have a water heater switch. I discovered that almost all tradespeople are looking at energy solutions. Outside the trades, most people view a timer favorably, but are resistant to change. To compound the problem, many websites claim that a timer will NOT save money, but I think those ideas are driven by comfort and affluence rather than responsible choices for the future.

Does a water heater timer save money? Yes it does. In a 2-person household, a timer cuts 7-9% off household energy bill IF homeowner is willing to: a.) schedule hot water use and b.) reduce hot water consumption. The significant thing is 7-9% fractionally equals almost 1/12th of yearly energy bill which means 1 free month of energy each year (for careful consumers).  Additionally, a timer lets water heater appliance last longer with less maintenance and fewer replacements.