Energy Crisis

Thanks to our country's current economic conditions, my energy had ebbed and my positive outlook had sailed with the outgoing tide. I knew I had to get off the couch, turn off the depressing TV news and get busy doing something...doing anything…anything to get my mind off all the doom and gloom that was being reported by the media. My concerns about a green earth and wasting resources were outweighed by concerns of not being able to afford the lavish lifestyle of hot showers and refrigerated air-conditioning that I currently enjoy. In my mind the exorbitant price of 10 cents per kilowatt hour seems like usury. So I visited the local plumping store and secured a length of black plastic pipe and a sack full of valves and fittings.

After laying out some 400 ft of black poly pipe on top of the old trampoline in the back yard and covering it with glass left over from a remodel…I plumbed it into the existing water line that served the master bath at the rear of the house. I picked up the plethora of tools and put away the other supplies that were gathered for the project…went inside…and took a hot shower. I was amazed by the steamy 130 degree water and had to add cold water to it...in order to make it comfortable. It was even more remarkable considering the outside temperature was only 68 degrees. Energized by my success and the fact that only $143 was spent for the entire system...turning off the power to the other water heaters seemed prudent.

I must confess that my wife was out of town…a factor making this entire experiment possible. After several days of hot showers it became evident that the thermo-siphon (hot water rising) effect I had hoped for was nonexistent. This was due to no difference in elevation between the solar heating coils of black pipe and the storage tank (a.k.a. the existing electric water heater). There was no transfer of heat to the storage tank and during the night it dissipated from the heating coils. This only made hot water available during daylight hours.

While I was OK with my camping mode existence…it would not be an acceptable situation once the wife returned. After searching the internet I found a small 12 volt, 6 watt hot water transfer pump…a perfect solution to my problem for only $30. Now all I needed was a photovoltaic solar panel to supply electrical power to the pump during the day. Just what the doctor ordered…Harbor Freight had a 45 watt panel on sale for only $199. Power to spare…I couldn’t help but run around the house checking the wattage of all the appliances, computers and assorted electrical stuff. After some math it became quite clear how nonchalant my attitude had become toward the use of electrical power. My taking for granted the availability of such a resource was a serious oversight. The 1800 watts I can get out of one single outlet in my house would take 40 panels costing $8000 to supply the same amount of power.

My enthusiasm now totally deflated, I plugged the TV into an AC/DC inverter, using the power from my new solar panel and sat down to watch the evenings news with my FREE electricity. Life is good...living off “The GRID”

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for my...oh...so many blessings.
Amen