not2old

Call the utility to ask what the buy out price of your water heater is

if you shop around you will find a new 50 gall water heater installed for less than $1000

Also check out if Toronto Hydro or the province still have the incentive grants

Pizzawheel

I recall from another thread that rental water heaters are an Ontario quirk, BC and the rest of the world tends to buy them...

I'm not keen on the tankless ones. No A/C in the house. We are running two fridges though...

The best idea here would probably be to upgrade to a gas WH and ask what their price is. And mention I've had better alternate quotes ($20 with free install including the gas line has been mentioned without even trying).

caretaker

I like rentals because you don't have to change the anode, they come and do it. The man from Heath Water Heater Rentals is booked to service it in 1 week and 1 hour.

BristolUK

As well as my home, there are two in the duplex with the rental fee on the electric bills.

Not a big sample, of course, but that's 100% rented.

MikeUK

Looked into this when I was there.an option is to split the heater coils as there is often two in the circuit
One top and one bottom
One goes onto timer to heat the bulk of the water, and the other left on to keep the heat topped upCan't remember which is top or bottom

Search the internet or talk to an electrcian

Pizzawheel

OK so hot off my Hydro bill- I hadn't even spotted that there's a summer/ winter rate, and also a mid-peak. So the numbers (cents/kwh) are (peak-midpeak-offpeak):

Summer 16.1/ 12.2/ 8.0
Winter: 17.5/12.8/8.3

So I'll take the delta as being 8c/ kwh.

If my 3kw heater is on for 2 hours a day, that's c50 a day delta, or for a 5-day week (remember, weekends are all off-peak) $2.50 a week.

$100 to get that timeswitch put in would require 40 weeks to pay back... now that's actually an excellent payback.

Unknown in there is that 2hour time, and how much of the 3 or 4 showers per morning that takes out of it. I didn't check the water capacity (slaps forehead) but I can get some rule of thumb for water consumed during an avarage shower, then correct for the ankle biters who find the need to sing an entire opera whilst in there...

scrubbedexpat091

Tat explains it then. Not sure that is common here. Ive seen lots of ads to buy a hot water tank but never seen one for rent.

Siouxie

Reliance charge me $43 a quarter, IIRC, so slightly less than you - it went up last year.

Pizzawheel

It's 61 gallon and it is dual element- but the feed is split inside and I figure I can't touch there. Just need to figure out the gallons usage per shower (normal + operatic) and can complete the calc!

Jsmith- the rentals are off the utilities, though I do find it odd that the gas supplier rents me an electric water heater.

I might call them to check on upgrade costs but electric water heating is so simple.... hmmmm.

withabix

The only HVAC items I've seen for rent in BC are whole house AC units and heat pumps from small local HVAC companies, for which the rental seems reasonable compared to the purchase price and includes annual service and endless warranty.

Apart from those I have seen the 'scam' furnace rentals, sold via pressure-selling, almost exclusively to gullible pensioners.

Why would you rent a water heater anyway?

How much is electricity in Ontario? I'm guessing it is more expensive than in 100% hydro-electric BC...

scrubbedexpat091

I think we are only around 93% hydro electric in BC. Last I read anyhow.

If I recall ON has all sorts of fees and peak and on peak pricing where in BC we largely lack fees on hydro and no on or off peak although we do have a conservation rate up to a certain limit but not sure what the cut off is as we never exceed it.

withabix

I'd forgotten the 'Step 2' thing (22kwh/day average) - even in our house we rarely go in to the upper charge band towards the end of a month.

Almost 100% renewable, not 100% hydro-electric....I think that's the case in BC? In 2014 BC was 95% hydro-electric generation, so it must be close!

Burrard gas power station has 9% of the BC capacity but is only normally used up to maximum 50% (so 4.5%) and is supposed to close this year anyway, replaced by increased hydro-electric capacity.

not2old

http://www.torontohydro.com/sites/el...cityRates.aspx


Regulated Price Plan
Time-of-Use Pricing

17.5 ¢/kWh Highest Price (On-peak)
12.8 ¢/kWh Mid Price (Mid-peak)
8.3 ¢/kWh Lowest Price (Off-peak)

If you are on Time-of-Use rates, your consumption in kilowatt hours (kWhs) is separated into three periods. Customers will be charged 17.5 cents per kWh in the Highest Price (On-Peak) period, 12.8 cents per kWh in the Mid Price (Mid-Peak) period and 8.3 cents per kWh in the Lowest Price (Off-Peak) period. View more information about Time-of-Use rates.

Regulated Price Plan Tiered Pricing

9.9 ¢/kWh/first 1,000 kWhs used per 30 days
11.6 ¢/kWh/remaining kWhs
If you are on Regulated Price Plan Tiered Pricing, your consumption in kWhs is separated into two price tiers under the government's Regulated Price Plan. Customers will be charged one rate for the first 1,000 kWhs of use per 30 days, while electricity consumed in excess of this threshold will be priced at a different rate.

BristolUK

Well, in my case it was already rented and on the electric bills when I bought the house.

But at $75 a year and the power company responsible for repairs or replacement and people talking about buying one for less than $1000 - not to mention the cost of removal, disposal, delivery and installation, and potential repairs/replacement in the future why would you buy one?

Siouxie

Our debt retirement charges have just been removed, but Horizon have all manner of delivery charges.

https://www.horizonutilities.com/myH...onalMeter.aspx