Thanks Joe. Another thread filled with win.

 

My not just build the heat tubes into a vest you can wear, with a twenty or so foot extension for the water. Now you can regulate the heat almost instantly and it's much more effective than heating up the whole apartment. Not to mention if the water is cool enough this will work well in the summer too.

 

I like the heat tube idea. You could just run heat tube around the whole place and have a current of water flowing through it.

 

First. When I lived in Michigan before I pored my driveway I coiled up irrigation tubing. Guess who never had to shovel the driveway?

In college during the winter in the dorm I used a little fish tank glue and some plexi glass to wall in my shower. Regulated water flow with a rag to keep my keg nice and cold. Worked great.

This thread is win. My coils worked well for the driveway but I wasn't trying to warm a room and I only needed to run about 60-70degree water to get stuff to start thawing. I like joes idea better because I feel you can mount it out of the way and it's less invasive.

 

What did you run through the irrigation tubing? Hot water? Tap water? The molten core of the earth?

 

This is actually common in high-end homes, the trade term is Radiant Underfloor Heating. Tubing is laid under the floor, and fed with a glycol solution that is heated by a central boiler, usually the same one providing the potable hot water.

Although the initial cost is much higher than with a forced-air system, it is supposedly more efficient to operate, and also provides a much more uniform temperature- rather than cycling on and off, the system is modulated to a steady-state flow adequate to achieve the desired temperature.

Such systems are also very easily zoned, so that individual rooms can have their own temperature setpoints, and can be switched off when not in use. (eg: no need to heat the kitchen and living room at night when everyone's asleep, nor the bedrooms during the day.)

Example: Is Under-Floor Radiant Heating More Efficient Than Conventional Systems?: Scientific American

That may be slightly more involved than I want to get at this particular apartment. Though if I ever build another house in a northern climate, I might consider doing something like this.

 

On the subject of heating:

Electric shower heads scare me.

 

It might inspire more confidence if they weren't all ghetto rigged. Proper wiring anyone?

 

woah, this is a thing?

I'd imagine there's a heating element in the shower head. Besides the obvious question why. How efficient could it be? Unless it's doing something other than heating water.
This.

 

Yes, it's a thing. It's common in South American countries, where central water heaters are not ubiquitous.

Yes, there's an electric heating element inside the shower head.






In theory, it's supposed to be properly connected, using adequately-sized wire, and supplied from a dedicated, GFI-equipped 50 amp circuit.



In practice, well...







Anyway, more shower heads:

























This is my very favorite one:



Yup, that's a 19th-century knife switch, with completely exposed copper conductors, in a shower.

 

You know, during my time in Afghanistan the scariest thing I encountered was not the constant direct and indirect fire, but the rare times when I was able to shower in the trailers on the FOB. We often heard about people getting electrocuted in them because of the shitty wiring, and then it happened on one of the FOBs I was hanging out at for a few weeks. I almost swore off showering until I was stateside.

 

My water bill averages $135 / mo.

I've had water bills over $200.

I live in Ohio, surrounded by the great lakes and the Ohio River Valley.

The city I live in has the worst water of any city I have ever lived in by far, and it's also the most expensive.


What am I doing wrong?

 

Bathing

 

You must either have an incredibly fascinating, or incredibly terrifying browsing history, Joe.

 

The electric shower head is commonly referred to as the suicide shower by expats in South and Central America. They are quite common.

 

You don't have a well.

 

Is that just water, or does it include trash/ambulance/etc like my water bill does?

 

With the wiring like pictured, i dunno why...

 

Living in Ohio.

 

Assuming that is just water & sewer and not inclusive of all utilities, trash, electric, etc it appears your main error is living in Central Ohio or at least that specific municipality (but mostly Ohio in general).

Our combined utility bill probably averages $200 (+/- $25) throughout the year.