Hot Water Issue

[sidewinder]

Just recently my hot water tank decided to not stay lit anymore. So I went several days without hot water.

I took a shower by heating water on the stove and using milk jugs to dump over me in the bathtub/shower.

Now I understand why people used to call Saturday night bath night...for the week. It took approximately 1/4 boiling water and 3/4 cold water (in the milk jug) to make a nice temperature shower. I can't remember if I used 2 or 3 gallons to do my hair and body. I didn't lather, rinse and repeat my hair. My girlfriend helped. She was the water pourer.

Thinking about it now.....In a SHTF situation you would want to save the dirty water for other uses...I'm thinking a small plastic type tub or inflatable kids swimming pool to catch the rinse water. The water could be used in a portable toilet or clothes washing...

The point is I did it....but I don't really want to do it all the time. Milk jugs do have some good uses...

I do want to buy a solar water heating bag.

And also take into consideration how much water it takes to stay somewhat clean. In SHTF you won't be doing it everyday. #1 because of the work involved but more so because of the water involved. If it comes to drinking or stinking....I go with drinking..

But that brings up another issue.

They were working on the water line down the street so our water was shut off on 3 different days for 10 hours each time.

No toilet flushing...no hand washing after the toilet...now the need for waterless hand cleaner...

We filled some milk jugs just in case...for toilet flushing and whatever else like cooking if we really couldn't wait. The water company gave us notice before they shut off the water. So we had time to prepare with the jugs. If you don't have any warning...now what?

[Sniper-T]

Keep in mind that you have a bunch of water in your home, waiting to be used. Whatever sized your h/w tank is, you can put a hose on the bottom and drain it (make sure to shut power off first), you've got a few gallons in each toilet tank, and all of the lines are full. open a tap at the lowest point with a bucket under it, then open the highest tap in the house, the water will siphon out.

I would treat, or boil any of these waters before drinking, but you should have bottled water for that.

If you tape a sheet of plastic (poly) into your tub, it would make reclimation easier, an you can dipper out most water, then pick up a couple corners and pour the rest off.

A handy camp shower I've used before, is simply an icecream pail. drill a couple dozen small holes in the bottom (1/16") work well, then pour the milk jug into that. it will disperse the water and give you more bang for your buck rather than glub glubing it from a milk jug. That said, shower poor. here in the west we take our water for granted, when you live oin a sailboat, water is more precious than gold. use a little sprinkle to get wet, turn it off. lather up, use a washclothe if particularly dirty, then sprinkle again just enough to rinse. when rinsing, start with your hair/head, as by the time you're done there, most of the soap will be off the rest of you.

Is a rainbarrel (or more) an option for you? a couple drops of bleach once a month will keep it bacteria/algae free, and a small screen at the hole will keep insects out.

If you're given notice like that, fill your tub(s) and sinks with water prior to shutting off. a 2 gallon pail by the crapper and a scoop from the tub and down goes the waste. instead of showering, at least for a couple days, you can heat a bit of water on the stove and pour it into the tub and have a warm bath. just be careful not to pour hot water down the toilet.

If it is hot where you are, a water bottle or even a pot out in the sun will get warm, and take less energy to boil (or heat) later. I know a couple guys who save 2 litre bottles from pop. One actually salvages them from the recycling places. They fill them up and stack them in a corner in the cases that they are delivered in (don't ask) or stacked lying down. They aren't treated or refreshed, they're just stored for rough water (showering/flushing)

just my .02c

[helomech]

I am thinking of adding a system like this to my house. We loose power a lot, but have a well. The generator will not run the water heater, so I want to add one of these to my shower stall. I know this is kind of a different problem than you have though. But a water tank with a small pump would run this system.

Portable Tankless Water Heater, Camping Accessories, Eccotemp Systems at Sportsman's Guide (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/portable-tankless-water-heater.aspx?a=680099)

[ak474u]

Did you figure out why the HW heater isn't staying lit? If not, I have a question: Is it located in the attic? The reason I ask is, I do insulation, ventilation and radiant barrier for a living, and meet at least 3 people a week during the summer here in North Texas that have gotten used to taking cold showers because their water heaters won't stay lit. This is a ventilation issue as well as being heat related, if the water heater is in the attic, make sure your soffit vents are not obstructed by insulation, if you have a gable style vent and no soffit vents, consider adding soffit vents for more air intake. If your water heater is in the garage, you can add additional vents thru the exterior wall (if it's a home with wood siding) or you can add a few soffit vent style grille or two in the ceiling so it can pull fresh air from the attic area above.


Back to water... Remember that the exterior hose bibs are frequently the lowest spot for water to gravity feed out of the house, and there will be a little (not enough) water in those lines as well.

[sidewinder]

Well yes and no...

The water heater is a 5 year old SEARS Power Miser 12...(12 year warranty)

After doing some internet research...they have had major issues with these heaters staying lit. Many repairmen have changed the controls and the problem returns.

I wasn't going to mess around anymore with a peice of CRAP .....so I just bought a new one from a different manufacturer. SEARS knows about these problems and has refused to do a recall or even address the problem...so SCREW SEARS from now on. I spent lots of money over the years buying all types of appliances from them...NO MORE..SEARS and I are done forever...

my life isn't worth their ignorance...

[Sniper-T]

I really don't forsee it as that difficult. Since we burn wood for heat, it's easy enough to put pots of snow/ice beside the fire to thaw/warm. dump into tub and repeat.

Anyone who has ever melted snow for water knows it takes a lot of snow for a little water... so here's a trick for you, pack your pail/pot whatever tight, and then put it on to melt. let the water get quite warm but then don't dump it out... leave that few inches in the bottom. Then go back outside and start throwing handfulls in, it'll melt instantly and continue to do so for some time, stir it up, and you will end up with a whole pail of heavy wet slush. Take that back in and put on/by the heat, and there's a full pail of water.

[sidewinder]

1 inch of rain equals 11 inches of snow.

[bacpacker]

Not entirely the case. Snow has varying degrees of moisture content. A podwery snow can be as little as 1-20, while a slushy snow can be more along the 1-8 level.
I record our precip and submit it daily to wwwncocorahs.org. they have a technique of getting the precip value from the snow fallen.
Also the moisture in snow decreases every day it's on the ground.

[sidewinder]

Whether the snow is 20 inches of fluff or 3 inches of slush....1 inch of water creates 11 inches of frozen perciptitaion.

[Sniper-T]

That may be true... I don't know... but in a situation where I am melting snow for water... I can guarantee you I will not care how many pails of water it will take to make enough snow to ski.

conversely however... heavy wet snow will make more water per volume than dry crystalized snow. that is the point I was trying to make.

[bacpacker]

If solar showers are in your plans, I would suggest using many of them. They take quite some time to heat up without perfect conditions. Even a few hours then.
I've used one while hiking and just warming the water a little from a cold Mtn stream is much better than not. I do need to get a few more of these to store.
Has anyone tried one of the models that has a coil of metal that you put in or over a fire that heats the water. I saw one a Gander Mtn a few months back, but failed to check it out. Something like that would provide quite a bit more water considerably quicker.

[Sniper-T]

On the boat we had only one, and there was either three or four of us (depending on the leg). so this was an issue. something we did with moderate success was to use black garbage bags with a couple gallons of water in them laid out on deck. These, in turn, were poured off into the showerbag, as it was set up with the showerhead.

Why problematic? boats rock, and roll, and bounce, and heave. even tied down, they were constantly sloshing around breaking, or just plain being pains in the butt. lol

At home, laid out on the deck, I'm sure they'd work fine. One could even tear a hole in a corner, tape a ball valve in and be able to pour off somewhat easier.