ENERGY MATTERS 
WATER HEATERS

We've talked about fans, small ones, big ones, whole house fans,categories of electrical rates and baselines. 

Now, let's look at heating water, or, in other words, water heaters. 

Lake Wildwood property owners have two major options over what source of energy is to be used in heating water. The choices are propane and electricity. Each choice of heating water involves buying the equipment, the attendant installation, and, of course, the cost of the energy utilized. 

Below is summarized the estimated annual costs of heating water for the average PG&E customer in a single family home. 

As we are all aware, the cost of electricity for PG&E customers increased June 1, 2001. PG&E customers who have the E-1B or E-1H rates went from a two tier system to a five tier maximum system with this change. In the new five tier system, the total quantity of electricity used per month is allocated first to baseline (tier 1) which is the cheapest, then tiers 2, 3, 4 and 5 with each tier being more costly per KWH used. 

Included is the old two tier system as well as the new five tier system for demonstration of the magnitude of the impact of the new rates versus the old rates. 

COST TO HEAT WATER DOLLARS PER YEAR 

Propane @ $1.31/gal $312 
Electricity E-1B schedule: old two tier $538 new five tier $607 
Electricity E-1H schedule: old two tier $507 new five tier $596 
Electricity E-7 time of usage with timer to prevent heating noon to 6:00 p.m. summer* $323 

To find out which electric rate schedule you are on, look at your PG&E bill, upper left corner, which will state rate schedule E-1PH, for example. This is an E-1H schedule. The letter "P" indicates the territory in which we reside and is used to set baseline quantities. 

A copy of the details used in the above summary is available in the Lake Wildwood Administration office. 

And, above all else, REMEMBER.......ENERGY MATTERS! 


*To sign up for the E-7 time of usage schedule, the customer must pay a one time installation fee of $277.00.