My house is fairly small, with 2 full baths and half bath added later downstairs. There is a washing machine but no dishwasher. Thus, the hot water heater is only a 38-gallon unit, which is probably half the size the average house would have.

I knew the hot water heater was in trouble because the side was starting to rust out. Of course, the closer you are to the water, the faster the rust, but I am miles away.

To heat water there is usually an incoming water feed, a large tank where the water is heated and an outlet pipe feeding the house The water may be heated by natural gas, propane, electric, or in older homes, wood, oil or coal. Most common in this country is electric or gas. Here in Hawaii I think the most common is electric and perhaps solar where the sun heats the water or at least contributes to the heating.

The type of heat source depends upon a few factors, which fuel is available and at what cost, and also perhaps the incoming water temperature. On the mainland US, most water is supplied from underground pipes. They keep them well underground to avoid freezing during winter and to keep people from easily damaging them when digging. This water may enter the system at perhaps 50 degrees or so. If you really care you can look it up, but I seem to remember caves and underground water is perhaps 50-some degrees. Here on the Big Island (because we lack deep soil and many live in farm areas) the water may be all above ground. It is not uncommon in South Kona to see white PVC or black plastic pipes feeding farms and houses; these lines all above ground. Besides being easier to repair, the water is warmer when entering hot water heaters. Ever notice when you leave water in a garden hose and turn it on, the water may actually be too hot to touch for a few seconds? I guess I could consider putting a big copper pipe up on the roof and let the sun do more heating of the water.

Inside an electric tank are two thermostatic-controlled heating elements, not unlike the ones on your stove. The water fills up the tank and then sits. The thermostat detects cold water and turns on the electric to the coils, which begin heating the water. When it reaches the desired temperature, the thermostat shuts off the current to the coils. Even though the water is in an insulated tank, it slowly begins to cool off and soon the thermostat starts the cycle all over again, keeping the water at the right temperature should you need it. Other fueled systems operate on a similar principle.

As you know, water arriving at your house is not perfectly clean. It has minerals and particulates in it that can cause problems. In a system with a tank, these particulates settle in the tank and unless the tank flushes itself, the owner should periodically (following the proper procedure) remove this stuff from the tank. I say properly because if you drain the water out of the tank while the heating source is still active, you risk damaging the system. It will only take a few minutes to destroy electric heating elements with no water around them.

Sediment (tiny pieces of sand or rock or stuff from pipe fittings) accumulates in the tank and should be flushed out. Also, the water itself may be a problem for a hot water system. Tanks may include a sacrificial rod that will react with water to ensure the tank lasts longer.

When replacing hot water heaters, put a pan underneath and drain it, in case the bottom rusts out. Mine did not have such a pan and the unit just burst open. Luckily I caught it soon afterwards before major damage was done to the floor.

I’m looking to replace my water heater and am considering a tankless, on demand) system. In this type of system, the cold water enters a small unit on the wall and when heated, exits on the other side. Think of it as a very small radiator, fueled by propane, electric or natural gas. This unit may be only a couple feet wide and tall and has essentially no moving parts. Rather than store perhaps 70 gallons of heated water, they just heat the water continuously as it flows through and the thermostat shuts off the unit completely when no water is being used. Unlike systems with tanks, there is no fuel used until you turn on the faucet, then the water is instantly heated and delivered to the faucet.

If you think about how the tanked system is constructed, as the hot water in the tank is used, cold water, perhaps at that 50-some degrees enters the tank and begins mixing with your precious hot water, diluting the temperature and dropping the water temp down the minute you start to use it! With the tankless system there is no place to mix the water and thus will send continuous hot water with no fading like you get with the big tanks.

I understand that since the tankless systems are not cycling on and off or storing water, they are more efficient, however, they do require more fuel because they are bringing the water up to the delivery temperature quicker, however, when you are done with the water, they shut off, rather than enter a standby mode. No longer would you need to shut the thing off when you go on vacation.

There may be a few drawbacks though. Because the water does not start getting cold, you have to be careful that you do not stand under it for hours! I am sure that is a common thing people do when they stay at a hotel with what appears to be unlimited hot water – stand under the flow for the longest time. Also, without a tank to trap sediment, there may be a need to unscrew those faucet aerators and clean them more often. Sediment also accumulates right there if you use them.

Another issue (like with the electric units) is that unless you use smaller on-demand units close to where the water needs are, you may have to beef up the electric for the main unit as it may require double the electricity the current tank uses. As an aside, they make small 110 volt units that you can put under a sink to supply an out of the way location or perhaps mobile home bathroom.

Here in Hawaii, my electric bill is high. I changed over to fluorescent lights, try not to use the oven much, use no heat or air-conditioning and am constantly thinking about economy. Still, my electric bill is $150 a month! Although that sounds high, I have no other fuel bills like gas. Back in Georgia I could spend $150 just on heat for a month and one month spent over $400 just to heat the house. Granted it was a big house and we had a blizzard…

These tankless systems appear to cost perhaps twice the costs of a tank, so I may spend $400 or $600 for a unit. However, at $400, I think that my savings in standby electric costs here would pay off the system after just 6 to 9 months! Granted, mainlanders might take a year or more, but I think I would save at least $50 a month or more here!

So I think you can see why I am considering a tankless system. I believe there is an energy credit that will offset some of the cost of the unit too.

At this point, I’ll be happy just to get the water mopped up in the utility room and get running hot water back.

If you get interested in this topic, you might consider investigating these tankless systems. They may not be for everyone, but then again, they may work for you.

Answer: Right about now!

Followup Question: Why should you care?

The story can now be told…

Years ago, The Coca Cola Company decided to change from sugar to high fructose corn syrup. Since grain products are not kosher during Passover, and corn is a grain product, Jews who keep the holiday could not drink Coke.

By having a Rabbi review the ingredients and proposed change to the formula. He could certify the soda kosher.

Rather than cut into their profits all year long, kosher Coke is only offered this time of year, and usually in a special “Kosher for Passover” aisle in the supermarket. It should have “OUP” or “KP” on the top and perhaps a yellow cap. You will instantly taste the difference and almost as instantly feel your teeth start to rot. But, that is a GOOD THING!

Just stop by a large supermarket and look for the above. Then march up to the cash register and pay. No one will ask to see if you are a card-carrying member of the Jewish faith. No one will think it strange. Most cashiers might now even notice it strange that you end up back the same day to get more bottles…

Try a liter and you will remember how Coke tasted BEFORE the big “NEW COKE” fiasco! But remember that like the actual formula of Coke, this too is a secret!

It is not a profession, rather a hobby. You sign up for an account, they send you targeted emails and when I read them or answer survey questions, I get points. These points convert to dollars.

It appears that the people who design these surveys are not computer people or purposely design to questions to make the survey look better to a company requesting the information.

The survey I just filled out concerned a famous hotel chain and showed an ad with a Hawaii theme. You know, Diamond Head, surfboards, that kind of stuff. The ad tells what bargains these rooms are and so on.

I clicked on the survey and it included the following questions and answers:

1) When was the last time you visited Hawaii?
A) Within the last month
B) Within the last 6 months
C) Within the last year
D) More than 1 year ago
E) I have never visited Hawaii

2) How soon will you visit Hawaii?
A) Within the next month
B) Within the next 6 months
C) Within the next year
D) More than a year from now
E) I have no current plans to visit Hawaii

So I want to answer truthfully, but the ad did make me want to go to Hawaii and none of the other answers correctly pertain to me.

I try to not be too literal, but this company who sends out the ads KNOWS my state and zip code that is what they do, they track my preferences. So they KNOW I live here, yet send me a questionnaire, which has no option for me to answer correctly. The best I could do is answer “A” to both questions as that as nearly as possible pertains to me.

What ever happened to the famous “OTHER” category? At least give me “All of none of the above” or perhaps “None of all of the above” or even the more friendly “Brah! I live here ah-ready…”.

Checking that they still had room at the farmers market, I joined in January and then looked all over the Internet for a canopy. We use them to protect us from the sun and the very slim possibility of rain. I was finally able to get one at my local Wal-Mart which saved me shipping costs. I bought some nice cloth and had it fashioned into a fitted tablecloth. I dummied up the table display and made price tags. I gathered lots of dollar bills for change and started ramping up to have lots of roasted coffee ready each Friday so I could pack the truck. Then I waited, and waited and waited.

Finally, I got an email that I would NOT be able to sell there. They came up with a couple reasons, among them, that they had too many people selling coffee already! I wish they told me that 2 months earlier! I have spent $300 to get this display ready, only to be told no.

This market was fairly convenient; I knew many of the participants and would have only taken my Saturday morning to make a giant contribution towards my monthly mortgage. Now I have all of the stuff ready with nowhere to go. The other farmers markets are expensive and further away.

I have considered just pulling the truck up along the road and selling bags of coffee from there. I tried that once near COSTCO with less than great results; I think because most of the people passing were residents; many with their own coffee.

In preparation to sell other things besides coffee, my neighbor is getting me some fresh local honey. I had asked her to get it ready for me and then found out that I would not be up at the market. Since she is preparing this just for me, I didn’t want to go back on my order, thus I will have a lot of honey with 1 less place to sell it. It tastes great, but will be somewhat difficult to sell online because of the shipping cost. The plastic bottles are 1 pound, which means that they will cost at least $4.05 to ship by themselves. That means that unless somebody is made of money and wants to spend it, I am going to have to come up with some gift basket ideas. Oh that won’t be too hard, but gift baskets sell better just before a holiday.

In preparation of the honey sale, I started designing a label. I was hoping to have bees or a beekeeper wearing aloha shirts, but I’m not a graphic artist! I’ll be happy just to make a legal label and sell some honey! Right now I have the honey listed on the website for $999 a pound. It will be considerably less when it is actually available J

So if you are planning a honey purchase anytime soon, please consider waiting a week or so. This may well be the best honey you have tried. They have to be the least stressed bees in the world. They live in paradise so how bad can it bee for them? (pun intended)

I have spent a few days at the local courthouse as one of the members of a jury pool for an upcoming case.

I have only been called twice in my life for jury duty and these calls have both been here in Hawaii in the past year.

I would love to comment of the process but as you may know, it would be inappropriate at this time. I expect that today I will finally find out if I am needed for this particular jury.

More later. <---> An update:

I went bck to the court and will not go into details as it is a case ready to go to go to trial. However, I was called to the jury box, spoke with the judge at the bench and was excused from serving on the trial.

I always wanted to serve on a jury, but this is not the time.

Our legal system may not be perfect, but it tries to be as fair to everyone involved, especially potential jurors, jurors and the defendent.

Our legal system. I think we'll keep it.