According to the US Department of Energy, the average American household with a typical water heater (gas or electric) spends about 14-25% of its energy costs on heating water alone. (US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.) With the AirTap™ installed onto your existing water heater, you will reduce this percentage by about half. There is a %30 federal tax credit on parts and labor for heat pump water heaters.                        Federal Tax Incentives - http://www.dsireusa.org/index.cfm

Before, during and after the Air Tap Heat Pump installation:

The Airtap mounts on top of the existing water heater, in this case a 50 gallon Bradford White electric water heater. We decided to spin the water heater 90 degrees so that after the heat pump was installed the entire assembly would fit inside the closet. The heat pump works much like an air conditioner. It draws heat from the surrounding air and transfers the heat into fluid within a sealed copper coil that is inserted into the tank. The coil is then positioned to take over as the primary heating element. The electrical elements will kick in as a secondary heat source if they’re ever needed. An indirect benefit is longer life for the electrical elements as the limescale build up on them is greatly reduced because of their limited use. We will be adding a vent to this unit to expell the cooler air to the outside however this cool, dehumidified air that the pump produces can be a benefit when installed in an over-heated space like a boiler room, for instance, as we did in this next installation…

Air Tap installed in a boiler room (Reilly Residence)

The initial goal of this project was to reduce the use of heating oil. The existing Buderus boiler was originally coupled to an indirect storage tank. The storage tank functioned as the water heater for all potable usage. This meant that even during summer when there was no demand for central heating the boiler would still run to heat the potable water in the storage tank resulting in demand for oil throughout the year. We suggested removing the indirect storage tank so that the oil burning boiler would be used for central heating only. We then installed an 80 gallon electric water heater to handle the potable demand. To keep the electrical usage as low as possible we installed the Air Tap. It’s a great fit.

Toto Aquia Dual Flush Toilet (Jones Residence)

Save  766.5 gallons of water per person with the Toto Dual Flush toilet every year. 

The Toto Aquia toilet’s unique design uses a dual gravity tank that flushes 1.6 gallons for solid waste and 0.9 gallons for liquids. Engineered with a 3 inch internal trap it easily qualifies for the Flushstar list.

Let’s do the math:

If one person flushes the toilet 3 times a day to pee…a conservative estimate, using a conventional toilet that means 3 x (1.6 gallons per flush) x (365 days per year) =  1,752 gallons per year         

However, if you are using a Toto Dual Flush toilet it’s 3 x (0.9 gallons per flush) x (365 days per year) = 985.5 gallons per year

1,752 - 985.5 = 766.5   gallons of water saved per person, per year

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 10,123 people residing on Vashon Island.

So that’s 766.5 x 10,123 = 7,759,279.5 total gallons saved per year if everyone on Vashon used the dual flush toilet.

Now that’s conservation folks. And remember that Vashon Island relies on a single aquifer.

FEATURED ON THE 2009 VASHON SOLAR TOUR: http://www.vashonsolartour.org/

Solar Hot Water - Flat Panel Collectors - (Lyons Residence)

We partnered with Artisan Electric, Inc. to install this two panel Caleffi solar hot water system (foreground).

A 75 gallon Caleffi storage tank with a single electric element back-up pre-heats the existing 50 gallon electric water heater. The electric back-up element in the solar storage tank means that on days without any solar, the element activates and heats the upper half of the solar tank. This insures that at all times there are 35+ gallons of hot water added to the existing 50 gallons. On solar harvesting days during the summer, the entire 75 gallon solar tank will be heated from the solar panels while the electric element remains off. This means that the existing electric water heater will not require electricity either, as it will be filled with hot water flowing from the solar heated tank.

Solar Hot Water - Evacuated Tube Collectors (Williams Residence)

We partnered once again with Jason Williams of Artisan Electric Inc. to place this Thermomax evacuated tube solar collector on Jason and Jennifer’s house on Vashon Island. Jason installed the solar photovoltaic array to the right and that’s our 20-tube collector on the left. This dual PV/thermal system combines well adding solar generated electricity to the savings of solar generated hot water. Evacuated tubes work great for this geographical area and will heat water even on cold, clear days. We installed a 60 gallon solar storage tank in the basement to pre-heat the existing 35 gallon electric water heater. This means that during the winter the electric tank doesn’t have to use very much electricity and during the summer, it doesn’t have to use any at all. Meanwhile, Jason and Jennifer will have the great pleasure of watching their electricity flow backwards into the grid.

BEYOND THE TOUR:

Solar Hot Water - Flat Panel Collectors (Francisco Residence)

This was an interesting and challenging installation. The two panels for this Caleffi system needed to be mounted above the garage , facing south on a roof that pitched west. This meant not only adding aluminum extensions to the standard Caleffi roof mounts in order to achieve pitch, but also adding cross bracing and an additional support on the downside to prevent lateral movement. We fabricated our own roof mount on the latter to accommodate the resulting compound angle. The owner wanted the panels to be hidden below the roof ridge and so a thirty degree pitch was our limit. If the aim is to harvest as much winter sun as possible the collector pitch should be latitude plus five degrees. On Vashon Island this would mean fifty two degrees. However, because there is limited solar gain in the winter months in the northwest, it often makes more sense (especially when it is a solar hot water system only, as opposed to solar heating) to pitch the panels at a lesser degree thereby harvesting as much solar as possible during the summer, when solar gain is highest. The result is more solar collected annually.

Solar Hot Water - Removing Existing Flat Panels (Kearns Residence)

Sometimes it’s necessary to remove old solar panels. In this case we removed three flat plate panels which had been installed by the previous homeowner so the current owner can install a new roof. After inspecting the old panels we realized that the seals which keep atmospheric moisture out of the panels had deteriorated. The current owner will be gutting the house and remodeling so we are designing a new plumbing system for the new layout which will incorporate a new solar hot water system with new roof panels to augment the new hot water demand. This will include two Takagi natural gas on demand water heaters. The on demand heaters will be augmented by the solar storage tank. When there is not enough available hot water from the solar tank for normal hot water use, a diverter valve will automatically switch to the on demand heaters.

An old drainback tank whose time has come to an end…

Whole House Water Filter (Andrus Residence)

These two Aquapure water filters were installed within the main domestic water supply circuit to filter out calcium sediment (limescale) that often appears in well water throughout Vashon Island. This particular house required a 1 1/4″ water supply therefore the two filters were mounted together on a custom made steel bracket with 1″ piping in parallel.

On this same system we included a Sanitron ultra-violet filter to eliminate any microorganisms suspended in the water. The entire system was piped so that each component could be isolated and serviced at any time without affecting it’s normal flow and function. In addition, when there is no domestic water demand the system recirculates the water continuously and when needed it can be backflushed from the furthest plumbing fixture in the house. These three Amitrol tanks were required to provide enough charge for the fire supression system (required by code in most remodels and new construction projects on Vashon).

American Standard Pressure Assist Toilet (Bentley Residence)

This American Standard toilet is rated in the top ten of best performing toilets on Consumer Reports. It is also included on the FlushStar list. The 1.6 gallon pressure assist flush has the advantage of easily clearing waste without having to flush twice. This model is relatively quiet, only slightly louder than the usual gravity flush.

Ground Work (Thomson Residence)

This is typical ‘ground work’ for a two-story new residence on Vashon Island. The main drain piping is brought through the foundation wall and then branch lines are laid out to each ground floor fixture location and to the verticle drains from the floor above.