But wait; there’s more: I’ve just installed an “on-demand hot-water recirculation pump.” That’s right my friends. This gizmo will help me stop wasting water and save me a great deal on my water bill.

Here’s the idea: I have two inline (also called “tankless”) gas-fired water heaters. I have one on each side of the house, one for the kitchen, and one for the bathrooms. The idea is to reduce the amount of water you waste waiting for the water to get hot. The inline heaters work well, but they have a small, but not insignificant, problem. Once you open the tap, or faucet, it takes quite a while for water to flow from the inline heater to where you’re standing waiting to wash your hands. All that cool water runs down the drain, unless I take the troublesome step of capturing it in small plastic pitcher– which I did for a while.

Now, when you first go into the bathroom in the morning, you press a small button. It activates a pump that drives water from the hot-water pipe, under the sink, to the cold-water pipe– from the hot side to the cold side. The button runs on just 5 volts, so you can’t get a shock. The pump keeps running until a temperature sensor next to the pump tells the system that the water has gotten hot. It takes just a few seconds. Once it’s hot, the pipe stays hot for quite a while; you don’t need the pump.

It’s like a hot water circulation loop, but it only runs when you need it– not all day or on a timer, which may or may not be on at the right time.

The trick is that you can pump cool water backwards through the cold water pipes, and everything works fine. That water ends up in the water main, where it came from. Or in my case, it finds its way to the solar pre-heated water tank. My system goes from solar collector, to holding tank, to inline heater, to sink or shower. But, with the on-demand pump, I can force water that’s not hot yet back into the tank.

Take that Begley– ha! Pretty cool… well, it’s pretty hot.

So, I just finished what we call a “xeriscape,” a dry landscape. Xeri [ZIH-rih] is a Greek prefix that means “dry.” Just a few centimeters below the rocks and other mulch is a network of tubing that drips a very small flow of water about once a week. I say about once a week, because the whole system is connected to an elegant modern controller that monitors rainfall and air humidity to regulate the flow to the drought-tolerant, low water use, native species plants. How cool is all this? Passersby tell me everyday that they like the way it looks. Do they say that about Begley’s unruly xeri-tangle? I think not. Take that Begley! Ha!

Bill on the roof of his house showing off the solar panels on his garage.

Since the early 1990′s, Ed has had solar panels, photovoltaic thin sheets of specially prepared silicon that convert sunlight directly into electricity. Oh yes, Ed’s got a brand new integrated solar heating and solar drinkable hot water system. Oh yes, Ed’s got a garden from which he gets plenty of vegetables. He’s got an on-site composter, too. And oh yes, Ed’s got a drought tolerant, what we like to call “xeriscaped,” yard. In Greek, “xeri” is “dry.” But I too, have all (well almost all) of these things. Ha! Begley; take that!

My claim is that my stuff looks better. I designed my hot water system four years ago, before his new fancy rig was available. But, I’ll come up with a heating system newer and cooler, er… and warmer, too.

Ed often indicates that he doesn’t much care how things look. Well, I guess not. That’s why he’s got his own show, on which he argues, er… discusses these issues with Rachelle, his wife.

My hope is that, through this friendly little competition, we can show people what is possible to do with energy saving systems right now. Heck, my garden uses much less water than a lawn. I eat the food, and it’s just so pretty. I’m still getting pumpkins well into November.

Bill does a guest appearance on Living with Ed on Planet Green

My next project is to finish my front lawn and xeriscape it. It’s raggedy, having just grown back on its own after I put a new porch out front. The porch saves energy, because it provides shade, and it’s as though I’ve added a new room on the house. It’s so pleasant on the porch that one isn’t inside using air conditioning or even heat most mornings. Ahhh… Ed’s porch is cramped and hardly ever used. Take that, man!

I’m coming after you, Begley! I’m going to crush you, Begley! Ha!