Most people have wondered at least a time or two about how a water heater is able to keep hot water pouring from the shower head for the duration of our morning shower. As devices go, the method that a water heater employs to get this done is very simple. For about 75 years, the basics of the water heater have not changed.

All tank-type water heaters have the same common elements. The first and most obvious thing about a water heater is the tank. These can range from 10 gallons up to over 100 gallons. The tank is where water is stored while being heated and held until it is sent out to some open hot water faucet. Water heaters require two water pipes. One to let cold water into the tank and a second to carry hot water to where it is needed. Every water heater has a pop off valve that releases if the pressure in the tank gets too high and a drain to let the water out of the tank for repairs or replacement.

The final common component in a hot water heater is a way to more…

Our government needs to be a lot more assertive and aggressive in developing renewable energy sources. We have set on our reserves of fossil fuel and paid these foreign countries billions of dollars for something we have right here. One of the big reasons for this I think is that people like both of the Bushes, Dick Cheney and probably many others had received big kickbacks from outfits like Halliburton who has gotten fat contract without the benefits of competitive bids. In other words it was not in there best interest to push for renewable energy resources.

We are supposedly the most highly advanced country in the world when it comes to technology and we should have had a lot of this renewable energy developed a long time ago. I was intrigued with solar energy way back in the early seventies and I had a solar water heater on my house in Tallahassee Florida, I never really did set down and figure out how much it saved me or if I even recouped my investment but we sure did have plenty of hot water for showers when we came in from working out in that more…