cynic: Someone else mentioned the position of the heating elements in an electric water heater in explaining why the lower water temp at the bottom, where the cold water inlet is, can encourage bacteria growth. Perhaps electric tank design will change to a bottom-heating element as in gas heaters to address the bacteria growth issue? I can't help but wonder if there's more contaminants in our water today that is making this a problem now, or if it always existed but we simply didn't know about it? It seems like if this involved an automobile manufacturer, there would be a recall. There was a period when electricity rates were much lower and in low-demand situations (like mine), an electric heater cost less to operate than a gas model. This is because electricity is 100% efficient when used for heating purposes. Standby heat losses with an electric water heater are also much less than a gas model because it can be totally encapsulated with insulation where a gas heater requires exposure of the bottom surface for the flame to transfer heat to the water. A gas water heater loses some heat to room air from the flame and the exhaust as it is piped outdoors. This is "free" heat in the winter, but it increases the air conditioning load in the summer. The difference in cost per energy unit of gas vs electricity has widened considerably over the last thirty years. In fact, natural gas prices in my area have recently declined, while electricity rates have continued to soar. The electric water heater is the original one installed by the builder thirty years ago and it is still functioning problem-free. I know of several homeowners who have conventional gas water heaters that required replacement three times during this period. Tankless on-demand water heaters sound good in theory, but they don't achieve the energy savings originally claimed by manufacturers. In fact, those claims had to be modified in point-of-sale displays. Reliability issues and high repair costs merely add to their high initial purchase price. I closely monitor my energy consumption and utility bills (as you might have guessed). I have all my utility bills filed from when I purchased the house in 1986. A new rotary compressor refrigerator and an LED TV take credit for some of the reduction in hydro use. While electricity consumption has decreased, but the bills have not. If it weren't for all the extra fees, charges and taxes, the monthly bill would be closer to the $20/month I paid in 1986 and not the $50/month bill I receive today. On the brighter side, my phone bill dropped $10/month to $15 when I switched from a dial-up landline to a pre-pay voice only monthly cell phone. I have a roof antenna that receives 42 off-air TV signals, but what I save not paying for cable I pay for Internet (which didn't exist thirty years ago.) Water/sewer used to be flat-rate in the good ol'days with no restriction on consumption. Property taxes however, have increased far more than any utility where I am located. We used to be a small, efficiently-run town that amalgamated with a much larger city. My property taxes have increased from $2,000/year in 1986 to $10,000 this year (which doesn't include a huge increase in water rates). Policing, fire, social services, schools, garbage collection and public transit are responsible for most of the increase. There's also been some extremely wasteful spending/mismanagement reported by the local newspaper. Bigger is definitely not better, or more efficient, in this case!

There are too many variables to offer you anything but a range that goes from a couple hundred to OMG. Replacing a current service panel or new construction/expansion? Main panel or branch panel? Just hang the panel or install/move circuits? How many circuits? Age/condition of any cabling that is relocated? Surface mount or flush mount? Who is responsible for non-electrical tasks (siding, stucco, etc)? You'll get a better idea by getting three bids from local electricians. Make sure they are all bidding on the same scope of work. And I too would tend to have the electrician responsible for bringing the materials.

Yes, we closed on the house just before Thanksgiving. Got some furniture delivered. Went with a Tommy Bahama style. As we say, Tommy Bahama wannabe style. LOL Been busy changing our address on everything and buying odds and ends that you never really think about. So far the house has been great. Everything so far is working well. The one thing I do hate is the side by side refrigerator. It's absolutely beautiful, but is too small even though it's big. I told DH I want to get an undercounter beverage fridge when we have money again. LOL The neighbors have all been very friendly. We have been told that we moved to the "best block" in the neighborhood. By best, they mean the most fun and friendly block. We're currently in the process of renting out our condo in North Naples. We've decided to keep it for investment. So happy to hear that things are going well for you! Aren't you glad that the whole selling thing is over? We sure are! We look at each other and still can't believe all the work we've done with this move.

cp......You have NO clue what you're talking about!!! Period!!!! Where in the (T*&#%#%%&*Y*( do you get 100k from???????????? You can barely build a tree house for that!!!! Well Robin, I've been on this site for a long time now and you used to get your britches in a hitch when someone mentioned they were paying $200k for a house, so I made a tongue in cheek comment. ALLOT of GC's KNOW that most people have 'no' idea of what things costs and they take advantage of that!!!! They do this to put ALLOT of profit in their pockets!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW this as a FACT!!!!! Since you know this for a fact, please share your FACTS. Real facts and not your opinions. Give us examples. You're very good at using exclamation points and capital letters and spelling things incorrectly, but not once have you backed up any of your statements with actual facts. It's a shame they do this but it's normal business for them. It's a black eye on them IMO. I'm 'sure' you 'won't' answer......... Wrong, I answered. And in reality the real black eye is someone coming here and spouting their opinion as if it were a fact when it's quite clear they don't have a clue what they are talking about and can't even back it up with actual facts. And it's even more of a shame that you continue to come off as uneducated.