Hydro-Temp’s First Customer

Charles R. King

 Charles King and his wife Wilma built this 2864 sq ft house in the edge of the Ozarks near Pocahontas, Arkansas in the late 1970’s.  During construction, Charles asked Mike Jones if there was some way to use water from his spring to heat and cool his house.  Soon after, Hydro-Temp unit Serial Number 2 was installed and was first turned on April 12, 1979 (Serial Number 1 was a prototype built in the factory).  Mr. King’s unit is a 1.5 ton open loop system.  The open loop consists of the spring near the house as a source and the adjacent pond as the dump. 

 Ole Number 2 has used 115,035 KWH during the period of April 12, 1979 to November 21, 2006.  That is 27 years, 7 months and 10 days.  Calculating this KWH usage at today’s price of 8 cents per KWH, this unit has heated and cooled this house as well as making some of the domestic hot water at an average cost of $27.37 per month for this entire period. 

 A substantial quantity of hot water is produced free during the cooling season, which nearly eliminates the need for resistance heating by the hot water tank.