Water heater max temp.

[Aerovette]

In the summer, we have plenty of hot water. We have never run out in spite of having only one tank for the whole house. The last week or so, temps have dropped into the 30's so the ratio of hot to cold water has to change because the cold water is much colder so it takes more hot water to offset it.
Now I notice we are running out of hot water in the morning.

I want to bump up the temp on the tank, but I don't want to introduce other issues like accelerated burner deterioration, possible joint/connection failure close to the tank, extra CO gas created, etc. I could care less about scalding since we have a fair amount of common sense in the house and no children.

What can I safely crank that bad boy up to without causing a ripple effect and inviting big problems down the road?

[Doug28450]

210 degrees should be okay.

[VITE1]

Why is your water so much colder? Most water lines are buried deep and stay around the same temp all year.

[Sea Six]

120° is usually good enough for me here in FL.

You might go up to 150° and see how that works.

[Aerovette]

Why is your water so much colder? Most water lines are buried deep and stay around the same temp all year.

In Houston I would guess our water lines are less than 1 foot down.

Water supply is held in storage tanks above ground or supplied by ground water.

There is no doubt the water from the faucet is considerably colder and likewise in the summer it never gets really cold from the tap.

There is a marked area on the dial that highlights it as the optimum, but that could be for efficiency or economy etc. I don't care about that. I want hot water and and am only concerned with safety and potential system issues.

[VITE1]

In Houston I would guess our water lines are less than 1 foot down.

Water supply is held in storage tanks above ground or supplied by ground water.

There is no doubt the water from the faucet is considerably colder and likewise in the summer it never gets really cold from the tap.

There is a marked area on the dial that highlights it as the optimum, but that could be for efficiency or economy etc. I don't care about that. I want hot water and and am only concerned with safety and potential system issues.

:seasix::shots:

Then I suggest you slowly increase the water heater temp in 10 Degree increments until you find the right balance. Keeping the water hotter uses more energy and setting it to the max you may get someone scalded.

[Sea Six]

120 is the recommended limit for safety.

[Doug28450]

120 is the recommended limit for safety.

nanny

[NeedSpeed]

I keep mine fairly hot for this same reason. The cold water is much colder in the winter.

[Aerovette]

120 is the recommended limit for safety.

Thanks. I am not sure the builder left any manuals for the tank in our paperwork but I'll look toinight.

Safety from scalding or safety from CO gas, or rupture or what?

I am not stupid enough to get scalded so I really don't care about that safety precaution, BUT I don't need the tank blowing through the roof or anything exciting like that.

[NeedSpeed]

I'll see what mine is set at tonight.

Mine is electric though.

[Aerovette]

I just read that the max safe water temp for a bath or shower is 120. So a water heater set at 120 would never get you a shower of 120 due to losses and the fact that nobody leaves the cold completely off. That tells me there has to be considerable "over shoot" temperature allowance to get a maximum "mix" that approaches 120.


Interesting read. Disease vs scald.

http://www.plumbingengineer.com/march_13/code.php

[Cybercowboy]

I like my water hot. We have two heaters, one for the bathrooms, and one for the kitchen/laundry. They have three main settings - Vacation, Warm, and Hot. The one for the kitchen/laundry is set to Warm. The one for the bathrooms is set just a shade short of Hot. I think it will go past Hot but haven't found the need to do that. These are gas heaters and are now 16 years old. Probably getting close to time to replace them but they still seem to work just fine.

[NeedSpeed]

The only time I have a problem is with filling the bath tub. It's pretty big and can drain the entire tank.

[Aerovette]

The only time I have a problem is with filling the bath tub. It's pretty big and can drain the entire tank.

Same here. The stupid builder put a nice jacuzzi tub in the master bath and ONE tank that is not large enough to fill the stinkin' tub. :kick:

[Cybercowboy]

Same here. The stupid builder put a nice jacuzzi tub in the master bath and ONE tank that is not large enough to fill the stinkin' tub. :kick:

When I had our house built, the contractor thought I was nuts wanting two 50 gallon water heaters for a 2300 sq. ft. home. I told him I never wanted to take another cold shower again, something I had happen so often over the course of my life up to that point that I was making a stand. And since then I have never had to take a cold shower here. A couple times I was close to running out, but never had to have it all the way on hot just to barely be able to stand it.

[DropTheTop]

Do you know if there is an expansion tank installed? The reason I ask is because:

"When water is heated, it expands. In older homes, the expanded water pushed back into the water main. Today, most homes have backflow prevention valves which stop the water in your home from reentering the water supply. These valves can be inside water softeners, pressure regulating valves or the water meter itself. Backflow prevention valves (also known as "check valves") prevent the expanded water from reentering the water main. Since the expanded water now has nowhere to go, the water pressure in the house's pipes can increase dramatically, often to the point where the Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve discharge pipe drips. A thermal expansion tank has an internal air bladder which can absorb the expanded water, protecting plumbing, appliances and the water heater. For these reasons, most homes now need a thermal expansion tank (and a properly adjusted pressure regulating valve). Not having a thermal expansion tank is the most common reason for a dripping discharge pipe."

I have mine set at 140 in the winter. 120 is just a recommendation, as the risk of scalding goes up with higher temps (duh).

[Mike Mercury]

Why is your water so much colder? Most water lines are buried deep and stay around the same temp all year.

we are on a well; and ground water temperature does vary - depending on the seasons.

---------------

never - ever... raise the temp of a water heater in an attempt to circumvent low capacity. Instead, upgrade the size of your capacity.

Sure, it's an old trick to lengthen the supply of hot water by raising the storage temp (and then pulling less demand at the faucet)... but you can only go so far with that. I would never go above 125 on a tanked water heater.

Sounds to me like you need one of these:
http://www.tim-yvonne.com/forum/hw1.jpg

[C5SilverBullet]

In Houston I would guess our water lines are less than 1 foot down.

Water supply is held in storage tanks above ground or supplied by ground water.

There is no doubt the water from the faucet is considerably colder and likewise in the summer it never gets really cold from the tap.

There is a marked area on the dial that highlights it as the optimum, but that could be for efficiency or economy etc. I don't care about that. I want hot water and and am only concerned with safety and potential system issues.
:iagree: Cold water in the summer doesn't exist, and hot water in the cold is short lived.

[VITE1]

we are on a well; and ground water temperature does vary - depending on the seasons.

---------------

never - ever... raise the temp of a water heater in an attempt to circumvent low capacity. Instead, upgrade the size of your capacity.

Sure, it's an old trick to lengthen the supply of hot water by raising the storage temp (and then pulling less demand at the faucet)... but you can only go so far with that. I would never go above 125 on a tanked water heater.

Sounds to me like you need one of these:
http://www.tim-yvonne.com/forum/hw1.jpg

I'm on a well and I don't have that problem. My water line from the well is about 5 feet underground.

[Mike Mercury]

I'm on a well and I don't have that problem. My water line from the well is about 5 feet underground.

it has nothing to do with the depth of the inlet piping; and everything to do with the body of water sitting down in the well. It's that water temp that changes during seasons. It may vary as much as +- 5 degrees... and as little as +- 1 degree depending on your geographical location and well depth.

At well depths greater than 30 feet below the surface, the temperature is relatively constant
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/amplitude-vs-depth.gif

My well is 22ft.

[VITE1]

it has nothing to do with the depth if the inlet piping; and everything to do with the body of water sitting down in the well. It's that water temp that changes during seasons. It may vary as much as +- 5 degrees... and as little as +- 2 degrees depending on your geographical location.

At well depths greater than 30 feet below the surface, the temperature is relatively constant
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/amplitude-vs-depth.gif

My well is 22ft.
:seasix::seasix:
My well is over 200 feet.

[Mike Mercury]

My well is over 200 feet.

dang.

You're good to go !

[VITE1]

dang.

You're good to go !

When we had the well dug I required a high flow rate. Many people get a well that meets the minimum requirements then try and put a pool in and sprinklers. Then they have to spend a few K to get a deeper well.

[Aerovette]

I bumped it up two clicks. It is now set midway between "Warm" and "Very Hot" I used my wife's candy thermometer and measured 125 at the kitchen sink. That may be a bit on the hot side BUT, now when I set the sink water or shower, the handle is dead center which tells me that for the winter anyway, I have it set right.

How can I measure the temp of the water in the actual tank?

[Cybercowboy]

I bumped it up two clicks. It is now set midway between "Warm" and "Very Hot" I used my wife's candy thermometer and measured 125 at the kitchen sink. That may be a bit on the hot side BUT, now when I set the sink water or shower, the handle is dead center which tells me that for the winter anyway, I have it set right.

How can I measure the temp of the water in the actual tank?

You could drain some out if you trust your drain. I wouldn't do it if it is the cheap plastic factory drain though. The first thing I do when I get a new heater is replace the el-cheapo drain with a brass ball valve that actually will open and close more than one time.

And what do you care what the actual water temp is inside the thing? You're not going to hurt it by turning it up two clicks. Relax.

[Mike Mercury]

How can I measure the temp of the water in the actual tank?

very carefully.




http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/eol/lowres/diy-flooded_basement-basements-leaking-flood_water-plumbers-eoln74l.jpg

no need to; what's at the faucet is the important measurement.

[Sea Six]

I bumped it up two clicks. It is now set midway between "Warm" and "Very Hot" I used my wife's candy thermometer and measured 125 at the kitchen sink. That may be a bit on the hot side BUT, now when I set the sink water or shower, the handle is dead center which tells me that for the winter anyway, I have it set right.

How can I measure the temp of the water in the actual tank?

Pics of your wife's candy?

[Aerovette]

Pics of your wife's candy?

In her younger days that would have been easy. She keeps everything under wraps these days. I have no fear of diabetes. :leaving:


:lol:

[Sea Six]

:funny: