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SfumatoPants
@shawcable.net

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Anon

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Re: Dual Element Water Heater - Hot water doesn't last

The manual only states not to turn the top thermostat higher than the bottom one.

Last night I turned it down to 150, the lower element is set to 170. After letting my wife take the first shower, I went in and let the water run without interruption (usually I would turn it on and off several times). The result was no sudden loss of hot water. The temperature declined slowly, but noticeably. By the time I was done taking the luxuriously long shower, the water was still satisfactorily warm.

I was even able to shave with a hot sink of water right after.

Looking good, and hopefully no need to double the electricity consumption by rewiring it to simultaneous mode.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

170 is incredibly hot. You'll be increasing corrosion, shortening the life of the water heater and increasing the risk of scalding accidents. You shouldn't need to set it above 135.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
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MVM

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said by SfumatoPants :

Last night I turned it down to 150, the lower element is set to 170.
Hopefully you have anti-scald fixtures as 170 is really hot.

Time to produce 2nd/3rd degree burns at 150F = 1.5 seconds at 160F less then 1/2 second (my cheat sheet does not go above 160 degrees.

Besides scald danger standby losses will be a lot higher increasing power consumption.

Our local power utility forbids simultaneous operation and limits maximum element wattage to 5,500 watts.

/tom