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| Propane vs Electric | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Jan 18th, 2012 01:59 am |
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21st Post |
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Geno_3245 Member
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You can install 1500 watt 120-volt 6 gallon point-of-use water heater under kitchen sink. Put the heater on a switch or in-wall timer if desired. That will solve problem of wait at kitchen, or other distant usage point. And then choose 50-60 gallon water heater for rest of house. Most electric water heaters come with 4500 watt elements. 4500 watt elements are plenty adequate. The purpose of 5500 watt would be to heat water faster, So the water heater delivers more hot water per hour during times of high usage. If you have ordinary family usage, then 4500 watt will be fine. Otherwise, certainly the manufacturers would install 5500 watt elements or make them easy-to-find option on residential water heaters. Most water heater manuals say to replace element with 'same-wattage' element or warranty is void. This might be because many water heaters are wired internally with 12 gauge wire. Note that 5500 watt, 6000 watt elements etc start to max out the 12 gauge wire. With foam-insulated tanks, it is not easy to rewire inside of tank with 10 gauge wire. Rewiring the water heater for 'simultaneous' operation, or 9000 watts, will also void warranty. Plus additional wiring is needed inside the tank, which can be challenging with foam-insulated tanks. Some manufacturers offer special-order tanks that are pre-wired for simultaneous operation, especially larger 80 gallon tanks. This is so water heater can keep up with high-demand usage. This type of installation requires two 30 amp breakers and two 10 gauge wires <> or one 50 amp breaker and one 8 gauge wire (assuming maximum two 5500 watt elements). Increasing element size and changing thermostat wiring are things you can do later if water heater if not 'keeping up with demand' Simply turning up the thermostat to 130 degrees can also increase amount of hot water. Most water heaters arrive with thermostats dialed down to 120 degrees or less so that manufacturers can claim their energy usage is lower than previous models.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 19th, 2012 02:30 pm |
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22nd Post |
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Tex99 Member
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Geno_3245 wrote:You can install 1500 watt 120-volt 6 gallon point-of-use water heater under kitchen sink.>> Can you recommend one or two "point of use" water heaters?
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