Does your well supply drinking water too? If it does I'm sure you must have guidance on periodic testing? Grahamt is right that the requirement to store water at 60 Celsius is based around legionella control which applies to any place of work here in the U.K. That being said I maintain my heater at home at 50C as I bank on us having a high turnover of water (legionella is a slow growing bacteria that is prone to colonise dead-legs of pipework or little used systems). May be worth doing a little reasearch for your peace of mind...
Thanks Mirkwood Jim and yes, the well supplies all of our water. Previously our well was much shallower as my wife and I put this well in by hand many moons ago. Water was always good but over time the lime started to build up. We decided to have a well drilled but were not happy with the well driller for sure. But, we do have lots of water and it is good to drink. Tests all came back good too.
You may be right but I can almost keep my hands under a faucet running purely hot water from my heater. That means I am probably less than 120ºF in that heater and it has been that way since I replaced the heater about 10 years ago. Frankly, I don't believe my water supply is that much cleaner than anyone else's in terms of bacteria present. I consider overheating my water as wasteful, much like Backwoods Savage woods first suggested.
What do you think about my comments on hot water demand and increasing the amount of hot water available in a smaller storage tank? If not having to wait for the water to warm up means that kids get to school on time or adults get to work on time, what's that worth? What is an extra half hour of sleep worth relative to "wasteful" heating of water? How many people in your household do you have who take consecutive showers? There are many facets to this discussion. Just curious of your thoughts.
The same here. I also went to Lowes's when we first set up the house and got some R12 batt insulation and wrapped the outside of the tank and on top. The less amount of the water heat that can radiate into the air the better. The hot water tank is under the house in an unheated space. I moved it after we set the house up because a leaking hot water tank can be a huge problem and it was not setting on any type of drip pan. I don't wash clothes with warm or hot water; I wash my clothes in cold water only.
I would not have the water heater temperature at a point that it could cause third degree burns if someone forgets to mix in cold water. A stupid nanny killed a baby by putting it in scalding bath water; it bothers me to think of the agony that poor baby experienced.
If your water heater is wired for 120v (USA) consider rewiring it to 240v as it will be more efficient. Most have two thermostats so that you have a more even temperature differential. I am guessing they bring in the cold water to the bottom of the tank (cold water is heavier) and draw the hot water from the top of the tank. For large families, one could have more than one tank and have zones; this would eliminate say the kids using up all the hot water and having none left for the laundry or dishes. Or, install electric showers; they even have them for under the sink installations; that eliminated the tank altogether.
I did read somewhere that Duke Energy is installing smart meters on people's home and there isn't much one can do about it. In Texas there were reports of house fires after smart meters were installed. Also; outside of power company claims, the meters were putting out huge amounts of RF energy; some people getting sick as well. One does not stand in front of a microwave antenna for a reason. Reports of RF equipment being affected as well by the smart meters.
This logic also works for the heat pump type water heaters which have a long recovery time, mine is set to 160, with a mixing valve to deliver 120 for this very reason. Besides insulating the tank, it helps to plumb in a 2 foot drop off the outlet to reduce heat siphoning. This is only important if your tank is in your basement, or below your living space.
There's usually a mixing valve to bring the water supplied for use down to a safer temp. You can also have safety/anti-scalding mixing valves in showers for even lower temps that a shower should supply. The thermostatic ones are especially nice. Legionella bacteria are in water everywhere. They breed especially well in stagnant water (tanks) just above 100ºF with a sediment food source. Water in these breeding areas should be kept at or above around 140ºF to inhibit colonization and the concentrations that can lead to them colonizing in your warm moist respiratory system, causing pneumonia/Legionnaire's Disease and killing you. 120ºF water can cause 2nd and 3rd degree burns on skin if you're storing water at temps lower than that you're pretty much risking maintaining a health hazard. You might get away with it with city chlorinated/disinfected and higher volumes of water but on your own well you're really taking risks.
Pretty sure 240 will only shorten recovery time, not save any money. As with a full/empty fridge, short cycling vs long cycling at the end of the day uses the same amount of energy. Exoskeleton losses being equal. If the power goes out. long cycling has an advantage at staying cool longer.
The tank setting has not changed since I first set it many years back. I ain't dead yet. The real risk is in closed systems where the same water is circulated over and over again; such as in chilling systems. The water in the tanks is constantly being drawn off and replaced. What I find interesting is the number of people that will jump in lake water that is teaming with all sorts of bacteria; including the one that eats your brain; especially lakes feed by streams that travel through farm land with cattle. Now most that jump into these really dirty lakes don't get sick but they are subjecting themselves at a much higher incident rate than my hot water tank could ever be.
