I would be interested if anyone has done any sort of study in their electric bill, was it worth turning on and off the water heater, or leave it on and let the thermostat do its work, so that you have hot water on demand, subject to the size of the tank.
Or to think about putting in a timer, cutting out most of the day and night.
I was advised by someone that these small water heater, like a small car, your top speed is NOT your cruising speed, so keeping the thermostat setting down from maximum will extend the life of the heater
If you want the availability of hot water anytime, leave it switched on. When it's left switched on, it will use a little more electricity (to replace the heat escaping from the outside surface of the tank).
Setting the thermostat lower won't make any difference to the life of the water heater.
Quote from: luciapaul on January 25, 2015, 16:01:12 PM
I would be interested if anyone has done any sort of study in their electric bill, was it worth turning on and off the water heater, or leave it on and let the thermostat do its work, so that you have hot water on demand, subject to the size of the tank.
Or to think about putting in a timer, cutting out most of the day and night.
I was advised by someone that these small water heater, like a small car, your top speed is NOT your cruising speed, so keeping the thermostat setting down from maximum will extend the life of the heater
I'm not sure anyone can answer definitively without knowing your hot water consumption profile over a day. Also how well insulated the tank, whether you run it at 55C or 75C, ambient temperature, etc.
When we're at the apartment we leave ours on 24hrs at 55C, so we always have it available. I doubt the cost differential outweighs having to wait for the darn thing to warm up when you want a shower!
the man who told me about keeping it turned down a bit, was speaking for experience having replaced a heater of his own, and a few friends heaters all of which had been wound up to max on the stat
Quote from: luciapaul on January 25, 2015, 16:25:16 PM
the man who told me about keeping it turned down a bit, was speaking for experience having replaced a heater of his own, and a few friends heaters all of which had been wound up to max on the stat
They're designed to cope with that.
Quote from: luciapaul on January 25, 2015, 16:25:16 PM
the man who told me about keeping it turned down a bit, was speaking for experience having replaced a heater of his own, and a few friends heaters all of which had been wound up to max on the stat
As far as I know, water heaters on the island never have time to really test the longevity of the motors. They leak through rust damage well before that, due to the composition of the desalinated water. You're lucky to get more than a year or two out of them :(.
Our electricity was off for several hours a while back (it tripped shortly after we went to bed and of course we didn't notice until next morning) and that didn't affect the water temperature one iota, so I think they're pretty energy-efficient. We keep ours a bit below the maximum, but not really to save anything - it just comes out too scalding hot otherwise.
Desalinated water does not cause them to rust. Outside installation causes them to rust.
It is advisable not to turn off the boiler, because of the bacteria growth inside. It should keep 50 degrees minimum all the time.