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Cool Off

Submitted by Mike on Wednesday, June 4, 20084 Comments

Here’s a simple tip that will save you money and energy, and you probably won’t even notice the change. 

Turn down your water heater to 120° fahrenheit. Just today I finally went to check the temperature on our huge 80 gallon electric water heater. It’s way too big for the demand that’s put on it, but for the time being there is no budget to decrease its size. The unit is only a few years old so it is pretty efficient for its size.

This is a very simple task that anyone can do with a screw driver. One important tip is that you need to check if your heater has two thermostats. I’m fairly certain only larger electric heaters would have this, but it should be fairly obvious because there will be two access panels.

In my case the lower element was set to 120° by my homes previous owner —yes! Then I checked the upper control I was shocked to see it somewhere in the range of 175°.

What temperature is your water heater set at? Go adjust it right now and tell us how big a difference you just made. It’ll take you less than five minutes.

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4 Comments »

  • Crazy Working Mom said:

    Great advice…even better, if possible go tankless. That’s what we have in our home. They are more efficient. They only produce hot water as you need it. You know that you can hop in the shower right after your spouse and never run out of hot water! There is a tax rebate available for the installation of a tankless heater as well.

    - 5 June 2008 at 1:01 pm
  • Mike (author) said:

    Thanks Crazy,
    Tankless water heaters are a great option! Unfortunately they are not the easiest investment. When the time comes to replace an existing heater everyone should definitely consider a tankless water heater.

    - 5 June 2008 at 2:27 pm
  • Condo Blues said:

    My hot water heater is set at 120 degrees and it does make a difference. A word of caution, don’t set the temp lower than 120 degreess (F) or bateria could grew in the water in your hot water tank. Ick!

    I also put a insulating blanket on my hot water heater. It was very inexpensive at the home improvement store. It’s made a world of difference!

    - 6 June 2008 at 6:03 pm
  • Mike (author) said:

    Insulating blankets are a smart choice too. I’ll make sure we use that as a future tip. Thanks Condo Blues!

    - 9 June 2008 at 8:44 am

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