Electric hot water heater timers?

CJ · #1 03/28/08, 08:46 PM

We are purchasing a house that we will probably only be in for 4 years or so while working a job contract. It has 2 40 gallon (electric) hot water heaters hooked up together. While I use hot water all day long (cooking, laundry) I wondered if it would amount to any savings to put a timer on them so they don't run during the night? I figure I could shut them off from around 7pm until about 6am.

Oldcountryboy · #2 03/28/08, 09:58 PM

Some people say is saves you energy, some people don't. I personally don't think it does. If you don't have one on, the heaters will come on every so often when the temperature drops to a certain degree and run just long enough to get back up to a certain degree before it shuts off. If you have a timer on then the longer the electricity is off then the longer it will take to heat the water back up, which in my opinion will take as much energy if not more energy to heat the water back up. There's just not enough hours in a day to make any difference.

**Ross** · #3 03/28/08, 09:59 PM

You'd save more going to one 50 gallon oil fired or gas fired water heater. I never had our electric water heaters on a timer but a friend of mine shuts his off at night and cranks it on in the morning manually. His electrical bill is very reasonable (electricity is outragous here in ONT) so it probably helps. My 50 gallon oil fired water heater never runs out of hot water with 6 people drawing on it and two washing machines the recovery rate is incredable, id have to look it up but likely 200 gallons of 140f water per hour maybe more as it's looped.

Ken Scharabok · #4 03/28/08, 11:41 PM

It isn't going to hurt and the cost of installing timers may be about $100. May pay for itself within a year.

I have a single electical hw heater on a timer. It only comes on for about two hours in the very early AM and about one hour in the later afternoon. All the hw I need for one person. If I doing laundry, or have company, I can use a manual override.

krondor2 · #5 03/29/08, 03:50 AM

is the wh in series, water goes in one, fills up then water goes into secound?
what is your water source, well or city?
where is the wh located, condition or non-condition space?

the reason for the two wh is, the first one will bring the water temp up to the room air temp. then the second wh would not have to run as long to get to the set point. that is the ideal for two wh in series. the first wh is not on. or if use a lot of hot water have the first set at a lower temp than the second, so turn around time is less.

with the timer, like i tell people who wants a programmable digital t-stat for their heating and cooling system, it wont save them money. one unless your home and in your case wh is super insulated, you are going to spend the same amount if not more to heat or cool.

so if you go with a timer get insulated blanket and wrap the wh and also the pipes.

CJ · #6 03/29/08, 06:22 AM

Changing them out for oil, gas or propane isn't an option.

If we are still in this house (unlikely) when they are ready to be replaced, we will replace them with one larger unit.

They are inside a closet under the staircase in the house.

The reason there are 2 is that the master bath has this huge honkin' jacuzzi tub (that we'll likely never use) that you would need probably all 80 gallons of hot water to fill it, LOL. My mind rather balks at that!

I'm not sure of how they are hooked together, I know my hubby said it wasn't optimal, but that's all I can tell you.

I'll check into the insulated jackets, that's probably a great idea even if they're inside yes?

**highlands** · #7 03/29/08, 06:39 AM

Yes, it will likely save your energy. It may depend a bit on your pattern of usage. Years ago I bought a Kill-o-Watt meter and used that to test exactly this question. For our household it cut our water heater power usage by more than 50%.

Changing your pattern of usage will further optimize this. Cluster your use of the hot water and have the heater come early enough before you need it to have the water up to heat.

An insulating jacket will help.

Getting rid of any leaks will help a lot.

Insulating hot water pipes will help.

Stopping using the second hot water heater if at all possible will help a lot.

Have fun experimenting!

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

daxelsen · #8 03/29/08, 07:22 AM

In our cabin we had the same thing. We disconnected one and it saved us about $20 dollars a month. There was six of us and it wasn't a big deal.

Ken Scharabok · #9 03/29/08, 07:50 AM

Sister and BIL are planning to take out a standard tub in a mobile home and replace it with a whirlpool one. He is think of point of use heater serving that bathroom only. The small electric wh in there now would serve the kitchen and other bathroom.

My timer is the clock in a box one where you set tabs on your desired on/off points. For someone with electric wiring experience an easy installation.

mdharris68 · #10 03/29/08, 07:34 PM

If your heaters are new enough, you shouldn't be able to feel any heat on the outside of the water heater. If this is the case, an insulation jacket would not pay for itself, unless you are turning them off at night. Test your theory of shutting them off at night and check the temp of the water in the mornng. You will be suprised how warm it will still be. Electric heaters do not have that hole in the center like the oil and gas fired heaters that will constantly release heat by the draft created in the chimney that draws cool air off the floor.

So the moral to all my jiberish is this, if it aint heatin', it aint costin'.

Texas_Plainsman · #11 03/29/08, 08:09 PM

I used to use a timer when I had an electric water heater. The 220v timers used to only be 20 bucks, don't know what they are now. Get one.

Boss Cooker · #12 03/29/08, 08:14 PM

Why not explore a tank less on demand heater?. They can be sized for your needs. Somewhat pricey, but the water heater is one of the largest users in a home for gas or electric.

CJ · #13 03/30/08, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boss Cooker

Why not explore a tank less on demand heater?. They can be sized for your needs. Somewhat pricey, but the water heater is one of the largest users in a home for gas or electric.

Not sure it'd be worth it, we only expect to be in the home for about 4 years.

GrannyG · #14 03/30/08, 09:20 AM

When I bought a house I use as a rental, it had an interesting feature. There is an electrical box inside the water heater closet that can be turned off and on....when the previous owners went on vacation or somewhere for the week-end, they turned off the water heater so they did not have to worry about it. It could just as easily be turned off every night for that matter.

Ken Scharabok · #15 03/30/08, 12:58 PM

Check your circuit panel box. Chances are good you have a separate fuse for the hot water heater.

On a timer, they are probably less than $50.00. If you saved $5 a month, payback would be less than one year.