Turn Your Water Heater’s Thermostat Down and Save Energy

With the high cost of energy these days, it seems like everyone is trying to think of ways to save energy. One easy way to trim your energy bill is to turn your water heater’s thermostat down.

Water Heating

Water heating can cost the average household as much as 18 percent of energy expenditures. The good news is that it’s relatively simple to save money on water heating:

• If you have an electric water heater, the thermostat dial may be located behind a plate or panel (and there may be two thermostats and panels).
• Measure the temperature of hot water at the farthest outlet.
• Write the temperature next to the dial to mark it (thermostat dials may be different from the outlet temperature).
• Turn down the water heater’s thermostat. If you have two thermostats, turn back the lower thermostat slightly more than the upper thermostat.
• Give the water heater about four hours to adjust temperature.
• Measure the temperature again at the farthest outlet. If it is at 120, you’re set. If not, make minor adjustments accordingly until you are satisfied.

Standby Heat Loss

A large portion of water heating costs are attributed to standby heat loss. This is the transfer of heat energy from a warmer source (hot water) to a cooler place (e.g. pipes, sides, top and bottom of water heater tank). Use these tips to curb these energy losses:

• Insulate all hot water pipes in the home.
• If your electric water heater sits on a concrete floor, place an insulating board beneath it.
• If you are going to be away from home for three days or more, turn the water heater off at the circuit board. Re-heating the water when you return home costs less than leaving the water heater on.
• Drain a quart of water from the tank once a month to remove sediment. This slows wear and corrosion, and boosts heating efficiency.
• Include water heater maintenance with annual cooling and heating systems maintenance.

If you have any questions about turning down your water heater’s thermostat in your Orlando area home, please contact Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about water heater’s thermostats and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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