CAN I SAVE BY TURNING OFF MY HOT WATER HEATER WHEN iM NOT USEING IT.?

Question

THE ONLY TIME I USE MY HOT WATER IS EARLY IN THE MORNNG TO WASH A SMALL AMOUT OF DISHES THEN TO TAKE A SHORT SHOWER . I LIVE ALONE AND NEVER USE ANY HOT WATER THE REST OF THE DAY. WILL THIS SAVE ME ANY THING TO TURN OFF MY HOT WATER FROM 10 AM TILL 7 AM THE FOLLOWING DAY FOR APPROX 3 HOURS OF USE. I HAVE A 40 GALLON TANK.

Answer 1

The heat which escapes from the hot water tank is not really lost. The energy is released to your house, helping to keep it warm. If your house uses electric heat, this heat costs exactly the same amount as operating the electric heaters.
By reducing the water temperature the heater will consume less energy. The time it takes to reheat the water is offset by the cooling period when the heater is not operating. The energy savings comes in while the heater remains at the lower temperature setting.
You can also reduce the heater energy consumption by wrapping it in a large insulating blanket and permanently reducing the water temperature so you don't have to mix as much cold water while showering or bathing.

Answer 2

Our family has a camp and every time someone comes and goes, you have to turn the hot water & electricity off. (This is simply because that's what the owners of the camp want us to do).

I assumed this would make our electrical bills higher but we had a plumber go in this summer (for an unrelated issue) and one of the questions we asked was "does turning the electricity and hot water tank on and off each time we come save us money OR cost us more as the tank has to heat up again". We were told no, (and we used a very reputable plumber).

By the way, I don't know if the fact we only use the camp during the warmer months makes a difference -- we're in the Northeast and the camp isn't suited for winter visiting. So from approximately late May to mid-October the camp is used at least once a week and someone is usually there over the weekend.

Answer 3

You will be told lots of opinions on this. For some reason people think it takes more energy to bring cold water to hot, than to leave it hot all of the time. This is not true. Heat is lost based on temperature differential. If the water heater is cooler, it won't give off as much heat.

If your water heater is electric, you can purchase a water heater timer that can be wired in. If gas, you might find that fiddling with the thermostat all of the time causes it to go bad and eat up any cost savings from lowering temp.

You can get a blanket to go over water heater to save heat, and if you are handy at plumbing, you can plumb it so that the water pipe coming out of water heater goes in an upside down "u" shape before going on, so that the heat is trapped and doesn't warm the pipes when you are not using the water.

If going the timer route, don't underestimate the amount of time it takes an electric water heater to heat the water so it is ready for you at 7am.

Answer 4

it really depends on how cold the tank will get while it is off. The money you spend on keeping the tank warm may not be worth a cold shower when you forget to get up early and turn your water heater on.
1. in order to get your water heater back to temp, you may have to turn it on at 6 to have it ready by 7
2. you don't want the tank to get too cold, because the outside of the tank can sweat (like a glass of ice water in the summer time) and cause rusting problems
3. your water heater thermostat manages the temperature of the tank at roughly 110-130 degrees fahrenheit. it will typcally cycle 4-8 times a day to maintain this temperature. if you turn it off for 20 hours in a day, the tank temperature could drop to as low as 50-60 degrees, then your tank has to run continuously to get back to the 120 degree setpoint before it shuts off. so the choice is, run it 6 times a day for 15 minutes, or once a day for up to an hour and a half. not much of a difference.

The best thing to do would be to set it back, turn it from 2 to 1 while your gone. this will allow the tank to stay warm, cycle less and eventually cost less. Your water heater should have efficiency data on a yellow tag on it that will give you an average annual cost.

ALSO- make sure you don't have any faucets/sinks/ etc. leaking hot water, this is a waste of money, since the water you heat is simply going down the drain. Limit your shower time, and rinse your dishes with cold water.

As always, consult your manufacturer with any further questions you may have.

Answer 5

Not really. The best way to save $ is to buy a water heater blanket. If you turn it down for hours, then up when you come home, the burner will run a lot longer to bring it up to the 140 deg than if it was just left alone to maintain the temp.

Answer 6

They have these things at Home Depot or Lowe's that you can put on the hot water heater that has a timer on it so you can set it to come on a little while before you come home in the evenings and you'll have hot water for what you need when you are at home and it shuts off when you have it set to be off. It will save you quite a bit on your electric bill. I have one.

Answer 7

I would buy foam insulation to wrap around the outside to keep the heat in it- a water heater is insulated but wrapping the outside helps tremendously. You can buy something like that at Lowe's. It will keep heat from dispersing. When you turn the heater off for that span of time, unfortunately, it will most likely cool off causing you to have to pay to reheat it from a cold temperature v.s maintaining.

Answer 8

If your using electric it takes 24 hours to reheat the water you used

Oil takes about 8 hours and propane takes about 4 hours to reheat a 40 gal tank to 120F

You will loose (Big oil planed it that way)

Only place you can save is with a tankless heater Last I knew they were over $800

Answer 9

Only if you put it on a timer ,But you wont save much other wise--The new hot water heaters that heat when you use them are better.

Answer 10

Of a house of four, we tried this and it's saved us quite alot on our water bills. Should Work for you.