Would raising the temperature on your water heater save you money due to using less of the hot water?

Question

or would it cost more due to the fact you have to heat it more?

My whole thought was if you heat the water hotter that means when you go to take a shower you use less of the hot water due not having as much hot as if you had it set so you just used hot water in tern using less hot water which would mean the hot water heater would have to heat water less. This is wrong I guess thats why I asked.

Answer 1

The hot water heater would use more energy to heat the water to higher temperatures offsetting any energy conservation from not heating the additional water.

Answer 2

No! Higher temp in water tank equals more electricity or gas used each month and more on the bills. On Demand water heaters only heat the water that you are going to use when you need it. The cheapest in the long run is A.) solar water heater, B) ground source heat pump that heats and cools your house and heats the water, C) on demand water heater. The ground source heat pump cost the most to have installed followed by the solar water heater then the on demand water heater. Myself I would have the solar water heater backed up by an on demand water heater for those days that the sun doesn't shine; Like it has Oklahoma for the last couple of weeks because it has rained just about every day for the last month or so. The ground source heat pump is probably the least expensive over the long run because of the heating / cooling and the hot water and the reduced bills.

Answer 3

Shower heads use 2-1/2 gallons per minute. While you are using the hot water, cold water is going into the tank to replace it. This lowers the temperature of the water in the tank. The initial part of the shower would be cheaper but soon over run. You are paying to keep water hot, even when you are not using it so the cost is higher to keep the temp set higher.

Answer 4

No, it won't save you money. It can only save you money if you use it right away. Which is the entire problem with water heaters, they heat water under the assumption that you always need it. Even when you're asleep. If you raise the temp. on your water heater, you only require it to keep the water hotter, thus using more electricity. To really save on hot water, buy an on-demand water heater. It's smaller and cheaper on electricity because it only heats water as you need it. It also saves on water, because they don't have to run for a long time to get the water to the faucet.

Answer 5

It will cost you more to keep it heated to the higher temperature. It is so hot here during the summer we keep ours down to the lowest setting you can get before getting to the "vacation" setting. The lower you can comfortably keep your setting the more money you will save. A water heater works by keeping the entire tankful heated, at all times, to the setting you select.

Answer 6

How are you using less hot water by making it hotter? It would cost you a lot more to heat water to a higher temperature.

Answer 7

when you raise the setting on the hot water heater you are doing to things
1 using more electirc
2 shorting the life of the heating units inside
3 and shorting the life of the hot water heater
4 and also causing personell injury

Answer 8

You save because it does not have to heat it as hot. You can save more by buying a water heater blanket to hold the heat in also.

Answer 9

raising the temperature on the heater,will only make the water hotter,the factory setting should be 125 degrees,also by raising the temperature it could create a problem for someone to get burned,low or high temperature does not increase you bills,it all depends on how much water you use.

Answer 10

Absolutely not because of the energy used to maintain the higher temperature. The only benefit you will notice is that you and your family members can take longer showers before the hot water runs out. If you have a large household, you will soon discover that your water bill will increase as well as your energy bill because you'll all be taking longer showers! (This comes from experience.)