Adding a second water heater

[CobyRupert]

I probably take longer than 12 minutes in the shower. I have never seen a female take a 12 minute shower. Actually that's not true.

Do you have any pictures?? :licking::confused2:

 

[joefromga]

Tankless won't work without new wiring. Your little 12-3 wire will barely run a hand sink tankless at less than 1/2 gal per minute. But it will get hot, just runs slow.

There are tankless whole home systems that will do whatever you want but they run into 36 KILOWATT. That's probably triple 4ga wire or bigger and it gets expensive quickly.

They are the best and will work in any climate. Just depends on what you expect and want to spend. Remember they only run when the water is on. Not having to heat 50gal of water 24/7 in the winter while you're at work.

 

[joefromga]

This one from home Depot will raise incoming temp 65 degree at 3.03 gpm. That's well over shower use.

It's rated at 120 amps, 28kw. You'd probably need another panel just to use it.



It's 773.00 plus wire and breakers but you'd never run out of hot water again and probably save money on your bill.

 

[PILOON]

Gas, be it propane or natural gas will provide you with the fastest recovery rate.
Downside is gas tanks are close to double electric to purchase and probably fail at the same projected 10 year mark.
Naturally you need reasonable gas rates.
If you have or are considering a generator installation gas is also the best and both can share the same gas tank installation.

 

[xtn]

This one from home Depot will raise incoming temp 65 degree at 3.03 gpm. That's well over shower use.

Well...I guess if you use one of those modern, legal shower heads. I haven't found one yet that I was willing to live with in its unmodified state.

But anyway, that's 120-amps @ 240-volts. Holy crap. And that's only for one shower. Somebody trying to wash dishes at the same time? Your screwed.

 

[2ndhalf]

wow, popular thread.. OP what you mentioned would probably work but an easier and less costly solution is to just go install a new 50 - 80 gallon water heater... here is why..

New efficiency standards for residential water heaters are on the horizon

All new water heaters have flow restrictors that will allow your precious kids to take their 15 minute shower but use less hot water because it pinches back the hot water. They will whine about the flow being less but you will not have to put in two water heaters. I know because I just replaced a 40 year old water heater and I now have more hot water than I can use... just less pressure. Turn the temp up to 150 on the heater.

 

[prs]

Most traditional electric heaters have two elements, but only use one at a time. The bottom one does the bulk of the work. The top one kicks in as the water up top drops in temp by some pre-set amount. When the top one kicks in, the bottom one is shut off. One old trick is to supply each heating element's thermostat with an independent supply, each with its own breaker circuit. I have not tried it, but have heard of it quite a few times.

prs

 

[old243]

Have you tested the elements in your water heater, Use an ohm meter, Disconnect the power to the water heater. Remove the wires from the elements. . First you test for continuity, across the two terminals of the element the meter should indicate full scale if ok, and no reading if defective. next test for a short to ground. Test from each terminal to the tank. If you get a reading to ground you have a bad element, An element with a short to ground will provide some heat depending where the defect is. It is also a hog on hydro usage. This is usually caused by a lightning strike , that blows a hole in the side of the element and fuses the heating filament to the outer coat. It is not a bad idea to make these tests at least once a year, or if your tank doesn't seem to be working right, or if your hydro bill, spikes.


I worked at a electrical utility and did a lot of water heating trouble shooting. Ran into this problem, quite often. old 243

 

[SPYDERLK]

There is no advantage to that.

Say you've got two 50-gal tanks. You use 50 gallons of hot water for your shower. In series, the first heater has to heat up the entire 50 gallons again while the second tank experiences no load. In parallel, both tanks have to heat up 25 gallons.

Either way, you've got 50 gallons to heat, and that's going to take X amount of BTUs to heat it, regardless of whether one unit is doing all the heating or two units are each doing half the heating.

True. The advantage to series is, considering cyclic use as a norm, it can be set up for better efficiency:

Yes, definitely in series -- the 1st at minimum T setting and the 2nd at your desired hot water temp. Bite the bullet on elec circuits and use the stock elements. You will have unlimited hot water and much more efficient than holding 2 tanks at full desired T.

...... Better yet use an on demand heater as the second. That way youre only storing a tank of water prewarmed and ready for the boost. Very little quiescent heat loss and unlimited hot water.

 

[old243]

PRS, to have the both elements working at the same time . Go to the upper thermostat. There are 4 terminals. move the wire that feeds the bottom element to the upper screw rather than the lower. , you will end up with wires on the upper screw. this will start the lower element as soon as the lower thermostat senses cold water. As the cold return is at the bottom.

We are just two seniors , our hot water usage is lower. A few years ago I disconnected the lower thermostat entirely. We are probably operating on less than 20 gallons on a 40 gallon tank, don't run out. My wife usually has her washer set on the cold setting. Also does her washing on the weekend, when our hydro rates are lower. Call me cheap if you like, don't mind saving a buck.old243