How hot on water heater setting?

[Richard]

Question...

Does my water heater have TWO different thermostats or just one?

I shut it down last night, took the top cover off and didn't notice any control setting inside there, behind the little plastic cover. I then took the bottom cover off and under the plastic cover, clearly saw 'a' thermostat setting.

I cranked it up a bit & turned things back on. I went to bed figuring I'd deal with this shower thing today, besides, the tank would need some time to get up to temp.

 

[randy41]

there should be one for the upper element and one for the lower element.

 

[RobertN]

Like many in this thread, the temp has been set and reset based on our son.

When he was itty bitty, we set it low, about 120 degrees. Again, at or below scald temp.

Now that he is older(13) we have it set at 150. 150 gets clothes cleaner, and works better in the dish washer too.

 

[RavensRoost]

120 degrees is the "lawyer" setting to prevent scalding, but is not always the best choice depending on your needs and circumstances e.g. no kids or elderly and you like steamy showers, then set in the 130-140 deg range.

The electric water heaters I am familiar with have two thermostats: one actually controls the water temperature and the other is the high temp safety shutdown (has a red "reset" button).

RavensRoost

 

[BigE_]

Situation: Today I'm finally installing the shower fixtures on our new shower. It's got a temp control with numbers on it. I'm supposed to set water temp to 100 degrees via a thermostat in a glass and when it's 100 degrees, I set the temp dial and the shower is 'done'.

It sounds like you have an anti-scalding shower. You set the thermostat on the shower itself? If you set the max temperature on the shower to be 100F, then you won't be able to get more than 100F out of it, no matter how hot your heater is set to. On the plus side, you won't be scalded when someone flushes the toilet.

I'm on a well and run my water heater in the house right around 125F.

Out in the shop I have a little 6 gallon heater, and since I just use this for washing my hands, etc. in the sink I have it set to about 110F. The higher you set the temperature, the longer it takes to run out of hot water, but it costs you more, and you run the risk of scalding.

 

[randy41]

i guess setting your heater too high could be a problem if you have house guests that use your shower and they are elderly or kids because you're not going to remember to turn down the thermostat.

 

[LBrown59]

We set it where we can comfortably wash our hands under the hot water faucet with out having to turn the cold water tap on.

 

[kenmac]

If you want the water hot in one place & not the other. add mixing valves to the fixtures you don't want the water too hot

 

[Wesdor]

We have an "on demand" water heater and have it set at 120. That means our hot water is always 120 degrees and that is hot enough for even me (who likes a hot shower).

We can run 3 showers at the same time and never run out of hot water. Anyone looking to replace a hot water heater, I'd recommend you look into the on demand style. They have been used in Europe for at least 60 years (probably much longer).

 

[woodchuckie]

Water above about 88ｰC (190ｰF) will cause third-degree burns on contact

Scalding is a serious concern with any water heater. Human skin burns quickly at high temperature, e.g., only 60ｰC (140ｰF), but also at lower temperatures, e.g., 50ｰC (120ｰF), if the exposure times are sufficient. Older people and children often receive the most serious scalds due to disabilities or slow reaction times.

There are two seemingly conflicting safety issues around water heater temperature the risk of scalding from excessively hot water, and the risk of incubating bacteria colonies, particularly Legionella, in water that is not hot enough to kill them. Both risks are potentially life threatening and are balanced by setting the water heater's thermostat to 50ｰC (120ｰF). However, if there is a dishwasher without a booster heater, it may require a water temperature within a range of 57ｰC (130ｺF) to 60ｰC (140ｺF) for optimum cleaning