My 50-gal Whirlpool "EnergyStar" waterheater has a Unitrol nat-gas controller. The water temp ranges from lukewarm to scalding. Whirlpool of course says that's a normal range.
Questions:
- Is Unitrol a respected control? (Obviously I'm disappointed.)
- Is there any way to minimize the range around 105F?
- Is there any way manually -- without playing with temp dial -- to trigger the Unitrol to fire before temp hits rock bottom?
Many Thanks, Herb
How old is it? One common problem in older hot water heaters is that the internal pipe that runs the cold water down to the bottom of the tank breaks or disintegrates. On some models this tube is plastic. When that happens then the cold water mixes directly with the hot coming out. Sometimes it is possible to replace the tube but you have to have pretty substantual clearance above the tank, otherwise you have to disconnect it and lay it down to get the new tube in.
Health Dept says *MINIMUM* temp is 125F. Most dishwashers (unless they have pre-heat) require *MINIMUM* of 140F. Several years back there was a hotel that was having an American Legion convention and a lot of people got seriously ill...the cause was traced back to hot water temps of 105F...hot hot enough to kill bacteria.
You can do what you want, but you might do some homework *BEFORE* you put yourself and your family at risk.
The waterheater is 9-months old. I just measured the temp of water from the bottom tap: 118F. "C+" according to my wife. Last night the bath water got an "A". The temp ranges too widely for my taste. If the temp is 118F at the bottom of the tank, at the top it should be the prescribed 125F approximately.
Thanks again, Herb
P.S. This newsgroup is educational. I rarely learn much about HVAC, but I'm understanding dear old dad more all the time. He was a hard- drinking hard-swearing master plumber. I always blamed the WW II and the Navy, while evidently his trade was the main culprit. :-)
Most hold a pretty constant temp. Try running it higher and see if that has an effect.
I suppose it's possible the >> >>
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