Blankets on modern water heaters

Oct 27, 2008 3 Replies

I found a new-in-box water heater blanket in my basement that the previous owner apparently left.



What is the thought on using this on a modern heater? Will there be any measurable benefit?



The result I'd like to see is the water holding its temperature a little bit longer. We don't use a lot of hot water around my house, morning showers and a weekly load of dishes usually. I like my showers almost painfully hot, and even with the new heater, that first shower of the morning isn't quite up to my standards even on full hot. I tried raising the temperature, and it helped, but it's borderline scalding hot now on a freshly heated tank of water. Any higher and it'll start getting dangerous.


It's just a blanket of fiberglass?

side note - i have fiberglass - hate to deal with it - hate to have the fibers floating around long after you think they are gone

more insulation cannot be a bad thing... does you unit feel warm? it's losing heat, so the wrap should help.

also... wrap some of the pipes leading into and out of the unit... a lot of heat is lost on the copper hot water line.. insulate that as much as you want...

You may have a broken dip tube. Bad heater element, or some other problem.

I guess you are thinking of selling it NIB or you would just install it.

I would use the rule of thumb that if the outside of the water heater feels pretty warm to the touch, you could save something by using the blanket.

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