Water Heater Thermostat settings ?

[AZ Nomad]

we can now blame the obama administration and those damn liberals

[Twayne]

120 to 140 degrees, best I can tell. I chose 130 degrees F, deciding to split the difference, and have never had any problems. But I didn't get the information here: I got it from a few reliable sources, all of whom provided the same temperatures, even the local code enforcement office.

Whenever I see a long list of people crawling out of the woodwork with responses as happened in this thread (and often happens), I seldom bother to read them as the summation of the advice is going to be 1. unverifiable, 2. misleading and 3. based on guesses and "feelings". You seldom ever see anyone give any kind of verifiable information sources.

HTH,

Twayne

[James]

So, Twayne, you split the difference between the lower and upper elements ? From that strategy, do you get pretty even water temperature throughout its

50 gallon capacity ??

Thanks !!

James

------------------------------

120 to 140 degrees, best I can tell. I chose 130 degrees F, deciding to split the difference, and have never had any problems. But I didn't get the information here: I got it from a few reliable sources, all of whom provided the same temperatures, even the local code enforcement office.

Twayne

--------------------------------- Please remember, the only question from this OP was whether the top thermostat should be set at same temp as the lower one. Out of 34 messages so far, I think one person has addressed this single question posed in the OP. Most other messages have tried to tell me **what temperature** I should set my water heater. As I noted in my OP, I have already decided that.

Thanks !!

James

[Oren]

And, the OP never mentioned what Rheem (maker), installer, or the manual (RTFM) said about the settings for top / bottom.

It is an exaggeration, to say that "Most other messages have tried to tell me **what temperature** I should set my water heater".

Point out the critter that 'told' you what to "set" the heater to. I just don't see it.

You decided 115° - what's the fuss.

Thank you!

[Oren]

Set up a web cam, I want to watch this video.

:-/

[Jon Danniken]

When I was a child we didn't have all of these silly nanny-minded safety measures, and we turned out fine. If you are stupid, or clumsy, you get burnt. If you fail to learn the lesson, you are probably too stupid to deserve to live anyway.

This is the way it has always been, and by changing this, we are doing a dis-service to future generations of humans.

Jon

[clare]

For health reasond ALL water heaters should be set to 150F or higher. Below that Legionella thrive and you can catch legionaires disease in the shower. Use a tempering valve if you want to limit the temperature in your pipes (required by law in a lot of areas)

[clare]

I was told 145 was the minimum "safe" temperature with 150 recommended.

[clare]

NOT all dishwashers have auxilliary heaters. Only the better ones with sanitizer.

[clare]

It's your funeral.

[norminn]

I've never heard of anyone getting Legionnaire's Disease from a home water system or from showering....if it is growing in home water heaters with temps below 150, there should be a hell of a lot of people getting it.

With young children or elderly people, I would not keep the temp higher than about 115.

[norminn]

The heat of the water in washing dishes doesn't have much to do with disease prevention...mainly the mechanical cleaning action and not using sponges, cloths or towels that are growing bacteria.

[Oren]

Certainly. You have to know how to mount a seat in an outhouse. You could fall in. What was a swimming class, in those days? Thrown into the lake - SWIM!

Way back then children handled guns, drove at 14 years of age or even owned a first car at 12 or 14. You could drive at night with the 16 year old sister in the car (licensed sister).

Kids today never lived before in-door plumbing.

[Oren]

It seems to me that Canada is really worried about all this danger. I cannot find where America is overly concerned - just an observation.

I've kissed fish before release and haven't caught any odd disease.

[krw]

That's not very good logic.

I'd keep it at 140F, but I tended to teach the kid basic safety. In fact when he was a kid our hot water came directly out of the furnace at closer to 180F.

[Steve Barker]

no they don't.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Actually, I know someone that had it last year and yes, the water system was supposed to be the culprit. I did not see the results first hand though.

[clare]

There have been reports in the news lately about a study done in Quebec, I believe - and the incidence is much higher than you may want to believe.

[terry]

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D If the choice is a very low 115 deg. as the chosen temp. recommend top thermosta be set at that. Game over; any other consequences being the OPs responsibility. Bottom one same or lower.

BUT, one has to comment and that's where anyone can benefit from the opinions/knowledge and comments of this goup!

Otherwise why even bother to ask?

Comment:

Our Dept. of Health recommends that hot water for dish washing be around 160 dgrees. F. And during school kitchen inspections they will often measure it!

Domestically our dishes are washed in a dishwasher which does several washings and rinsings. AFIK it also heats the water further again to achieve a certain safe temperature.

But setting a water heater too low may achieve no economy? For example, when showering/bathing one adjust the total water temperature for self. If the hot water is hotter, one uses less of it and/or more cold. So the end result is the same; a certain total amount of the mixed hot/cold water.

Also there can be concerns about not having the water hot enough to kill certain bacteria, which could perhaps get into the tank once and then continue to breed/multiply in there.

IMO the difference in the amount of heat lost, from a well insulated hot water tank whether it is set to say 160 F or 120 F degrees is minimal. The cost, at most, being a few pennies/cents per day.

Regarding 115 deg. F whether top versus bottom thermostat or not. Fifty gallons is quite lot of hot water unless it's boarding house/ large family etc. In that case maybe the OP could set the upper at 115 and turn the bottom one as low as possible, maybe even off? .

[krw]

Hot water does a far better job of cleaning (bacteria off) the dishes.