Is it ok to turn off electric water heater at the panel for a month?

[AC/DCdude17]

X-No-Archive: Yes

If I'll be on a vacation for two to four weeks, is it alright to turn off the electric water heater at the panel to save power or does it need power for something like cathodic protection to work?

It's got two thermostats and they're both under a metal cover, so it is quite a bit of work to remove both covers and turn the thermostats down with a screw driver.

[Lori & Dean Wigmore]

Go ahead and shut off breakers. The water heater uses a sacrificial anode for corrosion protection. Just be sure there is water in the tank before turning power on to avoid burning out the element. This can be accomplished by running water from the hot tap and ensuring there is no air coming out.

Dean

[Ned Flanders]

Electric water heater should have a shut-off switch in plain sight of tank. I like the ones with a small led to indicate when it is on.

This would be cheap for the electriction to do.

accomplished