[Shish]

A Complete Guide To Ideal Water Heater Temperature

[Marathon Man]

I would not set it to 140. That creates a risk of burns.

[rsimpson]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

I would not set it to 140. That creates a risk of burns.

My lovely wife REQUIRES the 140 setting! And I use a 5-gal bucket to catch several gallons of water from going down the drain. I water my lawn in "poor grass" areas.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

I would not set it to 140. That creates a risk of burns.

Best to measure it at the point of use. For newer construction with tankless heater, 140 is probably below 130 after traveling from the front corner of the garage, under most of the house, to the master bath.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Best to measure it at the point of use. For newer construction with tankless heater, 140 is probably below 130 after traveling from the front corner of the garage, under most of the house, to the master bath.

I would not rely on the ground to keep me safe. Measuring now will result in a different temperature than in August.

[FloridaGuy66]

Originally Posted by pauld315

You need to price out the on demand systems and find out what they cost installed. I will be bet they are way more than $900.. I put one in a previous home and it was around $3000 back 15 or more years ago.

You can find them for less than $900 or more than $900. I just threw out the quote of $900 as I know my retired plumber friend just installed one for a relative and the actually Rheem on demand heater was $897 from Home Depot or something like that.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

I would not rely on the ground to keep me safe. Measuring now will result in a different temperature than in August.

Maybe a little, water lines are less than a foot under the slab and heat transfer is slow.

My cold water temp ranges from 70 - 76 year round.

[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Underground piping is not insulated. The insulation would soak up water and become useless. And you wouldn't want insulation inside your concrete foundation. Greed not involved.

When we had out Design visit last May, adding the hot water recirculating loop was an option, for a not so small $8,500 fee. I was told all hot water lines were also insulated, in that option. Also, I would hope any lightly buried water lines are not sitting in water! Under any slab! Should be very dry under the slab.

[Rocksnap]

New construction with a Rheem on demand water heater set to 120. Our master bath is the furthest from the tank. At 120, the master bath temp is marginal, at least with these winter months. Tried setting the temp higher than 120, didn’t budge. Just say a YouTube video how to bump it higher. Going to set 125 next to see how that goes. For the winter months anyhow. Don’t forget to do an annual flush on the heater. Perhaps 2-3 times a year, for those that have not installed a water filter/softner. The how to, also on YouTube. Also a good idea to keep a spare ignition for the heater on hand. As well as an A/C capacitor. Both these items are common fail items. Both are cheap enough to keep a spare, as they usually fail at the worst time. Both are easy enough to swap out via YouTube videos. You can thank me later.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by dougawhite

Problem with setting a high temp for an on-demand heater is the heater's minimum flow rate specification. Mine has a 0.7 gal/min minimum to keep running. With many shower heads that is more than half the flow rate. If you set the heater at 140 and mix with cold to get a 110 or so temp out of the shower head, that brings you very close to the minimum flow rate for the water heater. You may end up having the heater shut off, resulting in an all-cold shower.

good except that we run 130 out of the shower head at max temp
120 is a safety limit to prevent skin burns for sensitive skin.
I have a bunch of sun burned leather on my back

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

I would not rely on the ground to keep me safe. Measuring now will result in a different temperature than in August.

seriously, if we change the temperature higher for Jan/Feb, do you not think we can set it back for warmer/hotter months?

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

seriously, if we change the temperature higher for Jan/Feb, do you not think we can set it back for warmer/hotter months?

Of course you can. My point is this. Suggesting to people who will not think to reduce the setting in summer that they should run their heater at skin burn temperature is irresponsible.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Of course you can. My point is this. Suggesting to people who will not think to reduce the setting in summer that they should run their heater at skin burn temperature is irresponsible.

Still insulting everyone's intelligence,

don't you think that as the ground warms with the season, that the shower head temperature will slowly increase as well, and when the increase hits the too hot for all the way on , then people will wander out to the garage and change the setting? The knob in the shower is also able to adjust temperature down. . .

please, many of us posters and typists still have working brains.

Only the people who think the shower temp is either hot or off have some issues

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

seriously, if we change the temperature higher for Jan/Feb, do you not think we can set it back for warmer/hotter months?

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Of course you can. My point is this. Suggesting to people who will not think to reduce the setting in summer that they should run their heater at skin burn temperature is irresponsible.

Does the cold water not run to your shower?

If you can set your heater to a temperature that you like to shower in with straight hot water, great! If the straight hot water is too hot for a spouse or a visitor or during the summer then add a little cold water to the mix. It has never occurred to me to try and adjust the shower temperature using the dial on the hot water heater.

I find it very easy to avoid burns by testing the water temperature before I step into the shower. I test the water at every hotel I stay in and I test the water at home. If I choose to not do that then who is to blame for any discomfort I may experience?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

My water heater is behind the wall of the guest bathroom. I take my showers in the guest bathroom. I get hot water within 15 seconds. It's magnificent.