electric water heater temp?

[stevej37]

I was told by a guy that the elements should never be set below 130 degrees because of potential bacteria growth in the tank.
I checked mine today and both were set at 130 degrees....so I edged both of them up to 140 degrees.

Is that a common setting, or should I try for 135?

[rwest]

Never heard of that before and can’t imagine that a few degrees makes a difference. Cooking meat needs 160 degrees.

Code in MN for public plumbing fixtures is 120 degrees or less to avoid scalding people.

I keep mine at around 100 degrees because I’m cheap and then I just run only the hot side for showers.

Of course having a warmer temp allows you to blend with cold and therefore you have a longer duration of hot water if you have a lot of usage in a short period of time.

Bottom line, is turn that thing down and don’t listen to that guy anymore, except for flat earth info!

[Chocaholic]

Have always kept mine at 120 to avoid scalding.

[stevej37]

I just now googled it and it said...
'Most experts agree that anything below 120 degrees creates a risk for bacteria to develop inside your water heater from stagnant water, such as legionella that causes Legionnaire's disease.'

I'll return it to 130 degrees....thanks!

[Evans, Marv]

I guess tankless water heaters are different in that respect in that they don't store a tank of water, so there's nothing to provide a reservoir for bacteria growth. I keep my front water heater set at 135 for the laundry and dishwasher. The rear one is set at 120 degrees for the three bathrooms in the back of the house. Seems to have worked out OK so far.

[Evans, Marv]

^^^^ Edited! Wouldn't want to scorch the skin off of anybody. Both are propane. I use about .23 (a bit less than a quart) gal./day.

[stevej37]

^^^ Got it.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I just now googled it and it said...
'Most experts agree that anything below 120 degrees creates a risk for bacteria to develop inside your water heater from stagnant water, such as legionella that causes Legionnaire's disease.'

I'll return it to 130 degrees....thanks!

Stagnant is the risk, most of us are using water from the heater multiple times a day, that water is not sitting around growing weird stuff.

[Bill Douglas]

Here in NZ we have to have them at 55 Celcius - that's about 130 F. and like Steve said to prevent Legionnaire's disease. New installations have to have a anti scald fitting too. That's so if the thermostat goes whacky and near boiling water comes out it's diluted with cold to bring it back to 55 C.

[masraum]

The "standard" is 140° on every water heater that I've ever seen/had, but anything that you read on energy efficiency says that they should be set to 120°.

In the summer when ground water is warm I have reduced the temp of the water heater. In the winter when the ground water is cold the heater goes back up. Butt even then I usually sick to 130-140°.

For you folks wondering how ground water temp impacts things, we used to live in an apt where the shower mixer valve was moderate and limited the shower temp too much.

[stevej37]

I don't mind paying for a small extra amount of electricity.....if it keeps the water hot.
Nothing worse than running out of hot water in the morning shower.

[Evans, Marv]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I don't mind paying for a small extra amount of electricity.....if it keeps the water hot.
Nothing worse than running out of hot water in the morning shower.

Isn't finishing up with cold water at the end of a shower supposed to promote good health? That could have been more beneficial than you appreciated.

[rwest]

I stand corrected on running the temp up, but I still have to wonder how common it is to get a bacterial disease from your household water supply that gets daily use.

Have to think it is pretty rare or we would have heard a lot more about it over the years.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I don't mind paying for a small extra amount of electricity.....if it keeps the water hot.
Nothing worse than running out of hot water in the morning shower.

Exactly.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rwest

I stand corrected on running the temp up, but I still have to wonder how common it is to get a bacterial disease from your household water supply that gets daily use.

Have to think it is pretty rare or we would have heard a lot more about it over the years.

Right. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

I also had a plumber tell me years ago, that once a year you should flush your water heater, but before that you should pour a cup of bleach into it and let it sit for a while before the flush to ensure that you killed anything inside. I've never done that, but that's what he said. At the time I didn't really think about it at all, but while there is some bacteria that grows in hot water, I think that's pretty specialized and unlikely to end up in water heaters unless you drop them down to thermal vents in the ocean.

[stevej37]

Well...I already had my flu shot for this year.
I wonder if it's good for Legionnaires Disease....which is a type of flu
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