Save Energy By Turning Water Heater Off?
a friend recently told us that he turns the water heater in his home off in the late morning, after taking a shower, and turns it back on early morning, about an hour before he showers. does this actually save energy/money? will doing this damage the water heater?
i know people turn water heaters off during extended periods of time (e.g. vacations), but is the day-to-day solution a good one?
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November 14, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
This isn’t a good solution. Yes, it will save you money on electric or gas costs, but it is much harder on the water heater and will cause it to wear out much quicker.
If you want to save energy, wrap insulation around your water pipes to help conserve the heat in the water lines. Also, there is a new type of water heater that has been developed called a tankless water heater. Tankless water heaters save energy because unlike your traditional water heater, they have no tank. They basically heat the water on demand. So they heat it as you use it. If you’re that concerned about saving energy, consider buying a tankless water heater.
November 15, 2009 @ 3:51 am
Most of these folks, although probably well meaning, just haven’t got a clue. I’ve had a timer on my electric water heater for over 15 years, (same unit, no problems), that turns it off at 7:00 AM and turns it back on at 9:00 PM. Those are the times my electiric rates change each day. I get super cheap electric at night time and it gets some more expensive during the daytime, so I heat my water when the elec. is cheap. Unless we take a couple showers after 7:00 AM, there’s still enough hot water at 7:00 PM to make you move your hand out of the way. As long as the elements stay immersed in water and aren’t eaten away by a high calcium, (lime), content in your water the unit should last a long time.
November 15, 2009 @ 10:19 am
there’s a company called renai (sp?) that has a unit that heats water on demand which saves money. i believe it’s a similar cost to a new hot water heater.
November 15, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
it is better to adjust the temp. to what you use on a day to day base’s.try lowering the temp gage to a lower setting till it is right for your needs .also a timer for elect water heater is good too
November 15, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
it isnt going to save you enough money to worry about. what happens when you dont turn your water heater on soon enough. it takes a while to heat up 40 gallons of water. what about washing your hands or dishes do you just use cold water. it is not practical to do this. i can understand if you are going away for a couple of weeks, but if you do this all the time you are going to probably screw up your hot water heater.
November 16, 2009 @ 2:18 am
not worth it
November 16, 2009 @ 2:19 am
no it dont save energy the water heater is supposed to be lit all the time
November 16, 2009 @ 5:39 am
no ,you can save by turning off the lights and useing the sun. if you want to take a shower in cold water then it would be better to turn off the water heater.
November 16, 2009 @ 7:50 am
Saving will be negligible and heater’s life will be slightly reduced.
Best savings are:
Reduce usage of hot water in shower, laundry, and washer a much as practical.
November 16, 2009 @ 11:04 am
Yes, it can save you money. The water in the water heater cools down just like anything else does. When it falls below a certain tempertaure (just like your heater/AC) it will come on and heat it back up to the temperature you have it set to. Some electric companies actually give you a discount during the summer to install a box on it that keeps it from running so much.
November 16, 2009 @ 4:56 pm
Listen to the advice given by Corky R…it is correct. Turning water off and on in an older or non-insulated water heater though is not going to do the trick. He probably is a home owner and put his own water heater in! If you are renting, you probably haven’t done this nor will you. Cheapest solution is to turn the water heater down before you leave for work, turn it back on when you get home or right before you take a shower to get into bed, and by all means, even if you don’t own the apartment, home, whatever you are living in, get an insulated wrap for it. They are usually available at your local hardware supply store such as Ace or Home Depot, or Orchard Supply Hardware, etc. That way, when you turn the water off in the morning, it will keep the water hot all day long…at least until you get home. This is also way more energy efficient than doing nothing.
November 16, 2009 @ 5:42 pm
NOPE!
If the heater is turned on within an hour it’s a waste anyway. The water in a good heater stays warm for no less than 2 days.
To reheat cold water to the settings on the heater, will always use more energy.
Doing it day to day is useless, and stressful on the mechanics of the heater.
Rev. Steven
November 16, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
no you may save a dollar a year by doing this. the water will take longer than an hour to heat up and you can burn up the elements and thermocouples doing this.
November 17, 2009 @ 12:00 am
IF it was made in the 70′s gas hog , today system is more energy efficient.
November 17, 2009 @ 2:39 am
Not good. The energy load required to bring cold water up to the hot water level will require considerably more energy consumption than allowing the unit to only use energy as required to maintain proper temp. Compare it to driving your car. It would be like when you get to cruising speed, say 65 mph, to just turn the engine off and coast till you stop. Then restart the car and accelerate back to 65MPH. Acceleration is when you get poor gas mileage and consider the fact that a cruise control on a car is designed to give you best gas mileage by only using amount of gas required to maintain a steady speed. Conversely, reheating cold water back to hot water level uses much more energy to bring it up to operating temp than it would require to maintain a constant temperature with an occasional warm up. Your thermostat control on your water heater is similar to the cruise control on your automobile. It only uses energy as needed to maintain a constant hot water level. A water heater is super insulated to keep the water hot for extended periods of time and then only uses energy as needed to keep it hot.
November 17, 2009 @ 6:58 am
No it is not a good idea. That is too much stress on your water heater not to mention the time it takes to heat all that water again for use.
I do something else that saves me lots more money than that. My water is only hot enough to shower with when it is on without using cold water. I understand this saves on the pipes and it definitely has saved on my bill. Little irritating for the dishes but I have a little hot water thing that I pump up the dish water with. If you had a heating dishwasher you wouldn’t even have to worry about that.
November 17, 2009 @ 9:51 am
This will save you money in the short term probably not enough to be worth the trouble. You might consider getting a smaller water heater if you’re the only person in the household or turn the temperature down on the water heater so it doesn’t have to maintain such a high heat. You can also get on-demand water heaters but they are not quite to the point of cost justifying unless you go through more than 80 gallons of hot water per day. Look elsewhere for energy savings by replacing a light with energy efficient bulbs or keeping the air conditioner off during the summer.
November 17, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Just set your water heater to a lower temp. Turning it on and off you actually use more electricity.
Stop and think about it the water has to heat up all over again. That is common sense.
November 17, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
That’s actually a good tip. I’m sure it’ll save on energy costs.
November 17, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
i wouldn’t bother with this during the summer. in the winter it can save you money though
November 17, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
every day no….i would for a longer period of time only.
November 17, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
no not really, you’ll save about 5 dollars a year.
a more efficient method is to put a good quality fiberglass blanket wrap aroud the hotwater heater. it will keep the temp up for longer periods of time, which prevents the need to constantly reheat the water.
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