Blogs

In order to make sure your hot showers are hot and your clothes get washed, setting the right temperature for your hot water heater is key. Making sure the set temperature is correct will save you money on your utilities bill as readily as it will protect your family’s health. Also, be sure to check out our hot water heater replacement service. Why is the right hot water heater temperature important? Having the right water temperature for your hot water heater is key. Not only does it ensure that you have a comfortable shower, it equally mitigates potential health risks that can occur if temperature is improperly set. At the bare minimum, set your water heater temperature to the safe range of 125-140 degrees F (up to 60 degrees C). If your water heater’s tank temperature falls below the 120 degree F range, your tank is at risk of fostering the growth of bacteria. Because the water is stagnant and warm, it provides the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive: if the water isn’t hot enough to kill any organism that might grow inside, you risk putting yourself and your family in harm’s way with your bathing and drinking water. One of the main risks with a water temperature that is too low is the chance of Legionella developing in your water heater tank. Legionella is a bacteria that loves warm water and when it is ingested by people (usually by being breathed in) it can cause Legionnaire’s Disease, leading to cough, fever, diarrhea, and worse – pneumonia. This disease can be found in portable water tanks, heaters, hot tubs, water fountains, and more where the temperature will consistently remain between 68 and 122 degrees F. With serious consequences, making sure your water heater is not set too low will allow you to mitigate the risk of Legionella and other bacteria forming in your water heating unit. It is important to note that there is a misconception about how a water heater reads its temperature setting: the temperature set and read within the unit is not the output temperature at your point-of-use (a faucet, for instance) but instead the temperature of the water in the tank where the thermostat is located. The thermostat is usually located near the bottom of the tank close to the heating elements, meaning it is being exposed to a higher general water temperature and thus skews the reading of outgoing water. This is important to note as your unit does not register the outgoing water and can potentially cause scalding risks at the point-of-use. In order to find the healthy balance between avoiding bacteria and avoiding scalding your family, it has become more common for water heater manufacturers to add thermostatic mixing valves to their water heating units. This allows for the water to become superheated in the tank and then mixed with cold water to achieve a safe temperature before it is shipped off to the shower head or faucet. Factors in choosing your water heater temperature There are a few factors to consider when setting your new water heater’s temperature. Working with your water heater technician and consulting the manufacturer’s notes of your new unit will allow you to precisely set an outgoing temperature that is comfortable, efficient, and safe. Money-saving Groundwater Temperature Members of your household Relative hot water temperatures

Tankless water heaters (check out our tankless water heater installation service) are pretty quiet machines, all things considered. Where with tank-based units you might hear such noises like pressurized sediment buildup banging around the tank, the on-demand heating of a tankless water heater eliminates a lot of places where noise can emerge. Despite having a design that minimizes noise, tankless water heaters are still subject to occasionally getting chatty. Most of the noises are normal and to be expected, but some abnormal noises can point to malfunctions in the unit’s operation that are worth inspecting. It is important to remember that servicing your tankless water heater without a certification can void the manufacturer’s warranty of your unit. Furthermore, to mitigate any risks that are present when dealing with high-power heating, pressure, and water systems, calling your trusted water heater technician is strongly recommended. At Pink Plumbing we offer comprehensive warranty and servicing plans when you install a new water heater with us: rest easy knowing your home’s water heating system is being taken care of by our highly-specialized and Navien-certified technicians. Common tankless water heater noises Vibrating and rattling from ventilation system Screeching or ‘kettle’ noises Vibration noises Popping, sizzling, or crackling noises

Does your tank-based gas hot water heater need electricity to operate? In the general sense, no, not really – the heating elements are fuelled by a non-electrical source. That being said, depending on the type of ignition system your water heater uses, you may be in trouble if a power outage were to affect your household. Your gas water heater uses natural gas to fuel its heat exchanger, lighting a burner and heating a conductive element that transfers heat to the tank and the water. As long as the flame is active and fuel is going to the unit, no electricity is needed. This is an especially attractive feature of traditional tank-based models as in the case of a power outage, you will still have access to hot water and can even heat more when needed. With tankless water heaters, a lack of electricity causes your water heating to turn off completely: even gas-fueled tankless models have countless interrelated electrical components like flow sensors, control panels, temperature gauges, pressure valves, and more. When one of those goes, the water heater usually cannot operate and you cannot heat water. This being said, many gas water heaters still technically need electricity to fulfill one of their critical functions: lighting the burners that heat your water tank. An electric pilot light is one of the only necessary electrical components in a traditional tank-based gas water heater. A small spark from an electrical connection is what lights the gas entering the heat exchanger. Once the burners are on, the pilot light is no longer needed but without the pilot light, those burners stay off and gas floods the ignition chamber, causing a safety risk. Thus, the main differentiator as to whether your tank-based water heater needs electricity or not is in the fuel ignition system your model uses. There are two: standing pilot-controlled water heaters and electrical ignition water heaters. Let’s learn a little about each. 1. Standing pilot water heaters do not need electrical power If you have a gas hot water heater that uses a non-electrical pilot light, you’re in luck in the event of a power outage. These units have a constantly-running flame (a pilot light) that is used to instantly ignite the burner when needed. The pilot light is not meant to go out but it occasionally can if cut off from fuel. This is no issue in a power outage however. This small pilot flame is lit through piezoelectric components: this is a type of electrical charge that forms in solid materials like crystals and ceramics. By applying force to a piezoelectric material (like banging it into another piezoelectric thing), a small spark is created without the addition of extra electricity. The application of force usually comes from a button located in the body of the heater: much like many barbeques, pushing the button causes the piezoelectric crystals to smack into each other (causing that tick-tick-tick noise we know so well) until they create a spark and ignite the gas in the chamber. Just like that and without an electrical plug-in, you have live flame! Standing pilot-controlled water heaters were more common with older models – many manufacturers are switching to electrical ignition for its dependence and energy efficiency (no constantly-running light). The main way to tell if your water heating unit is a standing pilot light is by inspecting the base of the unit. If you see a small burner, a temperature regulator, and a piezoelectric button, you very likely have a standing pilot model. The good news is that if your power or the pilot light goes out, you can still manually (and carefully) turn on your water heater as long as it is connected to a gas line with fuel. Even if the piezoelectric button is malfunctioning you can manually light it with a match or a lighter. If the pilot light does not turn on after a few tries however, disconnect the unit from the gas and contact a specialist to avoid causing any gas buildup and fire risks. 2. Electrical ignition water heaters need electrical power While the standing pilot light models do not require any electrical charge to ignite the gas burners of your water heater, electric-controlled ignition is a different story. These types of water heating units need a small amount of electricity to ignite their burners and without access to power, you will be unable to heat water. These ignition systems were designed to be more energy-efficient given that they do not need to be on all the time like a standing pilot light. There are two: intermittent pilot ignition and hot surface ignition (HSI). Intermittent pilot ignition is exactly what it sounds like: a small pilot light is lit every time the burners are activated and then turns off until it is needed again. Because it is inefficient to manually create a piezoelectric spark every time your unit’s heat exchanger turns on (you’d have to be going to your water heater all the time to push the button), this type of ignition depends on an electrical charge that creates sparks at the burners to light them. Hot surface ignition works differently in the sense that it does not use a pilot light. Instead, electricity is pumped into a few resistance elements made of thermally-conductive materials like silicon nitride or silicon carbide. These materials will rapidly absorb heat and become glowing-hot in no time, igniting the burners on demand. If your household is subject to frequent power outages, it is important to mention this to your trusted water heater technician when beginning the process of replacing your water heater. With that, you’ll be able to choose the best water heater for your home and its fuel availability. At Pink Plumbing we work with our clients at every step of the process to ensure your new water heater is catered uniquely to your home and your lifestyle.

Picking the right tank size for your hot water is critical to ensuring you get efficient and accessible water heating for the lifetime of your new unit. The capacity needed for your new water heater is relative to each household: the number of people in your home, your lifestyle, your habits, the location of your home, and more have to be considered when making a sizing choice. The easiest way to start, however, is to ask yourself if your current tank adequately meets the current demand of your household. If it does, then you can likely get the same size water heater and notice no difference. For cases where the tank does not meet demand, then sizing up will be the option. Going too big isn’t preferable either; the size can make installation and servicing cumbersome, energy losses build if the water is unused, and they require a higher initial investment. Estimating delivery capacity The main way to determine what size is right is by taking note of your household’s hot water use. By noting what appliances and faucets are in use at the time of the day when your hot water demand is at its highest, you’ll have a good benchmark for what your water heater needs to accommodate. Below are a few general estimates for the hot water demand of various household appliances and activities. ACTION HOT WATER DEMAND (gallons) Dishwasher 7-10 Laundry Machine 25-35 Shower 3/min (shampooing = 5) Shaving 2 Cooking Prep 4-5 Bath 10-25 Dishwashing by hand 3 Hand washing 2 In a moment where your hot water use is at its peak, add the general demand for these activities together: maybe someone is showering while the dishwasher and laundry machine are running? Assuming this person takes an 8-minute shower and someone washes their hands at one point during the hour, our estimated peak demand is 58 gallons for a busy hour, keeping in mind the laundry machine doesn’t run every night. If the use of these appliances is better spread out during the day, you can get the peak use down drastically. This peak use estimate you just calculated is measured directly against the tank’s first hour rating (FHR), a general measurement of how much hot water the tank can provide in a single hour from full. Using the FHR is a better way to choose your new water heater’s size instead of going by the tank capacity: it takes into account when the maximum amount of water is needed and matches it as opposed to constantly-heating an unnecessary amount for infrequent spikes in demand. It is not uncommon for smaller-sized tank units to have higher FHR ratings than larger tanks given how much quicker they can heat incoming water. By sizing according to FHR, over the unit’s lifespan you’ll end up saving money in energy costs and save space in your home. Additional factors in choosing size to consider Here at Pink Plumbing we work with our customers to determine the ideal hot water heater for your family and household. Feel free to call us to consult our technicians about the FHR of various models we offer, as well as the benefits of different sizes in regard to your needs.