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Old 11-21-08, 10:49 AM   #1
Tony Raine
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Default Hot water heater stuff

First off, I have a "dual element" electric hot water heater. It was installed when the house was built (about 2003), so its still pretty new. I've also replaced both elements within the last year. It sits in an "outside access" room thats part of the carport (but still part of the house)

So I'm trying to get the best efficiency out of it.

I have the elements set so that when my wife and I take our showers (her first, me second) in the morning, I just start to run out of hot water when I finish. So I think I'm good there.

Since my house in on a foundation, I assume all the hot water lines run in the attic (which is easy to access, fortunately.) I hope it isn't run through the foundation. next time i'm up there i need to dig through the insulation (blow-in). Is there a type of insulation I can wrap around the hot water pipe all the way to the bathroom? the reason i ask is because the bathroom is on the opposite end of the house, so a lot of cold water has to "purge" before hot water gets to the shower head.


i've thought about a water heater "blanket", but i'm not sure it would be worth it since the heater is so new. since i now have a storage shed, i'm thinking of taking everything out of the "water heater room" and pulling off some sheetrock and see if its insulated behind the walls. maybe i can add some more and just extra-insulate the whole room (its quite small)

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