standby losses from the hotwater tank add up

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by strider3700

The new tank came on for 5 minutes at 3:19 and again at 7:53 so 4 and a half hours apart.

If I recall properly, your heater is in an unheated basement. As the cold season progresses, it will probably cycle more often.

As I calculate it, your DWH is cycling 5.3 times per day, and since it holds 501 pounds of water, and it is raising that water 4 degrees F every cycle, you are losing 2004 BTU per cycle or 10,687 BTU per day into your unheated basement.

If you re-located the DWH to being inside the house's heated envelope, the delta T would be lower, so cycles would be much reduced, and what heat you did lose would be heating the living space.


Just a thought...

-AC