Turning off hot water heater at night?

**AngelB** · 04-01-2008, 02:59 PM

A friend of mine had a light switch wired into hot water heater so she could turn it off each night. She said they saved a lot of $ that way. Have any of you ever tried it and does it save money? My family mostly take showers in the morning so I am not sure how to arrange something like that for our routine, put it on a timer maybe. But I want to know if it makes a difference first.
Angel

**StaceyS** · 04-01-2008, 03:59 PM

I turn mine to "vacation" every day. I turn it back up before a shower or washing dishes. It only takes about 15 minutes to get up to scalding temps, then I shower and/or do dishes and then turn it back down. My friend has about the same size apartment as I do and my gas bill is much lower than hers.

**EnergyBoomer** · 04-04-2008, 09:21 PM

Some folks have a special "Water Heater Timer" installed to do this automatically.

I suggest that you try it for a month using the circuit breaker for the water heater in your main electric panel. See if it work for you then get an electrician to install a timer for you. When you know that you will get a pay back for it.

It does save money for most folks.

**cheles2kids** · 04-09-2008, 10:25 AM

^^^^ Great ideas, EnergyBoomer!!

AngelB, you said that your all morning showerers, maybe you could set it to cut off during the day and then turn it back on in the evenings and then back off before bed?

That sound like alot of work, but as EnergyBoomer said if you had some type of timer to do it automatically then it wouldn't be quite so aggravating.

Let us know how it works out for you!

**prairiewife** · 04-09-2008, 05:37 PM

I would try a timer also. I would worry a little about keeping if off for too long. I have heard water heaters can build up bacteria if not kept at a high enough temperature, 120 degrees I think. I don't know if this means constant heat or if after it heats back up the bacteria is killed. Maybe someone else here has more information on this.

**StaceyS** · 04-09-2008, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by prairiewife

I would try a timer also. I would worry a little about keeping if off for too long. I have heard water heaters can build up bacteria if not kept at a high enough temperature, 120 degrees I think. I don't know if this means constant heat or if after it heats back up the bacteria is killed. Maybe someone else here has more information on this.

It must be ok, because they wouldn't have a "vacation" option if the tank would grow bacteria after say a 2 week vacation...

**prairiewife** · 04-09-2008, 08:56 PM

Stacey-I wasn't sure about this but thought I had read it somewhere before. Maybe it's only if you keep your water heater set too low all the time. I haven't heard of a vacation setting before. Ours doesn't have one, maybe it's too old.

**StaceyS** · 04-10-2008, 10:16 AM

Prairiemom - I turn mine up and down and feel perfectly safe. For some reason my water heater gets EXTREMELY hot. It even has an "attachment" at the top for the hot water to expand. I thought all water heaters had a "vacation" setting, but this is the first place that I've actually used it. BTW, I just got my current gas bill and it was only $31 (with at least 33% of that being set fees). The next one should be under $20 (no more heat on, I hope!)

**AngelB** · 04-14-2008, 12:15 PM

Thanks for all the ideas. I will let you know what I end up doing.
Angel

**kmeyrick** · 04-27-2008, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by StaceyS

I turn mine to "vacation" every day. I turn it back up before a shower or washing dishes. It only takes about 15 minutes to get up to scalding temps, then I shower and/or do dishes and then turn it back down. My friend has about the same size apartment as I do and my gas bill is much lower than hers.

I just bought an apartment and my heat and hot water are included in the common charges. If I am conservative, do my common charges lower? Or are they the same no matter what?

**mombottoo** · 04-27-2008, 10:12 AM

I would definitely think that shutting it down when it's not in use would save money. The main job of a hot water heater is to keep the water hot, so it spends a great deal of time just bringing the water back up to temp even when it's not being used. We are planning on installing an on demand hot water heater some time this year...I'm hoping that will help save on gas costs.

**C@rol** · 04-27-2008, 10:18 AM

Never thought of turning the water heater off or down.
Will have to discuss this with dh. Get his ideas on this.
Thanks

**Jellybeanz** · 04-27-2008, 10:47 AM

I wish I knew for sure if this really helped . I don't know, I've heard some people say it doesn't help because the water heater uses a lot of energy to bring the tempature back up if you turn it off every day and so you lose any savings.

We bought a timer for ours years back but it stopped working after using it for around six months. I think it did help, but it's harder for me to judge b/c my husband and two sons work on the road so our water use is up and down depending on how much time they are home any given month. Therefore it's hard for me to determine.

We do still have a switch hooked up to switch it off and on, but I always forget to turn it back on and my husband freaks out if he has to wait 20 minutes or so for it to heat up. *sigh*

So I don't mess with it unless noone is here but me.. still I forget! lol I hate to buy another timer though... not cost effective if they don't last very long. I am thinking of trying to set my phone alarm or something to remind me to turn it off /on.

**forHISglory** · 04-27-2008, 03:04 PM

I wondered about the cost of reheating the water after it has cooled down. Also, when we turned ours down, this black stuff grew inside the heater, turning the water gray and it was stinky. Gross!