Need hot water heater to recover faster.

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yeto

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Need hot water heater to recover faster.

I have a 40 gal hot water heater tank with (2) 4500 watt elements.

It is my understanding that the following is how a hot water heater works:

*only one element is on/active at the time
*the bottom element does not turn on until the top element has satisfied the set water temp at the top of the tank
*the intake and output water openings are at the bottom of the tank.

My question is if I set the upper element thermostat at a lower temperature than the bottom element this should cause the lower element to be on longer than the upper element therefore keeping the water in the bottom of the tank warmer which is also where the output tube opening is located. This should help to keep the water at a temperature that would be tolerable for someone to take a shower.

Is my thought process correct?

Thank you in advance for any help,
yeto
 
johnjh2o said:
Are you saying that both the cold & hot eater is connected to the bottom of the tank? The hotline should be connected to the top of the tank.
Click to expand...

I was going by a picture I saw on the internet that showed both dip tubes as being the same length and going to the bottom of the tank. If my output tube is shorter would I then have the top element hotter versus the bottom element?

Thank you,
yeto
 
No, once both the upper and lower thermostat is satisfied then the lower element maintains the temperature unless there is a large demand for hot water then the upper comes on turning off lower.
 
If you can't get a hot shower turn the thermostats up just a little at a time. Check your kitchen faucet. Turn on the hot water
only and see if you can hold your hand under it. If not then you have a problem with the shower faucet. Maybe needs adjusted.
 
Thumbs up on shower control valve as a source of potential problem. A friend spent lots of $$$ to get a hot shower, including replacing 40 gal water heater with a new 50 gal model. Finally, plumber #4 figured out it was worn out single-handle shower control, that was mixing about 50/50 no matter where you set it. Good diagnosis + $20+ labor -- Fixed.
(Almost Never a good idea to just throw parts at a problem)
 
yeto said:
Need hot water heater to recover faster.

I have a 40 gal hot water heater tank with (2) 4500 watt elements.

It is my understanding that the following is how a hot water heater works:

*only one element is on/active at the time
*the bottom element does not turn on until the top element has satisfied the set water temp at the top of the tank
*the intake and output water openings are at the bottom of the tank.

My question is if I set the upper element thermostat at a lower temperature than the bottom element this should cause the lower element to be on longer than the upper element therefore keeping the water in the bottom of the tank warmer which is also where the output tube opening is located. This should help to keep the water at a temperature that would be tolerable for someone to take a shower.

Is my thought process correct?

Thank you in advance for any help,
yeto
Click to expand...
I had a worn cartridge in a posi temp shower control that had a bad seal and was allowing too much cold and when you used cold water in another sink the hot from the shower siphoned out through the bad seal. This took 3 contractor visits and the notoin that was nothing wrong with water but something wrong in my head.
 
A plumber told me once a good way to do that was to keep your old water heater when you put in a new one and run them in series. You don't power the old one it is just used as a holding tank for incoming water. It will usually be around room temperature which heats a lot faster than water from the supply.
 
>> keep your old water heater
I can attest that this works, amazing thing for me was that the old unit, even after many many years, never leaked.
Luck was with me.
 
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