How often do you guys change yours?

Our electric bill has been going up over the last few months (year or so) and reached a point where we said we need to do something. So this week we started making sure lights were off if no one was in the room, shutting off TV's computers, etc when not in use. The normal stuff we should be doing anyway but hadn't been. We kind of abuse power and the electric company loves us.
Then we decided to monitor usage at various times of the day.
Read the meter before work after I shut everything off, then when I get home before I even go in the house and turn anything back on, then again before bed.

We concluded primarily from that data that showers could be and are the most likely culprit for a large percentage of our use.

The water heater is about 11 years old, I have never done a thing to it except flush it a couple of times. I figured after 11 years it might be time to replace it. I have defiantly got my monies worth out of it.
It still seems to heat the water fine. It's only 40 gallons, my daughters can take 2-20mins showers in a 45 min span and the second one just starts to run out of hot water at the end and I don't have a water saver head..... I like pressure + volume..... the water company loves us too......

Well my wife was talking at work about buying a new one, and the guys asked her when we last changed the elements.
Never......
How old is it?
11 Years.
They were shocked!
They all said that they change theirs at least once a year.
They suggested just changing the elements. Said the bottom one is probably burnt.

I know thats usually the one to go, but when ones had previously went out, then it wouldn't heat enough water.
If it's heating enough water for 2-20 min showers with 5 min break then would it be bad?
We can take 4, 15 min showers, in about an hour and 15 mins. (5 min breaks between each one to let the water heat back up.)

For now we've limited all showers to 10 mins each. Until we figure out what to do.

 

I've never replaced an element unless it went out. But if you're thinking about it and it's 11 years old I would replace the whole thing. 11 years is a good life and like you said you got your money's worth. It would be crap if you changed the element and then a week later the tank burst (because it's getting pretty old) and flooded your house while away at work.
Not saying a new element would cause that but sometimes that's how life works. Try to be good and fix something and then you end up getting bit in the @ss anyways.
Two guys at work had their water heaters blow last year (both were over 10yrs old) and just luckily they were both home when it happened or it would have been a mess. Just last week I ran a hose from the pop-off valve on mine through the wall and outside. I know it won't help if the tank blows a seam but it will help if the pressure valve pops off.
By all means I'm not a plumber, that's just my opinion.

 

I guess just replacing the lower element "could" help save electricity if it's all coated with calcium carbonate. Has to work harder to get the heat through that layer.
I still stand by my suggestion above though.

 

Yea I have thought about that too. Happened to my neighbor a few years ago too. Only they were gone for the weekend. Luckily insurance took care of it.

We both have basement homes, I'd imagine it was like coming home and finding out your house is now a swimming pool.

Don't feel bad, I have never plumbed the pop off either.
The one I took out had it, all the pipe is there. but just needed a few elbows to reach the new location and I never done it.

 

I would definitely change elements, as they can be less effective if built up with scale. Also if one is burnt out, the other will overwork to compensate. I usually replace mine every 3-4 years. Whether I am having problems or not. You would be surprised on the amount of corrosion and other stuff on the elements, especially the lower one.
Now the next thing. If you have never changed the sacrificial anode, there may already be damage (corrosion) to the heater. That should be replaced every 3-5 years. Just like a boat sacrificial anode, it needs to be changed.

 

My water heater bust open two weaks ago it was 13 years old

 

I've seen electric water heaters last up to 30 years. I wouldn't reccomend replacing yours untill it leaks.

I've never heard of people replacing elements if they still work. They do corrode, but there isn't anything saying that yours are. The thing to do would be to use an electrical tester and see if you have proper resistance. I don't have the number that you would be looking for off the top of my head. An electrician would know that one.

If one of the elements were burnt out, you would know. It is usually the bottom one that fails. When that happens you only have about three minuets of hot water. Two twenty minuet showers in a row and the second one starts to run out of hot water? Sounds like your elements are fine.

The things you need to do, you already know. You like the shower head you have but if you went with a water saver, you would reduce the volume of water that moves through the heater. The tank would stay hotter for longer and the thermostats would call for heat less often, saving you electricity.

It may not be necessary to spend money to save money. If you just change you habits a bit, you might make a bit of difference.

I am a plumber, but I've only given my opinion based on my experiance.

Good luck!

 

i would call the power company and have a new meter put in.

 

Make sure a neighbor didn't plug his 8000 christmas lights into one of your outdoor receptacles. :santa:

 

The Hell !?!?!?!

These things blow up ?!?!?!?!

(And if they do blow up, then how would being at home make it any less of a mess?)

 

You would be at home to turn the water off instead of having the whole city water supply in your basement.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=0

They disabled some of the saftey features, but on a until 10+ years the possibility those features no longer work is there...

 

Suggest that there is no significant electricity to be saved with the elements. If there is a problem with the elements, such as being burnt out or coated with scale, it will merely result in slower recovery times. If the energy is going into the tank, it has to be showing up somewhere.

Life of the elements depends a lot on the quality of water. Hard water really shortens the life.

If the heater is very old, may consider changing to a newer model that has better insulation so to reduce the energy required to maintain target temperatures - look for a energy factor in the 0.93-0.94 range, which should be posted on the heater jacket. Can also add a insulating wrap to the existing heater, however, need to follow instructions on what NOT to wrap.

IMO, the biggest opportunity for savings is to reduce the amount of hot water used. If I did my cipherin' right, it takes 180 watts to heat 1 gallon of water 80degF - from say 60degF inlet temp to 140degF target temp. I suspect your bill has gone up mainly due to rate increases from the power company, not increased electric consumption. Just for grins - if your electric rate is $0.09 per kilowatt, then it costs 1.6 cents to heat each gallon of water, or about 64 cents to heat a 40 gallon water heater from fully cold water to the target temp.

You can also play games with lowering the target temp, however, I've found that the laundry whites and the dishwasher effectiveness suffer if the hot water isn't hot enough. But, if you can get by with a lower temperature - even 10degF cooler, it will be an energy savings.

And, yes, as mentioned in an above posts, it is important to test the pop-off valve at least annually. If this hasn't been done for quite a while, expect a leak. Replacement valves are available, but then have the challenge on getting the old valve out, if it should be corroded. But ensuring a proper pressure/temperature relief system is much easier to deal with than the possible alternatives. It's a good idea to pipe these down to within about 6" of the floor, or over to a drain - keeping the valve outlet pipe diameter the same, no reducers!!

*edit* - for those interested in wanting to know how much power you're using at a given point in time, go out to your electric meter and clock the dial revolutions. There should be a 'Kh' factor listed somewhere on the dial. This is how many watt-hours is represented by one revolution of the disc. There may be a multiplier tag, such as x10, but not typical on residential applications.

For example, say it took 90 seconds to go 10 revolutions and the meter Kh = 7.2. 10 x 7.2 watt-hours = 72 watt-hours = 0.072 kilowatt-hours used. 90 seconds = 0.025 hours (3600 seconds in one hour -> 90/3600=0.025). So, at that rate, using 0.072/0.025 = 2.88 KWH per hour. At $0.09 per KWH, should be costing about $0.26 per hour at that usage rate = $6.24 per day.

Eh, I know - too much information - just a bit bored today. :-)

 

A slower recovery time will mean more energy used. If after a shower it takes 1 hour to recover with fresh elements, and 1.5 hours to recover with a bad or scaled elements, you are using 50% more energy to do the exact same heating. Normally an electric water heater will switch between elements to heat the water. Both elements are not on at the same time. If one does not work, or one does not work as efficiently, the other must stay on longer and will stay on longer and be on more often than if both elements worked properly.

 

i've never replaced one unless it didn't work...