Buying one to control my gas water heater - shut off at mid night and turn on before I wake up.
I don't like my hot water is hot only randomly in the morning - after sitting there for the whole night. Power back on in the morning means water will only be heated right before I need the hot water, not in the middle of the night when I don't need hot hot water. This should save my heating bill too.
It is hard to find one with timer especially with APC name. This is good price ($7.32 after rebate shipped)
^ Many hot water heaters now have electric ignition and a flame sensor/gas-shutoff valve instead of a continually burning pilot light.
I question the energy savings turning one off at night because the colder the water gets the more energy it takes to heat it back up. I'm sure it saves a little, but the emphasis is on "little"... around here gas is cheaper to heat with than electricity, even with a fairly low electricity billing rate.
^ Generally they fail when the sacrificial electrode *wears out* and the tank rusts through. The circuit itself is very reliable, probably due to the manufacturer worries about huge lawsuits if gas leaks harmed anyone.
Yes the pilot would heat the tank slightly but the electric ignition is one of those features manufacturers started putting on to make one model seem worth more money than the other, and it does raise the energy efficiency number on the label. People may not understand the tech but something as simple as a lower yearly cost number, they can recognize.
They've been doing it with gas furnaces too for the past few decades, and the proprietary control boards for those are quite expensive, I had one replaced at a cost of over $300 including the service call. If I had known the cost ahead of time I would have tried to reverse engineer it for a DIY repair but once the tech came out I was already on the hook for $100+.
Then there's those who might claim it is safer than a pilot light type without a lack-of-flame shutoff valve but I'm not even sure if any like that have been made in decades due to safety concerns.
Comments & Reviews (3)
I don't like my hot water is hot only randomly in the morning - after sitting there for the whole night. Power back on in the morning means water will only be heated right before I need the hot water, not in the middle of the night when I don't need hot hot water. This should save my heating bill too.
It is hard to find one with timer especially with APC name. This is good price ($7.32 after rebate shipped)
I question the energy savings turning one off at night because the colder the water gets the more energy it takes to heat it back up. I'm sure it saves a little, but the emphasis is on "little"... around here gas is cheaper to heat with than electricity, even with a fairly low electricity billing rate.
Yes the pilot would heat the tank slightly but the electric ignition is one of those features manufacturers started putting on to make one model seem worth more money than the other, and it does raise the energy efficiency number on the label. People may not understand the tech but something as simple as a lower yearly cost number, they can recognize.
They've been doing it with gas furnaces too for the past few decades, and the proprietary control boards for those are quite expensive, I had one replaced at a cost of over $300 including the service call. If I had known the cost ahead of time I would have tried to reverse engineer it for a DIY repair but once the tech came out I was already on the hook for $100+.
Then there's those who might claim it is safer than a pilot light type without a lack-of-flame shutoff valve but I'm not even sure if any like that have been made in decades due to safety concerns.
Thank you!