On 2008-04-10, Thomas G. Marshall wrote:

RicodJour said something like:

This is another example of bad advice. A larger tank is less
efficient and has a lower efficiency factor. Smaller tanks have
an EF of ~.63 so you're ****ing away a third of your dollars. A
larger tank's EF can be in the neighborhood of .50 Oversizing a
system so you can waste more money is the exact opposite of good
advice.

I'm not sure I understand this. Efficiencey in engery loss per gallon
should be lower (at least in physics, larger volumes have less surface area
per unit volume). Unless efficiency in EPA terms is different (is it?)

Efficiency here is (heat value of hot water delivered)/(heat value of
natural gas burned). So the only thing that matters is absolute
standby losses. The bigger the tank, the bigger the surface area, the
bigger the standby losses.

Wayne