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Jim Elbrecht

wrote:

On Sep 15, 6:01*pm, " wrote:
On Sep 14, 11:23 pm, ransley wrote:

...

obviously you have never replaced a scale covered electric heater
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The scale on an electric heater does not reduce efficiency. 100 BTU
in water gets 100 BTU
-snip-

But. . . A scale covered electrode will transfer those BTUs to the
water slower than a clean one. [can one of you ashrae engineers check
the emmisivity index of copper vs limestone] To compensate for this
slower transfer the homeowner will raise the temp of the tank-
increasing losses- and making the electric less efficient.

On tank life- get the one with the longest warrantee. Pray. Get lucky.
[my cheap LP heater just croaked this week. It was approaching 20
yrs old.]

Jim