On Sat, 24 Dec 2016 11:08:17 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

dennis@home wrote in news:585e54ca$0$1285$b1db1813
:

On 24/12/2016 10:07, DerbyBorn wrote:
Are immersion heaters as efficient as they could be? Could the tubular
element be improved upon - or doesn't it matter?


They convert 100% of the electricity to heat.
What efficiency would you like to improve?



I sort of knew all that - but could the dissapation be improved - I imagine
there is incredibly hot water next to the element - and the element itself
will be very hot. Spreading the 3kW over a larger area - could this result
in the element running cooler and the heat distributing better.


I think the typical installation orientation of nearly vertical would
not help with any 'finning' that would in turn help the conduction and
the convection that supports it.

If the (typically orientated) element had some longitudinal 'finning',
maybe in the form of a cross, that may increase the surface area
sufficiently and not interfere with the convection too much?

Interesting thought though. ;-)

Cheers, T i m