On 24/12/2016 11:08, 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.

If you live in hard water area, the element might be furred up, but that
would only slow down the rate of heat transfer.

A decent amount of insulation around the tank is more important if
electric is the main heating source.