On 29-Mar-2004, Bill Vajk wrote:

Your numbers are nice and thanks for posting the info,
however it seems to me 114 is a little on the low end,
with 120-125 being more common and I run my domestic
hot water at 140F.

I agree. If this was my primary water heater, I would probably bump the
temperature up to 125. I may change it later.

To complete your experiment you really ought to put an
insulating blanket over the unit to see how your numbers
improve. Ideally you should be able to cut "idle"
consumption by half without too much effort by
reducing thermal losses.

That would be a good experiment. However, that has the potential of saving
$2/month if I leave the water heater running. With the expected usage, I would
be lucky to save $5/year.