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Default Power cost of idle electric water heater

In misc.industry.utilities.electric Phil Sherrod wrote:

| On 30-Mar-2004, (Lena) wrote:
|
| I wonder if there is any problem with the life span of the water
| heater, being cycled from room temperature to operating temperature on
| a frequent basis, vs. leaving it at a fixed temperature.
|
| I don't know. Heating elements tend to have pretty long lives.
|
| I do know that dropping the temperature increases the lifespan of the annode
| rod and dip tube, so you save a little there by powering down during periods of
| non-use.

What about heating elements that can be run at lower wattage (such as two
elements switched on in series instead of parallel) during idle times?
Do any tanks even have this capability?

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| Phil Howard KA9WGN |
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| (first name) at ipal.net | http://phil.ipal.org/ http://ka9wgn.ham.org/ |
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