On 7-Oct-2005, (DA) wrote:

First off, it seems a bit too small for my family (50 gallon for 4
people).

If it's electric, that's probably small. If it's gas, it may be fine.
Gas water heaters recover faster and can be sized smaller. YMMV.

Low-flow shower heads can help if everyone wants to take a shower around
the same time.

I wonder if
it adds to our poor heater performance? Do you think water can loose much
temperature going through 6-7 feet of copper pipes?

If you want to improve the efficiency of the water heater, then you should
insulate these pipes. More than that much would not be useful, as the heat
from the water heater is lost in the first few feet of copper pipe. That
will also reduce by a couple of seconds how long you wait for hot water
when you turn on the tap.

You can get foam insulation specifically for water pipe at Home Depot
or similar improvement stores. It's usually black with peel and stick
adhesive. Usually 3 or 4 foot lengths and in several different inside
diameters to match common copper pipe sizes.

And, lastly, should the heater itself be
wrapped into some sort of a thermal insulation blanket to improve its
performance?

That's debatable. The manufacturers and especially the energy suppliers
say it's unnecessary. Some folks say that for gas heaters, it's dangersous
if done wrong. However, It makes some sense that more insulation means
keeping the heat in longer. Whether it's cost effective is another story.

Mike