On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:09:16 -0700, jamesgangnc wrote:
Set the first one a little lower than the second. This gives you really
rapid recovery if you use the entire first tank. Also evens out the
running time and reduces the maintain temp costs.

This seems reasonable.

I have both set around 130 degrees at the moment.

I'm not sure which you mean by the 'first' and 'second'. I'll assume the
first is the closest to the cold water supply and the second is next in
line.

Are you suggesting something like 100 degrees for the first tank and 130
for the second tank?

Bear in mind there is a little black hot-water recirculating pump, which
I don't quite understand but it runs a lot (I can hear the humming).

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:40:08 -0700, Bob F wrote:
You ask about in series, then in parrallel. What do you really want?

They are clearly set up in series.

I just want to know why anyone would do this and what I should set the
heat at (both are currently set at 130 degrees) for each.

There is also a hot-water recirculating motor (which runs frequently).

On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:23:08 -0400, mm wrote:
What temp do you all keep your hot water at.

I have it set to 130 degrees for both tanks.

When it comes out in the kitchen, it's a bit too hot to touch, but, the
upstairs bedroom and jacuzzi are just right (which from experience means
it's about 100 to 105 degrees if I remember rightly).

There is also a recirculating system which runs frequently (about once an
hour or so) to allow the water to be hot quickly.

On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:05:00 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:
And six weeks later, someone to ask again how to change a light bulb.

I had thoroughly searched and did not see the prior hot water heater in
series question.

Did I miss it?

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:04:33 -0400, Colbyt wrote:
If I were running both at the same time, all the time, I would set the
first in the series a little lower, as low as fit my needs. ...
I would do this to save the standby loss on the first unit.

Interesting.

I might even turn OFF the first hot water heater (or set it to something
really low, like 50 degrees or something).

The only one who uses a lot of hot water is the teenager (and that kid
can freeze because there is no reason to take an hour-long shower anyway).

I wonder if this will affect the hot-water recirculating system adversely
though?

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:31:28 -0400, Tony Miklos wrote:
Which is it? Series or parallel? Or do you want to go from parallel to
series?

My mistake for not being clear.

They are clearly in series.

The well pumps the cold water which goes to a four-foot high blue steel
bladder tank which goes to the first 50 gallon hot water heater which
goes to the second 50 gallon hot water heater in series which somehow
goes to a hot-water recirculation motor about the size of a small bench
grinder motor ... which goes to the bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen.

My question is why (I'm slowly learning why) and what to set the
temperature at (since it's currently set the same for both at about 130
degrees or so).

On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:40:49 +0000 (UTC), Aaron FIsher
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:40:08 -0700, Bob F wrote:
You ask about in series, then in parrallel. What do you really want?

They are clearly set up in series.

I just want to know why anyone would do this and what I should set the
heat at (both are currently set at 130 degrees) for each.

There is also a hot-water recirculating motor (which runs frequently).

No reason for this setup except to heat 100 gallons of water in 2 50
gallon tanks.
Maybe the expense of a 100 gallon tank makes it more economical to use
2 50's.
If you don't need all this hot water you could turn off the gas on the
one closest to the cold water supply and kill the electric to the
recirc pump.
If your water supply is cold the first tank would act as a tempering
tank and would usually give you a longer duration of hot water from
the active tank.
Or completely disconnect the first tank and hold it as a spare.
Sounds like your system is working as intended to heat 100 gallons.
Up to you how economical you want to be.
Heating and keeping hot 100 gallons of water has costs.

--Vic

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:12:47 -0500, Jim Yanik wrote:
Along with why a serial connection is not used.

Well now I'm thoroughly confused.

It sure LOOKS like a serial connection.

The cold water from the well pressure system goes into the first hot
water tank and out of the heat pipe of the first tank it goes into the
cold inlet of the second tank and out of the heat pipe of the second tank
it goes to the house with a recirculating motor somewhere on that final
output (I can see the recirculating pump and I can hear it but I don't
know exactly how it works.)

So, all that LOOKS serial. The house was built to code I would think, at
least originally.

Plus there is that web site that explains serial hookups. So are you SURE
that serial hookups would not be to code? Why?

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:25:48 -0700, VirtualDen wrote:
Two 1500 Kw heater

Just for clarification, they're propane hot water heaters.

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:10:36 +0000, Aaron FIsher wrote:
Anyway, what's the THEORY and RATIONALE for having two hot water heaters
in parallel?

I see that I wrote this confusingly.

They appear to be in series (not in parallel).

Aaron FIsher wrote:
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:31:28 -0400, Tony Miklos wrote:
Which is it? Series or parallel? Or do you want to go from parallel to
series?

My mistake for not being clear.

They are clearly in series.

The well pumps the cold water which goes to a four-foot high blue steel
bladder tank which goes to the first 50 gallon hot water heater which
goes to the second 50 gallon hot water heater in series which somehow
goes to a hot-water recirculation motor about the size of a small bench
grinder motor ... which goes to the bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen.

My question is why (I'm slowly learning why) and what to set the
temperature at (since it's currently set the same for both at about 130
degrees or so).
I have seen the tandem system used only once, by a co-worker.
He had a big unit, working on night-current only(very cheap in our
country), and a small unit after it, using day- and night-current.
The small unit would quickly heat(big heating element), and would be fed
with cooler water later in the day.
That combi had a rather constant water temperature for a
reasonable price.
Thermostats were the same on both machines.

On 3/21/2011 10:46 PM, Aaron FIsher wrote:
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:04:33 -0400, Colbyt wrote:
If I were running both at the same time, all the time, I would set the
first in the series a little lower, as low as fit my needs. ...
I would do this to save the standby loss on the first unit.

Interesting.

I might even turn OFF the first hot water heater (or set it to something
really low, like 50 degrees or something).

The only one who uses a lot of hot water is the teenager (and that kid
can freeze because there is no reason to take an hour-long shower anyway).


Long time since you were a teenager, huh? A long hot shower can feel
real friendly sometimes.

--
aem sends...

On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:54:51 -0500, Vic Smith wrote:
If your water supply is cold the first tank would act as a tempering
tank and would usually give you a longer duration of hot water from the
active tank.

The water is pumped out of the ground from a well and then kept in two
five thousand gallon tanks. So, the cold water is probably just a bit
colder than outside air temperature. I never noticed it being
particularly cold (it never freezes here) but I never thought about it
before.

On Mar 14, 8:45*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:49:47 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"

wrote:
Why would you want to heat hot water, it's already hot?

Parallel operation allows for higher GPM flow.

I fail to see how too in parallel are going to allow for a higher GPM.
The GPM is going to be largely determined by the incoming pipe
size and water pressure. After the water leaves the water heaters,
it flow through the same pipes, so again the flow rate is going to
be determined by those pipes, faucets, etc. Following that logic,
I could just cut out a small section of 1" pipe in a water system,
replace it with too parallel sections, and voila I'd have a higher
flow rate. This would only be true if the eqpt being paralleled
offered signficant flow restriction. Not the case with a water
heater.



Series operation allows you to balance which one does the
most heating. Not sure there's any advantage to that.

Either operation can be set up to bypass one heater during
replacement of the WH.

The teens shower off WH 1 makes good sense, to me.

* Even with series connection you can run kids shower off the first
one and dishwasher off the second, etc.

Not without replumbing the house he bought, which didn't seem to
be the objective.


The first one heats to a
preset safe temperature, and the second heats to a higher temperature,
using only as much power as is required to raise the temperature that
amount - and can deliver a whole lot of hot water without any
significant drop in temperature.

On Mar 21, 11:29*pm, Aaron FIsher wrote:
On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:54:51 -0500, Vic Smith wrote:
If your water supply is cold the first tank would act as a tempering
tank and would usually give you a longer duration of hot water from the
active tank.

The water is pumped out of the ground from a well and then kept in two
five thousand gallon tanks.

That's a new one and quite unusual. Whover set this up must be a
survivalist.

On Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:54:51 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:40:49 +0000 (UTC), Aaron FIsher
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:40:08 -0700, Bob F wrote:
You ask about in series, then in parrallel. What do you really want?

They are clearly set up in series.

I just want to know why anyone would do this and what I should set the
heat at (both are currently set at 130 degrees) for each.

There is also a hot-water recirculating motor (which runs frequently).

No reason for this setup except to heat 100 gallons of water in 2 50
gallon tanks.
Maybe the expense of a 100 gallon tank makes it more economical to use
2 50's.
If you don't need all this hot water you could turn off the gas on the
one closest to the cold water supply and kill the electric to the
recirc pump.
If your water supply is cold the first tank would act as a tempering
tank and would usually give you a longer duration of hot water from
the active tank.
Or completely disconnect the first tank and hold it as a spare.
Sounds like your system is working as intended to heat 100 gallons.
Up to you how economical you want to be.
Heating and keeping hot 100 gallons of water has costs.

--Vic

Fot the use it is set up for I would set the first (tempering) tank
lower than the second tank, or as mentioned previously, shut it off.

Having it TOO low just encourages bacterial growth, particularly if
the hot water demand is low.

Or, dry and arid climate dweller.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

The water is pumped out of the ground from a well and then
kept in two
five thousand gallon tanks.

That's a new one and quite unusual. Whover set this up
must be a
survivalist.