Water Heaters - Second Water Heater for Kitchen
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AdamLPerry
04-21-05, 01:16 PM
When I grew up, we had two water heaters -- one for the kitchen and lalundry which was very hot, and one for the bathrooms, which was barely warmer than luke warm and set that way so kids would be unlikely to be hurt by hot water.
The systems were installed as two totally seperate systems. What I think I can do is set down the temperature on our existing 50 gallon gas water heater to a safe level, then add a "booster" water heater for the kitchen. (We use cold or warm water for laundry). I think a well-insulated 16-20 gallon electric heater would be ideal and is small enough that I can tuck it under the kichen sink. We only run the dishwasher once or twice a day, and have a few pots and pans to wash by hand, so the demand would not be that great, and I think I might actually have some energy savings because I would not be heating all our water as hot, but still have water sufficiently hot for the automatic dishwasher detergent to work well in.
This would also address an issue we had a couple of years ago when the gas supply to our area was cut-off for several days. We had to heat water on the stove for personnal cleaning and with this arrangement, we would get some hot water at the tap in the kitchen in volumes sufficient for light personnal hygine. A neighbor feels I should include a cross-over valve between the "cool" hot water system and the "hot" hot water system so that with the turn of the valve, the electric heater would provide the whole house with water sufficient for very quick baths, etc.
Any input on this concept would be apprecitated.
The systems were installed as two totally seperate systems. What I think I can do is set down the temperature on our existing 50 gallon gas water heater to a safe level, then add a "booster" water heater for the kitchen. (We use cold or warm water for laundry). I think a well-insulated 16-20 gallon electric heater would be ideal and is small enough that I can tuck it under the kichen sink. We only run the dishwasher once or twice a day, and have a few pots and pans to wash by hand, so the demand would not be that great, and I think I might actually have some energy savings because I would not be heating all our water as hot, but still have water sufficiently hot for the automatic dishwasher detergent to work well in.
This would also address an issue we had a couple of years ago when the gas supply to our area was cut-off for several days. We had to heat water on the stove for personnal cleaning and with this arrangement, we would get some hot water at the tap in the kitchen in volumes sufficient for light personnal hygine. A neighbor feels I should include a cross-over valve between the "cool" hot water system and the "hot" hot water system so that with the turn of the valve, the electric heater would provide the whole house with water sufficient for very quick baths, etc.
Any input on this concept would be apprecitated.
mbk3
04-22-05, 11:42 AM
"Point of use" water heaters are somewhat popular. Some people like them in their kitchens for making instant stuff requiring very hot water. Usually a small unit under the sink area.
Pendragon
04-23-05, 05:42 AM
When I grew up, we had two water heaters -- one for the kitchen and lalundry which was very hot, and one for the bathrooms, which was barely warmer than luke warm and set that way so kids would be unlikely to be hurt by hot water.
Any input on this concept would be apprecitated.
Nothing in the kitchen requires extremely hot water.
For example, my dishwasher (a GE) says it can start washing with water temp as low as 95 degrees.
If your dishwasher has a 'sanitize' setting, then it also has a built in heater to heat the water to a usable level. It would be much more cost effective to let the dishwasher heat the water when it needs it, rather than maintaining a tankful of it all the time.
To truely 'sanitize' your dishes, you'd need to wash them in 160 degree water for several minutes. That's hot enough to cause serious burns instantly and melt or deform some plastics. I'd have to check, but I believe the maximum recommended inlet temp for a dishwasher is around 140. Which is still very hot. The average person can just tolerate water that is around 105 degrees.
Any input on this concept would be apprecitated.
Nothing in the kitchen requires extremely hot water.
For example, my dishwasher (a GE) says it can start washing with water temp as low as 95 degrees.
If your dishwasher has a 'sanitize' setting, then it also has a built in heater to heat the water to a usable level. It would be much more cost effective to let the dishwasher heat the water when it needs it, rather than maintaining a tankful of it all the time.
To truely 'sanitize' your dishes, you'd need to wash them in 160 degree water for several minutes. That's hot enough to cause serious burns instantly and melt or deform some plastics. I'd have to check, but I believe the maximum recommended inlet temp for a dishwasher is around 140. Which is still very hot. The average person can just tolerate water that is around 105 degrees.