MASSIVE current draw from WH

[tomwf]

I opened my electric bill and lo and behold it had almost tripled in one month. :wall:

I checked the meter and it was spinning like a top. Turned off the breaker to the WH and it slowed down dramatically, so obviously the WH is causing a massive current draw.

I am not sure of it's age, it is an A.O. Smith Model# ELJF 40 917. Serial# MM97-0011343-H43. It does not leak, and has given no problems up until now.

A.O. Smith has a 800 hot line, but today is Sunday, so I can't talk to them until at least tomorrow.

Any suggestions?

[594tough]

It is not possible to get a good idea of your elcectric system by watching the meter spin. Larger loads like the WH or stove do draw a lot of current when they are running, If something was drawing "MASSIVE" current, a breaker would pop.

SO, what you have is that the heater is probaly ON TOO LONG; possibly continuous. Now, if the heaters were running continuous(with no water usage), the water would overheat and your relieve valve would open. Do you notice if the line out of the relieve valve feels warm? Other wise, the next suspect is a hot water leak, possibly under the slab? Check your water meter. Does it move even when nothing is turned on? One more thing, if you have a recirculating system, the timer, thermostat, or check valve could be bad.

[Ejbogusch]

Your water heater was manufactured in December of 1997. 594tough gave you some good tips on where to check. I had a customer once complain about his electric bill after he installed a new heater. I checked it for the manufacturer and found they had a slow leak under the homes foundation (slab leak). He bought the new heater because he thought the old heater was using to much electricity :)