Water Heaters - Element Rating

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rentem
02-21-06, 09:07 AM
When swapping out your tanks elements do both the upper and lower need to be rated the same? For example 45k or 38k or is it typical to have them mismatched. Or would they lower rating be for a smaller tank, just curious.

jim-connor
02-22-06, 08:20 AM
I assume you mean 4500 and 3800 watts. There is no problem with replacing either or both elements with lower wattage units of the same voltage. They do not have to be matched. However, keep in mind that lower watts equals longer recovery time.
rentem
02-22-06, 08:25 AM
Thank You, thats exactly what I meant 4500 or 3800 watts. Can you expand on why they would need to be matched?