Heating water

[EatenByLimestone]

I was driving a kid from wrestling practice to where she was staying (staying at a coach’s house as she’s not local) and she was convinced that since she was going to be the last one back she was going to have a cold shower. Staying at the house are 3 adults and maybe 5 or so wrestlers.

I was surprised, I really haven’t thought of a water tank having to reheat the water in a long time.

How many of you are still on a 40 or 50 gallon water heater?

We’ve been using my home’s boiler to heat our water for 15 years or so. As long as the boiler is running, there’s no chance of running out of hot water.

I know others are on tankless systems and such.

Do you run the risk of running out of hot water if you have 8 people deciding to take showers one after another?

 

[Murray01]

At our place most definitely. We have a 25 gallon space saver. Used to be a cottage, Grampa ungraded it to a 4 season residence. Unfortunately only room for the 25 gallon electric hot water tank. With careful planning and scheduling we can handle 4 adults and 2 teenagers.

Get in, lather up, rinse and get out. All water from the house is collected in a septic tank and has to get pumped out so there’s pressure on the family/quests not to fill the septic tank running water needlessly.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I have had 40 gallon electrics for quite some time. No big family though. I do know if you have a bathtub, that will kill the heated water pretty quick. The electrics have two elements. A top one and a bottom one. I believe the top one cuts in right away, so the recovery is starting as soon as the cold water enters. The 40's come in two wattages I believe. The lowest will run on 15A 240, then you go up to 20A 240V.

 

[ABMax24]

I have a 200k BTU Natural Gas fired Tankless. Never run out of hot water.

Filling a bathtub is slower as the heater throttles the water to maintain its set temperature. Especially in the winter when the water entering the house is only a couple degrees above freezing.