The Best Water Heater Temperature Setting | A Master Plumber's Preferred Temp Setting

hi i'm jordan this is my dad jim the grumpy plumber today we're going to talk about the right temperature setting for your water heater what is right for you dad what do you recommend to set your water heater at well i go anywhere from 125 to 130 right in that neighborhood but keep watching for details to figure out what is the right temperature for you and your household hi my dad jim has been a plumber for 48 years he's a master plumber in michigan and a c-36 licensed plumbing contractor in california usa my wife and i thousands of dollars but you just gotta watch out he gets a little bit grumpy when he's giving advice so don't piss him off jim recommends 125 to 130 degrees let's go into a little more detail based on electric water heater gas water heater and also some other temperature settings that might be right for your house okay electric water heaters electric water heaters come set from the manufacturer at 110 degrees well i think that's a little low and i usually will take it up to about 120 125 degrees customers like that a lot better a gas water heater is the thermostat on the gas water heater or the gas valve usually has a like a low temperature or low setting they call it or vacation mode or it goes a b c and i usually will set it right in between a and b and i believe you don't want it too hot okay b or c excuse me is uh like at 140 degrees that's the max nowadays they go to on a water heater but you can pull it down lower you can take it down to a code we'll say for a shower valve will say 115 degrees but you can set that temperature at the shower valve or the tub valve okay so you know it varies on you if you want hot water while you're doing dishes or if you want them for shaving on your thing but that's up to you but 140 is max and i really don't recommend that because that is hot water okay 140 degrees can cause burning i think within five seconds you can get third degree burns for a baby so usually if you have kids in the house or elderly people you don't want to set your water heater at 140 degrees because if they're more susceptible to burns now interesting fact 120 degrees is the recommendation by the epa so that's usually the lowest setting they recommend going down to and 120 degrees can save you a lot of money on your energy bills they recommend they say about you can save three to five percent of your energy bills by decreasing the temperature 10 degrees but getting below 120 degrees and even getting below 122 degrees can cause legionella bacteria to grow in your water tank and that's how you can get really sick so never go below 120 degrees or 122 degrees that's definitely the low point for your water heater so that's why you recommend between 120 to 140 kind of split the difference there air more in the low end like the manufacturers do so you don't have burns and also save energy but you can adjust temperature figure out what's right for you in your house right and usually the lower temperature you go might be a savings on the heater itself as far as lasting longer because the hotter you go the more it's burning that metal up on the bottom of the heater so it's up to you uh you know you still a lot of faucets cannot be adjusted to over i think 120 degrees either you if you have a very expensive thermostatic valve it goes to 120 won't let you go any higher than that so what's the sensor turn that water heater way up unless you're you know washing dishes that you like but you know that's a hot water okay and another thing i always say is hot tubs cannot go over 104 degrees so if you've ever been in a hot tub that's higher than that that'll tell you too that it gets pretty darn hot 104 degrees can be quite warm that's my opinion of course we all have opinions if you don't believe me just ask the neighbor she'll tell you thanks for watching [Music] you

Channel: The Grumpy Plumber

Views: 65,072

Keywords: plumbing, plumbing advice, plumbing DIY, water heater, water heater temperature setting, water temperature setting, what is the best water heater temperature setting

Id: l8Lv6aHDRdI

Length: 4min 18sec (258 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 24 2022