Hot Water Heater - 1 or 2


  #1  
Old 04-17-01, 07:46 AM
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I recently bought a house that has a single 40 gas water heater. The water heater is less than one year old. However, with 4 bathrooms, dishwater, washing machine, etc, and 5 people, the water heat does not do the job. Should I add a second 40 / 50 gallon water heater, or remove the 40 gallon and put in a larger unit? If 2 heater are the way to go, should they be series or parallel?

Thanks.
 
  #2  
Old 04-17-01, 03:48 PM
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i just plumbed a house that you just described yours is like , i recomend installing another 40 gal natural gas water heater, you are going to have to seperate the hot lines so that one water heater heats two baths and dishwasher and the other one two baths washer if you have more fixtures that require hot water use your best judgement to even the load for each heater, If you would put in a larger tank and for your size house to go with one i would recommend a 80 residentual tank but you arn't going to use 80 gal of water at once so no use spending all that gas to heat 80 gal if your not going to use it with the two tank set up it is evenly distributed more cost efficient in the long run
 
  #3  
Old 04-18-01, 09:20 AM
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I disagree. You will actually save on energy costs with one heater. You still have to heat the same amount of water, regardless on whether you have one or two heaters, and your heat lost to the surroundings is actually higher with 2. So it will take more gas to run 2 40 gal tanks than one 80 gal tank. Plus, if everyone for some reason lines up and uses the same shower, you don't run out of water. One tank also requires no new wiring, gas, or plumbing installation, and it's less maintenance later.
Matt
 
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Old 04-18-01, 12:57 PM
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i see i must be dumb or something and i know nothing about plumbing apparently
an 80 gal water heater will use more gas because of the size of the burners check the btu output lots higher its cheaper to get two tanks , but hell i a dumb plumber what do i know
 
  #5  
Old 04-18-01, 01:13 PM
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I'm sure an 80 gal puts out more BTUs than a 40, but I doubt it's more than two 40s. BTUs aren't important because all the gas you burn heats the water. BTUs only tell you how fast you heat the water. Energy use is based on how much heat you have to add to keep the water warm. Speaking from a heat loss perspective, you lose a lot more heat out of two tanks because of the higher surface area for heat loss, so that's more gas you have to burn to keep them warm. No offense to you, you're the plumber not me.
 
 

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