Water Heater

[neguy11]

I live in an older apartment and the water heater is in a closet, looks pretty ancient. I tried to find the thermostat on it to turn it down, but couldn't find it and the thing is snug in the closet, so I can't get around to the back of it.

I could turn off the breaker for the hot water heater and was thinking each day when I leave the house at 11 I'd turn it off, then I would turn it back on around 8 or 9 pm when I get home, so that I have hot water in the morning to do dishes and take a shower.

But I am wondering if it would be cheaper just to leave it on all the time -- would it take more energy to re-heat the water every night??

[Ima saver]

No it is much cheaper to turn it off, I have been doing it for 30 years. First I turned it off by turning off the circuit breaker in the garage. My husband is a builder, now he puts a switch in the kitchen, so we can just flip a switch. It only takes 20 minutes to heat up the tank, so you only need to turn it on 20 minutes before you need a shower or are running the dishwasher. We have saved a ton on our electric bill over 30 years!!

[neguy11]

Thanks! I will use the breakr from now on. My water heater looks very old though so I am not sure it will take 20 minutes but I'll test it this week.