Is it efficient to turn a propane heated water heater off and on prior to use?
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at
5:57 pm
I only use my water heater for showers..is it more efficient to turn it on prior to use and then tur it off or does it use the same amount of gas if left on? Does it use alot of propane just ot have the pilot on?
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Tagged with: pilot • propane • showers • water heater
Filed under: Gas Water Heater
If you aren’t using it everyday or perhaps as little as once a day, say when you come home for dinner, baths and such, then just turn it down to the lowest setting. That way it wont take near as much energy to get it to temp.
IF you go several days without using it, then turn the thermostat to the Vacation setting and back on when you arrive.
The average pilot is less than 1000 BTU’s and there are nearly 100,000 BTU’s in a gallon of propane. So you are looking at close to 100 hours to burn a gallon as opposed to it kicking on several times a day when not in use.
The thermostat in the water heater is designed to be the most efficient way to heat the water for your shower and your household needs. If you are going to be away for several days, turn the thermostat to "pilot" position and remember to turn it back on a day before you need to shower.
Unfortunately for you, the loss of heat is thru the vent stack and radiation from a hot tank to surroundings in the house.
All of those other things like shut down of the gas supply simply wouldn’t do anything.
However, a vent damper installed right in the stack of the water heater will well be worth the money, and in particular if you install it yourself. That will prevent air drawing thru the tank and cooling the water down from the 110F setting and dragging that heat up the stack and out into the atmosphere.
If you are going to replace this tank, install the smallest tank possible, and do install a thermally activated vent damper that will save you the most money in propane costs.
The pilot doesn’t use enough gas to be significant. If you use hot water only once a day I would leave it on, but install a vent damper, and put a fiberglass coat on the whole water heater.
Sears sells both the vent dampers and the insulation coat kit. Both of these will pay for themselves in a short time. The insulation kit is especially effective, it can be installed in 10 minutes and requires no tools.
Best of luck to you.