What You Should Know About
Water Heaters
Water heating is one of the
largest energy users in the Austin
home as it is needed for many
domestic activities. A water heater
should provide enough hot water at
the busiest time of the day. This is
why it pays to choose carefully when
replacing a worn out or existing
water heater.
The most typical domestic uses of a
water heater are for cooking,
cleaning, bathing and the heating of
a space.
Water heating is a thermodynamic
(a branch of physics that studies
the effects of changes in
temperature) process that uses an
energy source to heat water to above
its initial temperature.
In a common domestic sense water is
heated in things such as kettles;
however this does not supply a
constant flow of hot water. The
appliances that are used for a
mostly constant supply of hot water
are known as water heaters.
Like many applications and pieces of
machinery, waters heaters come with
safety concerns, two of the main
ones being the risk of scalding and
the risk of the water becoming
contaminated with Legionella. These
are conflicting safety issues and
both revolve around the water heater
temperature. If the water is
intensely hot it can cause scalding
but if it is not hot enough it will
fail to kill bacteria. Both of these
safety issues can be life
threatening so it has been said the
thermostat should be set to 50°C
(120°F).
Another safety concern with water
heaters is that they have the
potential to explode if certain
safety devices are not installed. If
a water heater did explode it can
cause a substantial about of damage
as well as injury or even death. If
the water temperature exceeds 100°C
(212°F) the water will remain a
liquid inside the tank but when the
pressure is released through water
coming out a tap the water will boil
and could cause burns. Water above
88°C (190°F), when connected with
skin will cause 3rd degree burns. A
temperature and pressure relief
valve known as T&P or TPR is fitted
to on top of the water heater as a
safety device that will dump water
if the temperature or pressure
becomes too high.
There are a few tips that you can
follow to help preserve your water
heater:
•Insulate your water heater
•Take showers instead of baths
•Insulate the first 6feet of hot and
cold water pipes connected to your
water heater
•Drain a quarter of water from your
tank every three months to remove
sediment that lowers efficiency
Unless you wake up one morning and
go to take a shower only to find
there is no hot water you won't
probably spend much time thinking
about your water heater.
The way your water heater works is
that when cold water enters it, this
cold water remains at the bottom of
the tank as it is denser than the
hot water. If you consume all the
hot water in the tank and your
shower turns cold it is because you
are using the hot water faster than
it is being heated up. However if
this seems to be a regular
occurrence it could mean that the
bottom heating element has burned
out or that your water heater is too
small for your house.
Helen
Cox is the Web Master. Water Heating
Ltd has over 30 years experience in
water heating products.
Please feel free to republish this
article provided a working hyperlink
remains to our site.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Helen_Cox
If you are looking for a water
heater contractor for your Austin home, please
call us today at 512-445-5212 or
click on the link below:
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