Two way water heater question

[LRL]

Originally Posted by Mike G

Reading this thread makes me feel really fortunate! My pre-loved 2012 came to me with an indoor switch for the (gas only) water heater. Happy, happy.

Yeah. I was totally happy with the gas only switch in our old E21. But I have to admit, the electric option when available is quite nice… saves gas for when we don’t have electric hookups.

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by LRL

Good for you.

Glad to help. Any time.

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by LRL

Yeah. I was totally happy with the gas only switch in our old E21. But I have to admit, the electric option when available is quite nice… saves gas for when we don’t have electric hookups.

I don't think the water heater uses enough gas to really matter much. But honestly, sometimes when I want to wash dishes and I only have 3-4 items to wash, I'll heat some water on the cooktop in my teakettle. Then pour from the teakettle's narrow spout to wash & rinse. It beats running a quart of cold water while waiting for the hot to get to the faucet! Besides, my teakettle has a thermometer built into the lid and I can get just the right temperature, versus trying to regulate by mixing hot and cold at the tap.

[hugh]

Originally Posted by Chamberman

I've been thinking about adding this switch/relay to the water heater power as well. A little searching of the part# that CharlesinGA posted shows there's a little better option for the relay. This 40A relay at Digikey is the slightly heavier duty version and a lot cheaper. The datasheet shows its rated for 1120W switching, which is a little low for the water heater element, but the 30A relay is only rated for 840W of resistive switching.

Take a look at the RIB series of relays from functional devices. You'll probably find one much better suited, including proper enclosure and isolation.

https://www.functionaldevices.com/pr...tegory/relays/