Universal Plumbing | Inside Your Water Heater


		Learn How Your Water Heater Works Inside

Tips | Extend | Inside | Conserve | Links

Did you ever wonder how a water heater works? As cold water comes in, it remains at the bottom of the tank because it is denser than hot water. If you use the hot water faster than the heating elements can heat the incoming cold water, and if you consume all of the hot water that the tank holds, you run out of hot water in the middle of your shower. If this seems to happen too often, it could mean that the bottom heating element in an electric water heater has burned out or that your water heater is too small for your house. Or it could mean that you are taking really, really long showers.

Inside a Typical Water Heater

You can see in the diagram that a water heater uses nothing more than the "heat rises" principle to separate hot water from cold water in the tank.

The thermostat controls the temperature of the water inside the tank. Normally you can set the temperature between 120 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit (49 to 82 degrees Celsius). It is generally recommended that you keep the temperature between 120 to 140 degrees F (49 to 60 C) -- especially if there are children living in the house -- to prevent scalding. It also saves energy.

Normally, the thermostat is underneath a cover plate and it has a knob or a screw that you can use to set the temperature.

Courtesy howstuffworks.com.