Water Heater Booster - any experience?

[Yipper]

Well, the water heater went out the other day and leaked all over the basement floor. Turns out it was 18.5 years old and silly me never looked up it's age. It's been in the house since we moved in (~9 years) and having been through the replacement cycle in my previous home I knew about 10-12 years was a good run.

What I didn't realize is that there are no 80 gallon heaters available any longer without using some kind of hybrid (heat pump) technology which just won't work in our 1800's house for several reasons. So we had to get a 50 gallon tank and I have concerns about it's ability to supply enough at peak times when we have guests or when using the jacuzzi style bathtub, etc.

I've read about Water Heater Boosters, both electric and mixer types that claim to boost output by 20-100%. Anyone else have experience with these?

 

[MBAustin]

I don't know if what we have is considered a booster, but we went from 2 water heaters to 1 a few years ago and they installed a circulating pump to move the hot water to the farther bathrooms more quickly. We have it on a timer to run when shower times are likely. It seems to work fine. I don't think it would help with the jacuzzi tub issue, though.

 

[Piper20]

We had an 80 and the plumber said most opt for (2) 50’s in parallel. We went for (1) 50 and just fine.
You could turn the temp high so it mixes with more cold water giving you more hot water.
RV water heaters work this way.

 

[Yipper]

We had an 80 and the plumber said most opt for (2) 50’s in parallel. We went for (1) 50 and just fine.
You could turn the temp high so it mixes with more cold water giving you more hot water.
RV water heaters work this way.

Thanks - typically it's just me and DW most of the time so I expect the 50 will be fine unless all the adult children are here at the same time like over the holidays, etc. If all we need to do is stagger showers that'll probably work fine and save the second 50 gallon WH.

I did bump up the temperature a bit to 130 so we'll see how goes. The idea behind the mixer is that it's installed at the WH so you can set the temp much higher (scalding zone) say at 140-150 and the mixer brings the temp sent out to the rest of house down to 120 for safety.

 

[Route246]

We have had tankless for 20+ years and never run out of hot water. Reduced our gas bill about 50% compared to the old tank model, too.

 

[OldShooter]

... I have concerns about it's ability to supply enough at peak times when we have guests or when using the jacuzzi style bathtub, etc. ...

If it's just "concerns" and not an actual verified problem I would not spend a dime. Then, if it's just the fourth person in a row to take a shower I would simply advise people that my 50 gallon water heater needs a 15 minute (or whatever it is) recovery period between showers. FWIW we have a 40 gallon water heater; DW and I can take back-to-bach showers and have plenty of hot water even afterwards.

 

[ERD50]

If it's just "concerns" and not an actual verified problem I would not spend a dime. Then, if it's just the fourth person in a row to take a shower I would simply advise people that my 50 gallon water heater needs a 15 minute (or whatever it is) recovery period between showers. FWIW we have a 40 gallon water heater; DW and I can take back-to-bach showers and have plenty of hot water even afterwards.

Agreed, we had a 40G with three kids and never ran cold. Stagger showers a bit is all it took. No big tub though, but maybe just turn the setting up to high a half hour before - that should do it.

-ERD50

 

[Texas Proud]

We have had tankless for 20+ years and never run out of hot water. Reduced our gas bill about 50% compared to the old tank model, too.

+1


I was going to say that if you have a problem with hot water then tankless is the best way....


Another option our plumber said... raise the temp of your hot water... IOW, crank it to as hot as it will go... that way you mix less hot water when taking a shower etc. and will have more in the tank...


IOW, 50 gallons of 150 degree water is more hot water than 50 gallons at 100 degrees... but, you have to make sure you do not burn yourself...

 

[euro]

Agreed, we had a 40G with three kids and never ran cold. Stagger showers a bit is all it took. No big tub though, but maybe just turn the setting up to high a half hour before - that should do it.

-ERD50

Same here - 40gal with 2 kids - never had a problem. In fact, we have a 20gal heater at our mountain cabin and with very minor scheduling we used to mange fine with 4 people even there.
Also, recovery of temperature for modern heaters tends to be superior to the old (last millennium) heaters, so it is even less likely you'll run out of warm water. Now, ok, if you have one or more extreme duration shower people, then all bets are off.

 

[Texas Proud]

Same here - 40gal with 2 kids - never had a problem. In fact, we have a 20gal heater at our mountain cabin and with very minor scheduling we used to mange fine with 4 people even there.
Also, recovery of temperature for modern heaters tends to be superior to the old (last millennium) heaters, so it is even less likely you'll run out of warm water. Now, ok, if you have one or more extreme duration shower people, then all bets are off.

As long as they are not like my BIL who would take an hour 'bath' with shower heads at both ends of the tub running... he went tankless back in the 90s

 

[Chuckanut]

I have a 50 gallon water heater and it will do any two big hot water events fine at the same time. Add a third at the end and it may be warm at the end of the cycle. If wait 30 minutes the third hot water event is fine.

 

[folivier]

And the recovery rate depends on the water temperature coming into your house. Here in Colorado it ranges from 36º to maybe 40º in the summer. Back in Louisiana especially with the pipes and water heater in the hot attic the water heater is just loafing along.

 

[jazz4cash]

h



I did bump up the temperature a bit to 130 so we'll see how goes. The idea behind the mixer is that it's installed at the WH so you can set the temp much higher (scalding zone) say at 140-150 and the mixer brings the temp sent out to the rest of house down to 120 for safety.

We used mixing valves in our test rigs to control water temp. That’s what I would do. They are common for commercial kitchen snd laundry applications.

 

[old medic]

One of the neatest setups If seen is at a campground we go to. It was built originally to host a huge music events a couple times a year. They have an 80 Gal WH and a Tankless that feed 6 showers and 3 sinks on each side of the bath house, always have had hot water. When the large crowd is around, the water runs thru the Tankless into the tanked heater. When they leave, its 2 valves turned and it runs off just the tankless.

 

[Out of Steam]

Same here - 40gal with 2 kids - never had a problem. In fact, we have a 20gal heater at our mountain cabin and with very minor scheduling we used to mange fine with 4 people even there.

We have a 50 gallon electric water heater for two people, and never more than 4 people in the house overnight. We've never been short of hot water in our 4 years here. I'm confident that a 40 gallon heater would be adequate.

We don't seem to use enough water to make a gas tankless or a heat pump model worthwhile. Since the heater is in a utility room off the kitchen, noise would also be an issue.

 

[mountainsoft]

Well, the water heater went out the other day and leaked all over the basement floor. Turns out it was 18.5 years old

Our water heater is almost 19 years old too, and while we have never had an issue with it, I am aware it won't last forever and will need to be replaced soon. Thankfully, ours sits in a pan with a drain outside, so short of a burst pipe it "should" fail gracefully without causing any damage. That's the idea anyway.

I didn't realize is that there are no 80 gallon heaters available any longer without using some kind of hybrid (heat pump) technology which just won't work in our 1800's house for several reasons.

I have seen 80 gallon tanks but thanks to increased insulation requirements, they won't fit in the space where our current 80 gallon tank is located. They're also ridiculously expensive. So a 50 gallon tank is probably our only option.

I had hoped to switch to a heat pump water heater, but the size of our utility room is too small to be efficient and ducting isn't really possible in the alcove it's placed in. I've read they don't work well with recirculating systems either. They're also taller which could make plumbing difficult in the confined area. I'm surprised split heat pump heaters with outdoor units aren't more popular (affordable).

A couple years ago I saw 65 and 70 gallon tanks that would have fit in our area, but those don't appear to be available anymore.

Now that it's just my wife and I in the house, a 50 gallon tank should work fine for showers, laundry, and dishes. My only concern is whether it will produce enough water to fill the large tub in our master bath (which I "think" holds 46 gallons of water). Of course, that's usually a mixture of hot and cold water, so maybe it won't be an issue.

I've read about Water Heater Boosters, both electric and mixer types that claim to boost output by 20-100%. Anyone else have experience with these?

Hmm.. I've never heard of those. I will have to research more and see how those work.

 

[calmloki]

+1


....


Another option our plumber said... raise the temp of your hot water... IOW, crank it to as hot as it will go... that way you mix less hot water when taking a shower etc. and will have more in the tank...

...

This is what we do. 40G gas WH running about hot enough to take your skin off. You can NOT have your hand in the pure hot water. at all. We can do a tub and a long shower back to back though.

 

[Badger]

We have had 50 gal WHs for the past 35+ years for the 2 of us and no problem. We live in Florida and have the WH in the garage. It has always been turned to about 120 degrees.
To get to the shower at the far end of the house it will take a couple of minutes for the cooler water in the lines to clear but that wouldn't be an issue if the bathrooms were closer to the garage. We have never run out of hot water.

Cheers!

 

[Out of Steam]

This is what we do. 40G gas WH running about hot enough to take your skin off. You can NOT have your hand in the pure hot water. at all. We can do a tub and a long shower back to back though.

Especially as you get older, and if you have grandchildren in the house, a mixing valve would both keep your higher supply of hot water and be safer.

https://www.rheem.com/water-heating...-valve-can-get-more-out-of-your-water-heater/