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An Immediate Fix
If you do nothing else, the fastest and easiest way to cut your utility bills
may be simply to turn down the temperature setting on your water heater. The
hotter the water, the faster it loses heat to the surrounding air. Keeping
water above 120 degrees is a waste for most households, as well as a risk
that someone could accidentally get a scalding. So if you routinely need to
mix cold water with the hot for a shower or to wash dishes, the temperature
is probably set too high.
Unless you launder diapers at home, run out of hot water often, or have a
dishwasher without its own heating element, you can probably reduce the
temperature setting and start saving money today. Try turning it down just a
little and see if anyone complains. If not, turn it down a bit more until you
find your family's threshold.
Insulating your water heater is an easy next step. A typical kit consists
of an insulation blanket fiberglass batting attached to heavy plastic
sheeting and some heat-resistant tape to fasten the blanket around your
heater. Some kits include pipe insulation for hot-water lines, too.
Step by Step
1. First, clean up. Clear away any items stored around the heater and
wash the top of it well otherwise the tape won't adhere. If the heater is
strapped to prevent toppling in an earthquake, remove the strapping before
you insulate, but remember to put it back when you've finished.
2. Cut the blanket. Use a metal tape measure to determine how tall
and how big around the heater is. Add about 3 inches to the heater's
"waist" measurement. This extra should allow you to fasten the
blanket around the heater without compressing it. If the fiberglass mat is
flattened, it won't give you its full insulation value.
Wear work gloves, and consider using a dust mask as well. Roll the
insulation blanket out flat on the floor, plastic side up. Use a felt-tip
marker to draw the dimensions you've measured onto the blanket. Then cut the
blanket to size with scissors or a utility knife. Along one of the edges that
will run from the top to the bottom of the tank, cut 1 inch of the fiberglass
batting away from the plastic. You'll use this full-length flap to overlap
the other side of the plastic jacket when you wrap it around the heater.
3. Trim and fasten the blanket. Do a trial wrap on the heater. If
the blanket fits correctly, stick on a few short strips of tape to hold it in
place. If it's too loose, trim the excess from the edge that's full thickness
(the one you didn't trim to make the flap). When the fit is right, tape the
entire seam closed.
If your water heater is electric, feel through the insulation for the
controls. Right over those controls, use scissors to cut a three-sided flap
in the blanket, leaving the top edge attached. This will give you access to
the thermostat and other controls when you need it, but will tuck back into
place when you're done. When everything fits neatly, use more strips of tape
to attach the blanket to the top of the water tank.
On a gas heater, the control valve sticks out from the tank, and you'll
have to cut the blanket away to expose it. Be sure to cut "notches"
in the blanket, too, for the drain valve and the temperature and pressure
(T&P) valve as well. Be very careful not to block the flue or air intake
on a gas water heater.
Never insulate the top of a gas water heater. But if yours is electric,
you can insulate its top, and this is how. Measure the diameter of the
heater's top, then cut a circle of insulation blanket that's a few inches
larger than your measurement. This should give you enough extra to tape down
over the sides all the way around the water heater. Cut slots in the circle
so you can slide it past the pipes and electrical cable, and be careful not
to cover the relief valve. Tape up any slits, and you'll have a completely
wrapped heater.
4. Insulate the hot-water pipe leading out of the heater. The
greatest heat loss occurs closest to the water heater. In fact, when you look
for the outgoing water pipe, don't go just by pipe temperature. The
cold-water intake pipe will likely be warm to the touch as well. The
hot-water pipe typically doesn't have a valve, and it may be labeled on top
of the heater.
If your pipes are straight and uncomplicated, use preformed foam
insulation tubes, which are already slit and sized for the pipes' outside
diameters, so they're easy to put on. For intricate pipe layouts, use
fiberglass or foam insulation tape; it's easy to wrap around irregular bends
and joints. Buy enough insulation for at least the first 10 feet of pipe
leaving the heater, if that much is exposed.
Once again, don't forget to reattach any bracing you may have removed
before you put the blanket on.
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