Electric water heater...

Glenn Sossin_2

a slip of the keypad -- Not - - you are correct. I should have not made an error like that. I actually sell commercial heaters on a regular basis - multiple phases and voltages etc - a careless error to be sure. Usually use tables get the amp draws.

That said, I'm quite impressed that an HD employee had that knowledge. I've seen a few other posts you've made. Were you in the trade before walking the aisles?

L'town radiant

electric water heater

Lochinvar offers a water heater called the Double Duty. It is basically just a gas fired water heater with a coil (like an indirect) so you can use the coil for hydronic heating. I know there a re also several other manufacturers that offer similar products. I am looking for a heater that is just like this but electric instead...anybody know of any?

Thanks in Advance!

Glenn Sossin_2

Instaneous Elec Htr

Elec heaters don't usually have a whole lot of KW so doing "double duty" is a tall order. Each KW is 3,412 btu's. Your typical elec htr, has 2 4.5KW elements, but usually they are wired so only one fires at a time. Not alot of btu's and still requires a double pole 50 amp breaker.

Your typical gas heater - 50,60,75 thousand btu's. See the difference?

Not sure what your trying to do, but maybe a separate instantaneous heater could be your ticket.

Hope that explains your dilema.

Glenn

Home Depot Employee

Correction Glenn

Remember volts x amps = watts

So on a single 4500 watt element heater or a dual element, non-simultaneous (standard) with a rounded off voltage of 220vac is calculated as follows:

4500 (4.5kw) / 220 (220 volts ac) = 20.45455 amps

Most often in this application you would use a 30 amp, double pole breaker for circuit protection

But, if you purchase some light commercials or choose to wire it simultaneous (both elements on at once), it would require 2-30a circuits. Manufacturers specify two because one 50 to 60amp is too much for the internal wires should a short, stat or element failure.

That could make a difference in his selection.

Home Depot Employee

Not who I seem

Actually Glenn,

The HD started as a joke, I'm a retired Wholesale Distributor Principal (Trane, amongst others) & BSME and I used to kid everyone that I was going to wear the orange smock when I moved south. Well that never happened as they wanted me to work weekends. I just wanted 4-6 hours, 2-3 days a week. So I found other things to do and walked away from the employee discount.
I posted once with a real name and email and was lambasted with spam, never again!

Now I enjoy my days watching others, even though I'm not past age 50 yet.

Glenn Sossin_2

Impressed

non the less. I was starting to wonder if they were really trying to train their people. A lot of times I like to go down the plumbing aisle and listen in. Interesting advise to say the least.

SPAM I wonder if thats where alot of that crap comes from. ??? Actually, I get about 20 a day but my Norton Spam filter does a good job of getting rid of most of them.

Home Depot Employee

Training?

They could of hired me (under my conditions) and chose not to so, theres your answer. I can tell you that they are trying to hire at least one licensed or past licensed plumber per store. Pitfall; they may not always be there, they may have been out of the field for awhile, they are too busy and they still have the HD handcuffs on. But their trying.

As far as their advise, some good/some bad. Reminds me of the lady in Wal Mart last winter up north advising this other lady to just use the solid 50 weight oil in her Ford, "it's all the same". I could hear the bearing squealing in my ears.

I run norton profesional, and all the goodies but it gets through on my blackberry which kills the battery.

David Barbee

Watts = volts x amps
But on a resistive load like a water heater resistance is constant (watts = voltage x voltage / resistance)
Also voltage = amps x resistance
4500 watts at 240 volts = 18.75 amps
But if voltage drops to 220 volts, current does not go up but drops to 17.19 amps and watts = 3781 watts.
Rewire a 4500 watt water heater rated at 240 volts to 120 and power drops to 1125 watts.