Indirect water heater temp. settings

Joe_51

Started up my boiler last week with just the IWH working, I know most people like to keep the water temp. in the Indirect at above 140 degrees, and the reasons make sense.I'm keeping it above 140 and mixing it down with a Taco Sparcomatic.My question is this what is the best temp. to hold water in the indirect to get the most efficiency out of the system ??? example: boiler at 180degrees with indirect at 140 degrees mixed down to 120 degrees.... or is there a different set of numbers that make better efficientcy ????

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Personal preference

Me? I don't like the indirect above 125° becuase a) you don't need a mixing valve, b) less chance of getting scalded if the mixing valve fails, c) components (including the indirect heater itself) last longer at lower water temperatures.

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Joe_51

Alan, my understanding is to keep the indirect above 140 degrees to kill all the nasties.

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

Never

heard of anybody getting sick from nasties; anyway, you don't drink from the hot water tap, do you?

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Joe_51

No , but I have been known to burn the roof of my mouth with to hot microwaved pizza.I swear I've seen more than one place including the wall to run your water heaters above 140 degrees to kill (sp) leothia ???? or something

hr

I would run

130- 140. Is this supplying a dishwasher? Seems they want 130 minimun for bacteria and good soap disolving. May be a bit hot for young-ins however, it's a fine line to address scalding and bacteria potential without point of use mixers everywhere.

Only reason to go higher than 140 would be to extend the tanks output, use a good mix valve of coures. A scald guard type for sure.

The warmer the water in a tank, the greater the heatloss.

hot rod

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Tom_26

indirect temp


Asked this from the manufacturer and stated that in commercial application should be run at 140 and tempered down to keep bacteria build-up from forming in tank.

Use you own judgement but alot of them are used in semi-commercial application and I would feel safer with top quality tempering valve and be safe.


Also make sure no back-flow or P/R valve in line or Temp-Trol tank is required.

Tom

Paul B._2

storage temp

It's legionella that your trying to come up with, and you should be able to find enough information on this web site alone to crush a desk.

try the search feature.

For the record I am in the 140° storage temp camp as well. I've seen enough low temp systems with growth that I take the threat seriously.

Dave Yates has been known to have an opinion or two as well.

Paul B

Mark Eatherton1

Most Commonly misdiagnosed disease in America today...

Alan, I respect you and your opinion, but research, much of it European and American, point to numerous water born pathogens that can and do kill people every year. Let me give you a typical scenario.

Abe sez "Ah, the ol' boy died", PARTNER SEZ "What did he die of" Abe "Pneumonia..." Partner, "Dang, my granny died from pneumonia last year!" Abe "Must be something in the air..."

Legionella and numerous other diseases thrive in water temperatures of less than 140 degrees F. THRIVE...

If they have their basic 3 needs (warmth, food and water) met, they will FLOURISH.

The Euros have a "sanitization function" that runs the tank up to 180 degrees F for sterilization purposes. Frequency of "treatment" depends on water quality, but is typically weekly. There are other methods being researched (chilling to stamp out bacteria, and silver ionization processes) but scald sanitization is a PROVEN method of bacteria control.

It is typically set up to go off at 3:00 in the AM when everyone's asleep. Lessens chances of scalding exposure...

Back to the misdiagnosis part. Since the discovery of the SARS virus, as soon as ANYONE shows any kind of lung weakness, everyone sez "You better get checked for SARS!", they do and it turns out that they have the antigens? associated with the legionella bacteria. When elderly people die from pneumonia, they typically don't do a bacterial test on the lungs to see whats present. I'm betting that the majority would show positive signs of the legionella bacteria. Heck, a random blood test showed that 90% of the people they tested had been exposed to the bacteria...

I give this information to my consumers, and let them make the decision about where they want their heaters set. In some cases, they say turn on the sanitization function. Some keep them at 140, and some don't. It's all over the board.

It's for real, and if we ignore it, WE'LL go away...

Good to see you my friend..

ME

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Joe_51

Thanks guys for the extra info to clear things up for me. I do have a dishwasher but know point of use mixing valves ( at this time that would be just to expensive for me)I'm gonna stay in the 140 degree range and call the local utility company and get a free WH blanket.

singh

I've done quite a few jobs in hospitals and schools , with and with out mixing valves and temps. at 120* or 140* or above!
In some cases the piping goes on for hundreds of feet.
Q. Even if you set the temp at 140 or more and use a mixing valve down to 120* can't those bugs come back into all that piping after mixing valve?? Even more so on long runs?
I think the only way to kill pathogens and bacteria is to use chlorine and/ or UV systems. Leave the hot water tank for doing what it was designed to do,make hot water ,but not scalding water.