Heating with tank water heater

Nick_16

Does anyone know anything about hooking an 80 gal. electric water heater to a small 2 zone (1000 sq. ft.) fin/tube baseboard system rather than a boiler? I currently have a small gas boiler which heats my home just fine. I would like to switch to all electric home and only have 150 amps so I don't want to install an electric boiler that will take 80 amps. I keep my boiler temp. set at 160 F and the water heater would be the same. I have had good things. This system would be seperate from my domestic hot water system. Please let me know. Thanks a lot!

kevin coppinger_4

Well to keep....

a water heater that high would take a bit of work....how big are the elements? 4500 watts or 5500? the size of the water heater won't make that much of a difference its the amount of output going into it. With a 5500 watt element that will only give you 18,909 btu... It better be well insulated.Start with a heat loss..@ 160 you will need a lot of baseboard. kpc

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hr

You could

But most electric water heaters don't go much over 140° F these days. Probably not enough ° to drive much output from fin tube baseboard.

I'd suggest a small electric boiler. A 9 KW would give you about 30,000 BTU/hr.

Depending on your heatloss, that may be plenty (1000 square feet X 30 BTU/ft.) You might squeeeze down to a 7KW.

A 40 amp breaker should run a 7KW boiler. 5.5 KW on a 30 amp but that is only about 18,700 BTU/hr

Again it depends on the heatloss, thats what you NEED to determine to select the correct boiler.

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Uni R

A KW is a KW

One of the listed vendors here, Thermolec, has electric boilers in many smaller sizes that have both outdoor reset and can be combined with other heating modes. They aren't expensive and are designed exactly for your intended use. An electric water heater isn't designed to heat a home.

Ron Schroeder_3

What is your present fuel source for heat?

Ron

freon12

somthing to chew on

I would just wire it in so both elemnets engage at the same time. That would give you 9kw :P A 40 gal would be alot cheaper than an 80 gal....and most have the same elements inside...

freon12

I would just wire the elements to engage toghter, that would give you 9kw...also a 40 gal has the same elements as an 80 gal..........

Craig_8

i have a staple up radiant floor in my vacation cabin heated with an electric hot water heater. it is 40 gallons with two 4500 watt elements. i rewired it so both elements can come on at the same time (each has its own 240 volt breaker). the highest setting on the indicator is 150 degrees. however, you can turn the thermostat past that. i currently have the upper water thermostat set at 165 and the lower one at 130. each is controlled by a contactor and the contactors are connected to a dual stage thermostat. in stage 1, the water is 130 and stage two, the second element comes on and heats to 165. in case your wondering about those high temps in a radiant system, the floor is 3 layers of 3/4 inch planking with carpet on top. it takes a high temperature to force the heat through that. anyways, the system works great, and the house is so much more comfortable. However, i could not imagine this water heater as the sole heat source. with both elements running, it is only about 30,000 btus. thats really no much heat, and even if it is able to keep your house warm, it would probably take a few hours to raise the temperature after you change the setting on the thermostat.

also, why do you want to switch to electric? in most places gas is cheaper. is electric cheaper in your location

hr

If you wire two elements together

buy another complete control like the upper one. This gives you the high temperature reset button for top and bottom element. Don't just wire the second circuit to the , and you have build a bomb!

You can order tanks from the factory with both elements wired to run together. I've yet to see them stocked this way however

I've done a number of tanks this way and actually, if you have a true 240 volt, you can run a 4500W on a 20 amp breaker, 4500 divided by 240= 18.75 amps..

I'd still run #10 wire however, in case you do have to go up to a 30 amp breaker. Worth a try if you are squeezed for power.

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