What Temperature Should Your Hot Water Be
You may be surprised to know that while the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) recommends setting your water heater at 120 degrees. OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) recommends setting your water heater thermostat at 140 degrees under certain circumstances. If you would like to read more about OSHA’s recommendations click here and scroll down the page. If your hot water has an unpleasant odor, it is usually caused by some bacteria. Raising the temperature above 140 degrees will help.
If you have an older dishwasher that doesn’t preheat the water, recommended water heater temperature is 140 degrees. This is to ensure clean sanitary dishes. Basically you’ll need to adjust the temperature to suit your needs or your budget. I know a gentleman that lives alone and keeps his water heater set at 110 degrees and only allows it to heat one hour a day.
How To Check Your Hot Water Heater Temperature
Allow your water heater to set an hour unused before checking the temperature. You can use a candy or cooking thermometer to check your water heater temperature. Go to the faucet nearest the water heater. Run the hot water for one full minute ( this will heat the water pipes and give you a more accurate reading ). Fill a coffee cup from the faucet and read the thermometer.
About water heater settings
Because heat rises (yes, even in water) the water in the top of a water heater can be much hotter than the water in the bottom. This is especially true of a gas water heater where the thermostat and burner are located at the bottom of the tank. Water heater settings or temperature settings are not exact temperatures. The degree settings on a thermostat are approximate.
Gas water heater Adjustment
If you have a gas water heater you are in luck as far as adjusting the temperature.
- There’s nothing to remove or replace. Simply turn the dial located on the front of the gas control valve.
- The warm setting will be in the 90 to 110 degree range.
- The hot setting will average 140 to 150 degrees.
Electric Water Heater Adjustment
- Turn off the water heater breaker.
- Remove both access panels (upper and lower) if you have a double element water heater.
- For single element water heaters remove the lower panel.
- Pull the insulation to the side or remove it so you can see the thermostat.
- Remove the plastic cover if it doesn’t have an access hole for the adjustment screw.
The thermostat adjusting screw is located at the bottom of the thermostat, just above the element.
As you can see you’ll need a small flat blade screwdriver.
- Replace the plastic cover(if you removed it). Place the insulation back over the thermostat and element. Replace the access panels and turn the power back on.
