Electric Hot Water Heater Thermostat Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting the thermostat on a hot water heater.

Electric hot water heater thermostat troubleshooting.

Adjusting the temperature isn t difficult especially if you have a water heater with a dial thermostat. First check your thermostat settings. An electric hot water heater has two thermostats controlling two separate heating elements one in the upper half of the tank one in the lower half. Electric water heaters are high voltage 240 volt appliances that are dangerous to work with when the power is on.

Electric water heaters have one or two elements and each is controlled by a thermostat. How electric water heaters work. Depending on the gallon size of the tank an electric water heater consists of one or two thermostats which regulate the temperature of the water. Electric water heaters usually have two thermostats and to heating elements.

The lower thermostat just controls the lower element. The water could be hot enough to cause burns or it could lead to. An upper thermostat located behind a cover high on the heater tank and a lower thermostat located behind a panel low on the water heater tank photo at left. Then this is good news for you.

Scalding hot water from a tap presents a serious problem for homeowners. If you are planning to fix the water heater yourself here are the steps to guide you through. If the hot water heater is not working one of the thermostats may be bad. Didn t know you could adjust the thermostat on your water heater.

Before checking any electrical parts of a water heater shut off the power to the heater s circuit by turning off the appropriate breaker in your home s service panel breaker box. Generally the ideal temperature for hot water heaters is 120 degrees fahrenheit. Electric water heaters use either 120 or 240 volt power 240 volts is more common to energize metal heating elements that protrude into the water heater tank through the side wall. The thermostats work by turning the heating.

See troubleshooting electric hot water heaters or water heater element testing for other related topics. Usually when the upper thermostat goes bad you will have no hot water at all while a bad lower thermostat makes itself known when there is only a small amount of hot water before the tap water goes cold. You can test them with the power off using an ohmmeter to measure resistance or with the power on using a voltmeter to measure voltage.