Hot Water Heater - 50 or 75?
I have a 75 gallon hot water heater that I am looking to replace and am curious if I should replace it with a 50 gallon. I hear conflicting opinions on this – my house is a two family that includes four residents total (it will never be more than five). Some people tell me…
I have a 75 gallon hot water heater that I am looking to replace and am curious if I should replace it with a 50 gallon. I hear conflicting opinions on this – my house is a two family that includes four residents total (it will never be more than five). Some people tell me a 75 gallon is too big while others say a 50 gallon is too small. I would think two showers in a row would drain a “50” (and this doesn’t even consider a washer and dishwashing). What is best? I’m interested in heating 25 less gallons of water if I can help it but, then again, don’t want to run out of hot water all the time.
Thanks.
No expert, but Consumer Rpts says that the First Hour Rating (“FHR”) is more important than tank capacity in determining whether a particular water heater will provide you with enough hot water. As I understand, the FHR is a measure of how many gallons of hot water the heater will provide in the first hour of use (ie, the busiest hour of use in the morning). For a family of 4 who hate cold showers, we perused the Sears / Kenmore website and saw FHRs of 98 gals. and 114 gals. for example. (Count 20 gals. per shower, 20 gals. per dish load, 10 gals per laundry load).
What does “high recovery” mean? Sounds good!
I would recommend anything larger than the 50. I have the same situation and my family as well as my tenants seem to take showers in the morning. If I oversleep 10 minutes I SOL when it comes to hot water and nothing suck more than getting into a shower that turns freezing cold in a matter of 2 minutes. Good luck
I have a similar set up. Installed two 40 gallon high recovery heaters. Have one on now but will turn the other on when tenants move in. We use the dishwasher a fair bit, have a whirlpool tub (don’t use it much), and the rental unit has a dishwasher. Nothing worse than running out of hot water. New heaters will probably run more efficiently than your old one anyway, so will not likely cost as much to run even if you have two smaller tanks.
50 gallons typically serves 6-8 people well. 75 gallons should serve 8-10 If you’re concerned, why not split the difference and get a 50 gallon high-recovery unit.
It stores the same amount of water but uses 15,000 BTUs more to heat it faster.
It also costs less to run and maintain than the 75 gallon unit.