Seems my water heater is about 30% of my electrical usage. Is this normal? What are others seeing for your water heater percentage?
Short answer: Yes, probably normal.
Long answer (to probe deeper): I suggest reading through these recent threads … there are some good details therein:
Mine is ~3% but it’s gas so only the blower is counting towards that.
@Keef71
Because of the variability in households with (electric) hot water you are probably best off trying to establish whether your monthly/yearly kWhrs for the tank are “in the realm” of sensible based on your water usage. Those prior thread links discuss some of that.
Just a few of the things that make %'s less of an indicator (when establishing what is “normal”):
- Some people have electric house heating in winter.
- Incoming water temperature can vary significantly by location and season.
- AC use in summer (or not).
- Low-flow faucets/showers? Cold or hot water laundry? Dishwasher? Some people use a lot more hot water than others.
- Tank set temperature
Thanks a lot. We have gas heat. You bring up a few points I had not thought of. I’m sure the percentage will change this summer when the AC kicks in.
A friend purchase a home that had a solar water heater panel. They have high electric usage and I wonder if the solar water heat has something to do with it.
Suppose that the system is kerflewy and the computer brain is taking hot water out of the tank and circulating it up to the roof… It would act like a radiator and discharge the electrically heated water to the outside air, more so at night. What a waste that would be.
I am not surprised by that percentage if your electric water heater is a standard one that uses electric elements to heat your water…
I’d be surprised by the percentage if you had a heat pump or hybrid (heat pump & electric element) water heater…