pull fuses to save on power bill

Users who are viewing this thread

yoko

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I was in the habit of pulling water heater fuses to save money, having them in sometimes as little as fifteen minutes a day. It worked great, not sure how much I saved. Then, after doing this on and off for about a year, the other day I had no hot water, called plumber. He hit the reset button, $95 for five minute visit. My question is does anyone know that removing fuses regularly, or at all, will eventually cause the reset to trip or cause other problems. I was told it could be thermostat problem, so I'm keeping fuses in for awhile to narrow possibilities. The water heater's in the crawl space, so it's hard to keep an eye on what it's up to.
Thanks for any help.
 

Cass

Plumber
Messages
5,947
Reaction score
7
Points
0
Location
Ohio
Unless he checked the elements he is not a good plumber.

Most times when the reset button pops it is due to an element going bad unless the water was scalding hot just B 4 it went out.



Do you know how old the heater is?
 

yoko

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Thanks. He only mentioned thermostats. Water heater is old. Can I safely turn water temp down without turning off power? Thanks again
 

Gary Swart

In the Trades
Messages
8,101
Reaction score
84
Points
48
Location
Yakima, WA
You can adjust the thermostat without turning the power off. In all due respect, turning the tank off and then reheating the water everyday is probably not saving you any money, in fact, it might well be costing you more. Now, if you were going to be gone for a week or more, then there might be some noticeable savings. I don't think that pulling the fuses or switching the breakers is the problem with the heater however.
 

Redwood

Master Plumber
Messages
7,335
Reaction score
13
Points
0
Location
Connecticut
The reset button popping is caused by a bad thermostat or, a bad element, maybe both. Stop playng with the fuses the water heater can run itself once it is fixed.
 
Last edited:

GrumpyPlumber

Licensed Grump
Messages
1,521
Reaction score
57
Points
48
Location
Licensed Grump
Standby heat loss is pennies per day.
You use almost the same amount of energy to reheat the tank that you'd use keeping it hot during the day.
As for the element/T-stat, the above are right...there's a reason the reset popped, simply resetting it isn't the solution to that problem.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks