Good quality 5-10 gallon electric water heater??

The "quality" is going to be about the same for all of them, so go by price and get the least expensive one with a metal tank, not a plastic one. The dynamics of a 120v heater, which all the small ones are, means that they usually have extreme longevity.
 
The 30 gallon rigs are cheaper, usually. You can run a normal water heater on 120v with the stock elements, and have longer lead time to hot water, and need not pull large wires.

And if you really only need 10 gallons, disconnect the bottom element and run just the top one.

wrap some R-19 fiberglas around the top and top half and the thing won't add much to your electric bill.
 
Last edited:
The 30 gallon rigs are cheaper, usually. You can run a normal water heater on 120v with the stock elements, and have longer lead time to hot water, and need not pull large wires.

And if you really only need 10 gallons, disconnect the bottom element and run just the top one.

wrap some R-19 fiberglas around the top and top half and the thing won't add much to your electric bill.

Thanks guys, found a 10 gallon GE tank at my local home depot. They actually have 2 of them. One 3000 watt 240 volt, or one 1500 watt 120 volt. Wich should I get? Would the 120 volt one cost less to run? Again, this is just going to be used to for my sink in the garage and maybe fill a wash bucket to wash my cars with:D

Thanks
 
The one with the best insulation (reflected in it's EF rating) would be the cheapst to run- the power rating of the elements only affect recovery time, not efficiency.

Insulating all of the near-tank plumbing (including the cold-feed and temp & pressure valve /outflow) within 2m of the tank with R4-R5 5/8-3/4" thick closed cell foam pipe insulation will also reap a cost-effective reduction in stadby losses. (Box stores tend to only sell the ~ R2 or 3/8"-wall goods, which is way better than nothing, but it's best to take up to at least R4, especially in a cool-climate garage. Plumbing supply houses, or online vendors have it.) See: http://www.leaningpinesoftware.com/hot_water_pipes.shtml
 
Back
Top