Water heater timer wasting electricity?

[Bearded_Dragon]

I'm hooking up an Intermatic water heater timer and the instructions have me wondering if I have the wrong one. In the picture you can see Line 2 is also connected to Load so its always sending 120v to the heater, isn't this wasting electricity? Or are there relays inside the heater that trigger on when it sees 240v? I checked the heater manual but it didn't say or I'm a dummy.

I've used other Intermatic timers in the past but they had Lines and Loads separated. I found this timer the house so I figured I'd use it.

 

[whateg01]

Does it not just break the connection between 1 and 3? If there's no return path, why would it matter that 2 is connected?

 

[sparky 1971]

Nothing will happen unless both legs are connected and energized. The only thing using electricity when the timer is off, is the timer.

 

[Bearded_Dragon]

Does it not just break the connection between 1 and 3? If there's no return path, why would it matter that 2 is connected?

Line 1 and Line 2 are 120v each. Line 2 is always connected to one of the water heater wires.

 

[Bearded_Dragon]

Nothing will happen unless both legs are connected and energized.

Cool, thanks!

 

[Bert_]

Line 1 and Line 2 are 120v each. Line 2 is always connected to one of the water heater wires.

The water heater has no neutral connection. It does not care if you have 120v present on one line. You either have 240v between L1 and L2 or you don't.

The thermostat in the water heater only breaks one line. There is a high limit inside that can break both lines but it only opens when there is a problem.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I'm hooking up an Intermatic water heater timer and the instructions have me wondering if I have the wrong one. In the picture you can see Line 2 is also connected to Load so its always sending 120v to the heater, isn't this wasting electricity? Or are there relays inside the heater that trigger on when it sees 240v? I checked the heater manual but it didn't say or I'm a dummy.

I've used other Intermatic timers in the past but they had Lines and Loads separated. I found this timer the house so I figured I'd use it.

ummm no because the circuit isnt complete. if the heating element only has 1 leg connected to it, its doing nothing at all. it needs both legs to complete the circuit and be a load on the service drawing electricity.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Line 1 and Line 2 are 120v each. Line 2 is always connected to one of the water heater wires.

sure but without both the circuit is not complete. the heating element is 240v and needs both lines in order to be a load on the service. there is no neutral connection so the voltage of 1 line means nothing at all. the element needs the potential of 240v to consume electricity

 

[Bearded_Dragon]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Metal-Marc]

Why would you want to have the water heater on a timer?

 

[Bert_]

Why would you want to have the water heater on a timer?

Guessing he has time of use billing or some variation of that. IE electricity is cheaper during some parts of the day.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Guessing he has time of use billing or some variation of that. IE electricity is cheaper during some parts of the day.

Your guess is as good as mine. Let the man give us an answer.

 

[vavet]

When I was a young single man living in South Georgia, I had one of these. I would even turn off the water heater in the summer to save on my electric bill. I always showered in the morning, so i was able to save a lot by only having the water heater on when I really needed it.

 

[walta]

Consider the last time the power went out you still had pretty warm water 20 hours later. The insulation on your tank is pretty darn good. Any saving can only happens if the temperature differential from inside the tank to outside the tank gets smaller because the water cooled off. How much cooler does the water get while the power is disconnected? My guess is the timers motor uses more power than turning it off for 8 hours saves unless you have a time of use billing plan.

My tankless electric water heater uses .30-0.80 cents a day in electricity.

Walta

 

[mm08822]

Consider the last time the power went out you still had pretty warm water 20 hours later. The insulation on your tank is pretty darn good. Any saving can only happens if the temperature differential from inside the tank to outside the tank gets smaller because the water cooled off. How much cooler does the water get while the power is disconnected? My guess is the timers motor uses more power than turning it off for 8 hours saves unless you have a time of use billing plan.

My tankless electric water heater uses .30-0.80 cents a day in electricity.

Walta

I doubt it. An Intermatic T104 clock uses 3w.

 

[walta]

I doubt it. An Intermatic T104 clock uses 3w.

Total agree the time uses very little power but I doubt the water in the tank cools much in a few hours making the saving small. All the timer does is shift the time of use back a few hours.



Walta

 

[djbmw]

Just dont let the "hot" water cool down too much or it will start to fester all kinds of nasties in your lines and tank! I suppose.. only use the hot water when the timer is on?!... kinda defeats the point of a timer though, doesnt it?