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> use the excess to heat your water heater up to a very high temperature like 80 degrees C Wouldn't that be quite dangerous? That's basically instant scalding

> use the excess to heat your water heater up to a very high temperature like 80 degrees C Wouldn't that be quite dangerous? That's basically instant scalding temperature if anyone accidentally turns on just the hot.

hattmall 4y ago
You can get a mixing valve that's installed at the heater. Very easy, then turn the heater up really high, they are only like $15-20 and will effectively double or triple your hot water capacity.
- xpe 4y ago
  e.g. https://www.watts.com/resources/references-tools/thermostatic-mixing-valves https://www.watts.com/resources/references-tools/thermostati...
- kadoban 4y ago
  Interesting, I didn't know those existed. Seems like it makes a lot of sense.
  - sneak 4y ago
    It also seems like if you simply leave it on a higher temperature 24/7 it will use more power due to thermal losses overall. This is a great hack for households with several people who like to take long showers (and thus run out of hot water), though, or if you can do some sort of variable temperature setpoint to store energy as described in the thread, though I think at least in the US electric tank-based hot water heaters are relatively uncommon.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  Do not install these if you have hard water, they will clog up extremely fast - and the hotter your hot water is, the faster it will clog up.
  - ikiris 4y ago
    Which is especially amusing considering this is PG&E territory. The bay area water was so hard you could make limestone castles by rinsing a glass.
thedougd 4y ago
There are new 120v heat pump hot water heaters that operate in this way: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/29/120-volt-heat-pump-water-heaters-hit-the-market-make-gas-replacements-even-easier/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/29/120-volt-heat-pump-wate... "120 volt heat pump water heaters come with a mixing valve integrated into the water heater itself. This mixing valve allows owners to keep their water at a higher temperature and as the water leaves the tank, the valve will mix “in the exact amount of cold water needed to ensure the water comes out of the water heater at the correct temperature.”

hattmall 4y ago

You can get a mixing valve that's installed at the heater. Very easy, then turn the heater up really high, they are only like $15-20 and will effectively double or triple your hot water capacity.

xpe 4y ago
e.g. https://www.watts.com/resources/references-tools/thermostatic-mixing-valves https://www.watts.com/resources/references-tools/thermostati...
kadoban 4y ago
Interesting, I didn't know those existed. Seems like it makes a lot of sense.
- sneak 4y ago
  It also seems like if you simply leave it on a higher temperature 24/7 it will use more power due to thermal losses overall. This is a great hack for households with several people who like to take long showers (and thus run out of hot water), though, or if you can do some sort of variable temperature setpoint to store energy as described in the thread, though I think at least in the US electric tank-based hot water heaters are relatively uncommon.
mschuster91 4y ago
Do not install these if you have hard water, they will clog up extremely fast - and the hotter your hot water is, the faster it will clog up.
- ikiris 4y ago
  Which is especially amusing considering this is PG&E territory. The bay area water was so hard you could make limestone castles by rinsing a glass.

thedougd 4y ago

There are new 120v heat pump hot water heaters that operate in this way: https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/29/120-volt-heat-pump-water-heaters-hit-the-market-make-gas-replacements-even-easier/ https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/29/120-volt-heat-pump-wate... "120 volt heat pump water heaters come with a mixing valve integrated into the water heater itself. This mixing valve allows owners to keep their water at a higher temperature and as the water leaves the tank, the valve will mix “in the exact amount of cold water needed to ensure the water comes out of the water heater at the correct temperature.”