My hvac water supply is hot water, so I pre-heat with natural has to save electricity. Any issue with the water input being hot?
813475
Use cold water. When the hot cannister rains the inlet valve opens to mix hot and cold water. Most people plumb the drain with low temperature tubing and PVC. Your drain tubing could melt with hot water.
813476
I would call Aprilaire and ask. My GUESS is that it would not make much of a difference because the canister that holds the water is small. I'm guessing it holds less than 1/2 gallon of water. The canister is not insulated, so heat is lost quickly when the unit is not producing steam. I've had a lot of problems with this product -- you can read my review.
961962
I have been using the power supply for a few months. The unit operates well. But it has problem with heat sinking. The unit has a finned heat exchanger to dissipate the heat but the power will cycle on / off because of the temperature rise due to inadequate natural heat convection. If you want the unit to operate all the time, you need an external fan to blow air on the finned exchanged. I hope this is helpful to you. Regards, Ram
1645471
It is recommended to wire direct with 10 gauge wire, with 30 amp breaker. If you were to wire a plug in pig tail for an outlet, it would most likely trip the standard 20 amp or 15 amp breaker. It would also decrease the heated water performance of the heater. This unit did not work well for me at my kitchen sink because even with the correct wire gauge and connections, it had to have the low flow restrictor on the fixture to just achieve luke warm water. I went to a 2 Gallon tank point of use heater. It works great with no flow restriction and gets very hot if you set the temp setting higher. It the Reliance brand.
1872516
I Currently have the heat tape on my sand point water supply at my cabin, I cut plug off and hard wired this to an outlet that has a light indicator when on. To support John's comment, my next project is plumbing in a well line, and this time I am going to wire an outlet on a switch to avoid the warranty issue. Plus if I ever have to replace it, it's an easier fix to unplug. I will say this stuff works great though! Two winters ago it was so cold in northern WI that our frost line was at 6'... still had water without a doubt..... now if I could just wrap this stuff all around my septic tank :). I Currently have the heat tape on my sand point water supply at my cabin, I cut plug off and hard wired this to an outlet that has a light indicator when on. To support John's comment, my next project is plumbing in a well line, and this time I am going to wire an outlet on a switch to avoid the warranty issue. Plus if I ever have to replace it, it's an easier fix to unplug. I will say this stuff works great though! Two winters ago it was so cold in northern WI that our frost line was at 6'... still had water without a doubt..... now if I could just wrap this stuff all around my septic tank... » Read More I Currently have the heat tape on my sand point water supply at my cabin, I cut plug off and hard wired this to an outlet that has a light indicator when on. To support John's comment, my next project is plumbing in a well line, and this time I am going to wire an outlet on a switch to avoid the warranty issue. Plus if I ever have to replace it, it's an easier fix to unplug. I will say this stuff works great though! Two winters ago it was so cold in northern WI that our frost line was at 6'... still had water without a doubt..... now if I could just wrap this stuff all around my septic tank :). « Show Less
84614
My wife and I are going full-time in a travel trailer. We look forward to continuous hot water. Thanks for the advice!
1345578
That is a possibility, especially if the hot water piping is long in distance and/or if it is has a tendency to loose temperature over the piping run, then the water heater will fire to bring temp back up. I don't think that actual cost would amount to much as natural gas is still fairly cheap. Good Luck
313379
if u have the plug in 110 yup should be fine 7 min quick shower 20 min recovery had mine 5 yrs so i dont have to use furnace in summer to heat hot water lov it
913684
I see no problem, just plug it in and warm towels. Try it with a timer and no worry.
468378
Yes it must remain plugged in, otherwise the heating element will cool and not produce steam. You cannot control the amount of steam...as the water runs out, it will stop producing steam. Once the steam is flowing it will not stop unless it runs out of water or turn it off.
1517530
I'm sure the water would be warm but maybe not entirely HOT. It is large and a bit heavy to take with you though. I have mine plugged in 24/7, wouldn't want to be without it. This is our second one, the first lasted years and years.
270923
It works well. In fact, if you use a central water heater, the water is first heated by the central water heater. The water in the pipes cools and then is sent to the dishwasher where it is heated again by the dishwasher. This heater is actually an energy and money saver. We hooked it up the cold water pipe under the sink and tee'd the outlet to the hot water feed to the sink and also to the dishwasher. No more waiting for hot water at the sink and then wasting energy for the hot water that cools in the piping to the sink.
1560833
Yes warm water is fine. I have a hose connection on my laundry sink that works great.
188604
Remember to hook the main ground wire between pump and heater .No. Just make sure it's plugged into a GFI receptacle. You also should know how to cut and glue PVC pipe. If your pump is plugged in the same receptacle it should be a GFI and be just fine. The flow of the water through the heater turns it on and off. Plus you must have enough water in the tub also. I hope this helps.
1542432
No. My electrician wired this thing in for me and we used the 3 40 amp breakers and #8 wire per the instructions. Here's something we noticed when first testing out the unit with water flowing through to our kitchen sink. With this small demand for hot water, only 2 of the 40 amp circuits were in use. One measured 32 amps, the second measured 27 amps, and the third measured 0. My electrician and I assume the unit holds the third circuit in reserve for situations where more hot water is required. Why heat up two circuits when only 2 are necessary, right? I'm assuming this is the case although I have not read this anywhere. You may want to call the company to be sure. We've been using the water heater for close to a month and it does a good job of delivering a steady stream of hot water for the shower. We're very pleased but there is a little longer delay waiting for the hot water to get to where we need it. If you live in an area where water prices are extremely high this would be a consideration. I have not gotten the first electric bill but I feel certain we will see a savings. Please let me know if anyone tells you different information. Thanks!
25034
Yes, you may. Just move your settings from timer to "on" position. Remenber this is a small pump, you can't have hot water right away.
2076618
Hi William. Mark here... Personally, the combination of the heater and the provider has been a nightmare. 2X now, the inner coils have burst from cold temps. If you live in a cold climate be very careful! T oanswer your quesytion, the unit is in our studio apt and to prepare to take a shower we must first turn on the sink hot wate which is near the shower to initiate the hot water. Then once the shower is turned on (as long as the unit continues to fire) we then tune thew sink off which allows the shower to keep flowing hot water. It's a querk for lack of a better term to say the least and I hope thatg answered your question. Hi William. Mark here... Personally, the combination of the heater and the provider has been a nightmare. 2X now, the inner coils have burst from cold temps. If you live in a cold climate be very careful! T oanswer your quesytion, the unit is in our studio apt and to prepare to take a shower we must first turn on the sink hot wate which is near the shower to initiate the hot water. Then once the shower is turned on (as long as the unit continues to fire) we then tune thew sink off which allows the shower to keep flowing hot water. It's a querk for lack of a better term to say the least and... » Read More Hi William. Mark here... Personally, the combination of the heater and the provider has been a nightmare. 2X now, the inner coils have burst from cold temps. If you live in a cold climate be very careful! T oanswer your quesytion, the unit is in our studio apt and to prepare to take a shower we must first turn on the sink hot wate which is near the shower to initiate the hot water. Then once the shower is turned on (as long as the unit continues to fire) we then tune thew sink off which allows the shower to keep flowing hot water. It's a querk for lack of a better term to say the least and I hope thatg answered your question. « Show Less
559238
I only turn is on when I sit on it (there is an on/off button on the side). One min or two is sufficient to get the water warm, and I do not even care if the seat is warm or not. I do not see any impact to the electricity bill: if you are still concerned, you probably need to consider hard switch all appliances off around the house.