Alpo Posted December 24, 2022 Posted December 24, 2022 To have a thermostat on a water heater so precise that it would keep water to the 10th of a degree? There's an old movie called HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE. It starts off with Charles ("I am Mr Ford's man") giving you a guided tour of the premises. "This is Mr Ford's townhouse." "This is Mr Ford's rooftop garden." "This is Mr Ford's shower, set to precisely ninety-eight point SEVEN degrees - Mr Ford's body temperature." I thought that was a very cool bit of business. I don't think they had the ability to do that back in the 60s when the movie was made, but I wonder if they could do it today?
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted December 24, 2022 Posted December 24, 2022 Given enough money…. It can be done. I would engineer it, for my usual fee, of course.
Dusty Devil Dale Posted December 24, 2022 Posted December 24, 2022 Every thermostat has a factory set hysteresis, which is a particular number of degrees above or below the setting at which the burner or element turns on or turns off. I suppose it would be possible to set the hysteresis very tightly around the nominal setting, but the heating element or burner would be turning on and off so rapidly that a very large fraction of the energy would be wasted. Usually hysteresis is about 3 deg F plus for shut off and about 1 degree F minus for turn on. So set at 68 deg, it turns on at 67 and off at about 71 for a four deg range of variation.
Cholla Posted December 24, 2022 Posted December 24, 2022 We used to install these if absolute control was required but I only used them for air, not water. https://necc-controls.com/thermostats/accustat/ A proportional control would be better but it requires more equipment and more cost. I also think most folks would find 98.7 too cold for a bath or shower.
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