Turn off the circuit breaker to the water heater.
Water heater thermostat setting.
Most manufacturers recommend a temperature setting of 120 degrees.
Do you really want to change it.
Find the access panel for the thermostat s and use a screwdriver to remove the panel.
On the other hand the epa suggests turning the thermostat down to 120 to reduce power consumption and a booster heater to reach sanitizing temperatures at select outlets.
You can do this by locating your circuit breaker and turning off the power in.
Do not remove the.
Test your water temperature.
Inhaling water vapor contaminated with legionellosis bacteria causes pneumonia like symptoms that.
Next locate the thermostat s on your water heater.
If your water heater.
The exact location is different with each.
See the article on hot water heater temperature settings for information on the correct settings and why setting it too high can be dangerous.
Remove the access cover panels located on the side of the tank.
A rheem water heater leaves the factory with the temperature preset at 120 degrees fahrenheit but you can adjust the temperature on the thermostat anywhere from 90 degrees fahrenheit up to 150.
Usually these are under a control panel.
Peel back the insulation.
Your water heater is likely set by the factory to that temperature.
Turn off the power to your water heater.
If the upper one is set at 90 degrees for all practical purposes you would never notice it working because even 90 degree water would feel cold.
How to set the upper and lower thermostats on dual element water heaters 1.
Use a flathead screwdriver to adjust the thermostat up or down.
Based on the department of energy in us the best temperature setting which you should choose is at 120 degrees.
Water heaters are factory set at osha recommended levels around 140 degrees.
Recommended temperature settings for hot water heaters legionnaires disease.
Here this temperature level is the choice which has minimal chance for a danger.
Remove the insulation inside the tank.
Water heater thermostats are not very accurate and as indicated above there is some.
I m guessing that setting your top thermostat to a 150 would give you small amount of really hot water rather quickly while setting the upper and lower thermostats evenly to a moderate temperature 115 125 would be your quickest way to get a full tank of hot water.
Then the upper element starts to work but will only heat the water to the thermostat s setting then it transfers to the bottom one to finish heating the water in the tank.