What is a safe temperature for the hot water heater?

We have all heard of the advice to "lower the temperature of your hot water heater to save money." Perhaps you've read it online or maybe a friend or family member advised you. But my wife recently brought up the idea that it could be dangerous to do this for your health. While you may no longer scold you from burning hot water, you may get some bacterial or fungal infection due to an increased growth in the now warm (no longer killer), wet, dark tank that is your hot water heater.  So I determined it was my job to find the truth!

The answer to is it safe for you to lower the temperature is - it depends.  Below is information from the European Guidelines, OSHA, and Shriners Burn Institute to help inform & guide you.

It appears to me that at 60ºC (140ºF), everything is killed off rather quickly and is generally recommended by everyone, however, you risk getting burned in under 5 seconds.  Even OSHA can't make up their mind on what to recommend as you'll see below; so the question remains what will I do?

120-125ºF. This temperature wont scald us and we don't have a weakened immune system that would make us prone to falling ill easily. This temperature is also recommended for when you have children to help protect them. (Random side note: Temperatures of 60ºC or higher cause gradual erosion of glassware in a dishwasher.) Also, at 125ºF, while it may not kill bacteria, it likely wont encourage bacterial growth, which is good enough for me since the cold water will still likely have bacteria in it anyway. Lastly, temperatures above 60ºC encourage limescale deposits and since we live where the hardest water in the country is, I try to prevent it as best as I can. However, I do use the water booster on the dishwasher so that the dish detergent works at its optimal temperature.

So my question to you is, what temperature do you have yours set to?  After reading this, do you plan on changing it to a higher or a lower temperature?

Two more additional random side notes: From energysavers.gov "For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs." and even our own power company recommends that we keep the water heater tank at 120ºF.

Caution:Below is for the nerds like me who want to know everything.

---

Here are some facts that you should know about water, burns, and the human skin from Shriners Burn Institute:

Likewise, the most dangerous bacteria mentioned (or that I could find) in regards to water heater is the Legionella. The name came about from an outbreak in July of 1976 from a hotel where there was a convention from the American Legion when this mysterious disease made 221 people sick and caused 34 deaths. 

Here are the facts about Legionella (USA suffers from between 10,000 and 50,000 cases each year, mostly being sporadic cases not associate with outbreaks) and how temperature affects it and the typical water heater colored in yellow and typed in bold font:

Temperature range	Effect on Legionella
70 - 80ºC (158-176ºF)	Disinfection range
66ºC (151ºF)	Legionella will die in 2 minutes
60ºC (140ºF)	Legionella will die in 32 minutes
55ºC (131ºF)	Legionella will die in 5 to 6 hours
50 to 55ºC (122-131ºF)	Legionella can survive but do not multiply
20 to 50ºC (68 - 122ºF)	Legionella growth range
35 to 46ºC (95 - 115ºF)	Legionella ideal growth range
Below 20ºC (68ºF)	Legionella can survive but are dormant

Likewise for other bacteria in general from the foodsafetysite:

74ºC (165°F)	Most bacteria die; some spore-forming bacteria survive.
60ºC (140°F)	No bacteria growth; some survive.
59ºC (139°F)	Danger Zone.
52ºC (125°F)	Some bacterial growth; many survive
37ºC (98.6°F)	Body temperature - Greatest bacterial growth and toxin production by some.

---

This is what European Guidelines for Control and Prevention of Travel Associated Legionnaires’ Disease (page 54) has to say on the matter:

It is recommended that hot water should be stored at 60°C and distributed such that a temperature of at least 50°C and preferably 55°C is achieved within one minute at outlets. Care is needed to avoid much higher temperatures because of the risk of scalding.

OSHA or the Occupational Safety & Health Administration also has two important pieces about the disease:

Q. Can Legionnaires' disease be prevented?  

A. Yes. Avoiding water conditions that allow the organism to grow to high levels is the best means of prevention. Specific preventive steps include:

• Regularly maintain and clean cooling towers and evaporative condensers to prevent growth of LDB. This should include twice-yearly cleaning and periodic use of chlorine or other effective biocide.
• Maintain domestic water heaters at 60°C (140°F). The temperature of the water should be 50°C (122°F) or higher at the faucet.
• Avoid conditions that allow water to stagnate. Large water-storage tanks exposed to sunlight can produce warm conditions favorable to high levels of LDB. Frequent flushing of unused water lines will help alleviate stagnation.

Q. Do you recommend that I operate my home water heater at 60°C (140°F)?  

A. Probably not if you have small children or infirm elderly persons who could be at serious risk of being scalded by the hot water. However, if you have people living with you who are at high risk of contracting the disease, then operating the water heater at a minimum temperature of 60°C (140°F) is probably a good idea. Consider installing a scald-prevention device.

5 Water Conserving Tips for inside your home

There are lots of ways to save water in your home with just a few tips that pay off relatively quickly!  Note: In your search of appliances, you may see Tier 1 - 3 ratings, and while these ratings don't refer to the DoE Energy Star ratings, they refer to CEE or the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, and are certainly worthy of looking into.  Tier 3 is the most efficient going well beyond what energy star asks for.  I would go into more detail but the requirements change per appliance.

Tip #1: Install water efficient shower heads.
If you have a shower head that dates back to 1992 or earlier, your shower head could be using up to 5.5 gpm (that's gallons per minute)! Newer models are federally mandated to not exceed more than 2.5 gpm but personally, you can find some great looking shower heads out there that use a lot less!  My personal favorite is by Niagara Earth Massage 1.5 GPM handheld shower head.  I've been using it for about 2 years now and it's great. We live in an area with very hard water (Texas is practically world known for how hard it's water is...) and at the head it says perfectly clean and the chrome is very pretty.  Occasionally for cleaning we'll wipe it down with some vinegar to remove all of the calcium and it looks good as new again. And the great thing about it is that it uses only 1.5 GPM instead of 2.5 or more!

Cost Savings: If you have 4 people in your home with two showers and you replace both of them with this model or another 1.5 gpm model, and each person showers for 10 minutes (assuming you had a 2.5gpm model previously and your water/sewer costs is $0.0095/gal) you'll save 29,200 gallons per year which equates to $277.40 per year with only an initial cost of $38.00 (taxes and shipping included) which means it'll pay for itself in 50 days!  Not too bad!!

Tip #2: Install 0.5 GPM Low Flow Faucet Aerator
Now that your shower is using only 1.5 gpm from that clunky 2.5, lets reduce the water used while using the sink.  Currently, faucet aerators are allowed to pump out 2.2 GPM! Can you image using roughly the same amount of water that you shower with just to wash your hands?!?  I think that is way too much, so lets bring it down to 0.5 GPM.  Currently I've installed 0.5 GPM low flow faucet aerators in all of my faucets with the exception of the kitchen where I want it to flow faster to fill up those big pots and among other things.

Cost Savings: Again, lets assume you have just 2 sinks (both 2.2 GPM aerators replaced with this 0.5 GPM aerator) with 4 people in the family and each day they use the sink for about 10 minutes between washing their hands several times a day, brushing their teeth, cleaning, etc. Replacing it would save you about 49,640 gallons which is $471.58 per year and it'll pay for itself in under a week!

Tip #3: Fix leaky faucets, toilets, etc!
A leaky faucet that is dripping one drop per second results in $1.00 per month increase in your water bill. If you're handy you could probably repair that leak with that one dollar with things you have around the house.

Likewise, if you notice ripples in your toilet that it's leaking more than just one drop per second and should get fixed immediately.  An easy way to determine if your toilet is leaking is to put some food coloring dye into the basin and check to see if your water is that color 30 minutes later.  If it is, then it's leaking, otherwise you're safe.

Lastly, if your hot water heater is leaking, then it's time to replace it.  If you live in a place that doesn't have hard water, I would recommend getting an energy star tankless hot water on demand system. You'll have hot water faster, no waste from keeping water hot when it's not needed and a smaller footprint.  Likewise, if you live in a hot climate like texas or arizona, then I'd suggest thinking about installing a solar hot water tank. Let the sun do the work for you.  :-)

But no matter what you install, make sure it's energy star because it'll pay off over the lifetime of the unit and make sure you follow its maintenance schedule so it will live a longer and more efficient life.  Also keep in mind that you can lower the heating on a hot water heater. There is no need to keep it at a temperature that will scold you.

Tip #4: Appliances: Dishwasher
If you want the best water and energy conservation you'll need to go past just faucets and shower heads and actually get more energy star appliances.  If you get an energy star dishwasher, you'll end up saving even more especially if it has a booster heater (which usually pays for itself within a year).  With a booster heater you can raise the temperature of the water up to 140F, which is recommended for cleaning dishes. Although many people think they can wash dishes more efficiently than a dishwater, that's rarely the case as long as you have a dishwasher that's from 2000 or newer.  A full dishwasher can wash dishes a tremendous amount more efficiently than a person. Another benefit of energy star models is the availability of different cycles, use shorter cycles to save even more water.

Tip #5: Appliances: Washing Machine
Washing machines by their very nature, consume a lot of water. However, by purchasing an energy star, you'll have the option of saving more water than others, a tremendous variety of different options on what to run your load at and maybe even a chime when it's done, like ours. :-)   Smaller capacity washing machines typically have better efficiency ratings than larger ones. More efficient models will also make the dryer run more efficiently as well because they'll spin the cloths better and make them drier to begin with. If you're wondering what the different between front loaders and top loaders, front loaders typically run using less water than top loaders consequently, using less energy.

The best way to run a washing machine, in my opinion, is to run it with full loads and if you're only rinsing the laundry, run it with cold water, no need to do warm or hot.

Saving money on utilities for renters (and owners) - Part 1 Water

Earth day was recently here and with that in mind I'd like to put in my two cents on how to save money for rents who may think it's a challenge.

Water
Water, next to oil, is one of the most important resources that's very difficult to renew. Yes there are desalination plants, water purifying systems, distilling plants and equipment, etc, but all of those require tremendous amounts of energy and money to clean large amounts of water. So we should be aware of this and try to conserve as much as possible. How did we do it here in our apartment? For our faucets we used an aerator as shown in the picture. This aerator is actually the one we use here, it has a flow rate of 0.5gpm (gallons per minute) which is considerably better than our old one which was 2.2gpm, a 77% reduction!  We still have clean hands and toothbrushes so don't worry!  We don't even notice it anymore.  It's really a great thing.  We use this in all of our faucets besides the kitchen one because we don't want to wait forever to fill up the pot with water.

Shower head is next on the list.  I love taking long showers so this was a huge saver for us.  And I can thank this shower head for saving us approximately 10950 gallons per year!  This guy will flow at a rate of 1.5 gpm compared to our old one which I think was 2.5 gpm.  So needless to say this saved us money right off the bat and we saw savings right away.
Perhaps you're worried about installing these items?  Installation is a cinch and completed in just a few minutes.

Our last water saving device that we currently have is the toilet "bank".  It's called the bank because it saves water in its pouch so that there is less to fill after you flush.  This can save up to 0.8 gallons per flush.

I wanted to install one other device into our toilet which would make it a dual flush, one for the liquids and one for the solids, however my partner in crime thought it was a bit much.  Coming from Europe, I was surprised by her reaction against it!  All of these things are under $35 and can be found on amazon's website.

The last few things that deal with water would be things like the dishwasher, laundry machine, etc.   Our solution to this is just to purchase things that are water saving and running the machine at optimal loads.

Energy
My next post will be about energy!