How To Adjust Temperature On Hot Water Heater 2023

When it comes down to adjusting the temperature on your water heater, you must understand that it is not about comfort alone but also to save money, save energy, and even your skin.

Not everyone enjoys having cold showers, and nobody wants to get scalded when running hotter water. For this reason, people are learning how to adjust temperature on hot water heaters.

This article will explain how you can get it done with simple steps. Keep reading.

Adjust temperature on hot water heater: Gas powered

For those that use gas water heaters, you can easily adjust the temperatures of gas heaters without any problems. All you need to do is turn the dial on the front of your gas control valve.

The recommended setting is usually one hundred and twenty degrees. However, the hot setting is around one hundred and fifty degrees, while the warm setting is roughly ninety-five degrees.

In gas water heaters, you will find a dial outside the unit. This dial may not show the needed temperature readings but will indicate a warm temperature.

Before adjusting the temperature, you must turn or shut the gas valve off to make the pilot light go out. Now, you will have to turn the dial counterclockwise to make the water hotter and turn it clockwise to decrease the higher temperatures.

When this is done, you will have to relight the pilot light. The majority of gas water heaters come with push-button ignition. So all you have to do is to push the red button so long as the valve has been set to pilot.

The button should be held down for thirty seconds, and when the pilot ignites, the valve should be switched from pilot to on.

Adjust temperature on hot water heater: Electric

In most households, it is vital to keep adjusting the water heater to save money and energy. However, some people need to learn how to get this done. The steps needed if you want to learn how to adjust temperature on hot water heater are:

Have a look at the current temperature of the water heater

You can regulate the water in your electric water heater by inspecting the water heater’s temperature. This is done to ensure it caters to the house’s water setting.

Those interested in getting this done will need to get a jug and fill it with water. When it is filled, you are to immerse the stem of your cooking thermometer in the water until the temperature stops rising.

Note that the thermometer must read at least one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. And when the reading is different from what you need it to be, you can finally begin adjusting the water temperature.

Switching off the power supply of electric water heaters

As you learn how to adjust temperature on hot water heater, you will need to switch off the electric supply of the water heater. So the first thing to do is to put on safety gloves before proceeding to the main electric access panel in your home.

When you find the circuit breaker in the access panel, remember that it is usually labeled and runs roughly thirty to fifty amps. You will have to flip the circuit breaker to OFF.

A tip you should know is that before you turn off the power supply, you should stand beside the water heater to listen to any hissing sound. The hissing sound indicates that the unit makes use of electricity.

Once the breaker is turned off, check if you will hear that sound because if the power goes off, you should not hear it again.

Removing the faceplate of the water heater and accessing the thermostat

The majority of dual-element electric water heaters make use of two thermostats plus two heating elements. You will find them inside the access panels installed at the side of the water heater tank.

The two thermostats are known as the lower thermostat and the upper thermostat. With your Philips screwdriver, you are to open the screw-on covers of the two thermostats.

Ensure the screws are kept in a safe place to avoid misplacing them. Once you have opened the screw-on covers, lift the plate to find the insulation pad under. Your gloves should be worn again at this point.

The reason is due to the wires surrounding the thermostat. Therefore, you must carefully peel back the insulation and set it aside, as it will be replaced later.

Adjusting the temperature dial to the preferred lowest setting

Once you have removed the insulation, you now have full access to the thermostats. And now you can easily spot the temperature dial. You must search for a rotating knob with a white screw slot.

It is usually beneath the red reset button. Note that most electric models come with a white triangle indicator. And it points to the spot of the already labeled temperature levels.

With your flathead screwdriver, adjust the dial to your preferred temperature setting. Remember to convert the thermostats to the same amount.

Reassembling the access covers

Place the insulation back in its original place and quickly secure the metal plates with the screws you extracted.

Restoring the electric supply to the water heater and testing the temperature

Here, you will need to turn the breaker of the electric water heater back to ON. Again, ensure you put on your safety gloves to complete this. You must wait roughly three to four hours to get the new water heater’s temperature.

To re-examine the water temperature, you must repeat the first process by opening the hot faucet for at least three minutes. This is done to alleviate the pressure and fill your jug with a good amount of hotter water.

Place the kitchen thermometer in it again to check the same temperature. If the heated water matches the setting you selected in your dial, you are free to go.

However, suppose it still needs to satisfy you. In that case, you must repeat the previous setup until the water is at the desired temperature settings.

Are you aware that you can add some extra gallons of hot water to your water heater?

Well, most manufacturers recommend the easy plumber’s method that you can try in your home without spending much money. But first, you must keep adjusting the dials at the bottom thermostat.

You will make these adjustments to be some degrees higher than the dials on the top thermostat. This little trick can be a handful because:

Water gets to enter the electric water heater through the dip tube. This dip tube is known to extend from the start of the unit to its bottom. The hot water from the water heater leaves through the opening at the top of the tank.

Interestingly, the water heater does not use the two heating elements simultaneously because of insufficient electricity supplied to the heater.

Since the water exits the tank through the top, its top element precedes heating the water that leaves it first. When the top of the water heater gets to the preferred temperature, power shifts to the bottom of the heater.

Here, it starts to heat the water. Adjusting your thermostats to these settings in the access panel enables the bottom elements of the tank to function for a longer time before delivering water hotter in the tank.

Therefore, this extends the time it will take before the top of the heater cools down, enabling power to get transferred back again.

Adjust temperature on hot water heater: Tankless

When it comes down to how to adjust temperature on hot water heater, you can try adjusting that of the tankless water heater quickly. But you must first press the up or down arrow to select your needed temperature setting.

However, in some tankless water heaters, you may need help increasing the temperature past one hundred and twenty degrees. Interestingly, this prevents lawsuits if you get third-degree burns or scalded by the water.

If you adjust it past this one hundred and twenty degrees setting, you will have to press and hold the up arrow till it moves to one hundred and forty degrees and begins blinking.

As your hands hold the up arrow, you must press and release its down arrow. If you require higher temperatures, doing this will enable you to get what you want.

Adjust temperature on hot water heater: Test the temperature

We will explain it below for those who have yet to learn how to test the water temperature. The steps include:

Filling your glass with hot water

You are to run hot water from the tap closest to the water heater and when it gets hot, place a drinking glass or container underneath to get some of the water. For an accurate reading, make use of a container.

Placing a thermometer into the hot water

It would be best if you had a thermometer on standby, as you will need to drop it in the container. First, ensure the probe is completely submerged, then wait thirty to sixty seconds to gauge the water heater temperature.

For whichever number you get, please write it down, as it will assist you in working out the needed temperature range for your household. And this range can help to point you towards future heating problems outside the unit.

Determining if the water is hot enough

You can be satisfied with the water heater if it is at or around one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. You will have to bump it up to a few degrees if it is lower than this figure.

However, remember that temperatures exceeding one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit will end up too intense for most homes.

And you will have to wait for three hours before you retest the temperature again.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)

Conclusion

Have you been searching for how to adjust temperature on hot water heater? Well, here is your chance to learn how to make it happen. Read through this article as we have steps for tankless, gas, and electric water heaters.