Thread: Hot water!
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Old 04-08-2009, 02:18 AM   #15 (permalink)
Piwoslaw
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Location: Warsaw, Poland
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Svietlana - '05 307 SW
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I've been wondering which is better: Slowly heating water with less watts, or using a lot of power to do it quickly?
Using a large heater puts a big load on the wiring, the higher current produces more resistance, so you're wasting power as heat somewhere in the system, even if most of the losses aren't on your side of the meter. On the other hand, if the heating element is too small, its power may be equal to the losses though the tank and the water will never get to the desired temperature. Is there a rule of thumb?
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