Turning off electric hot water heater when not home?

[Hugh Jim Bissel]

Originally Posted by Cd

Hey guys, my dad recently tried flipping the breaker for the "hot" water heater, and it works like a charm !

I live in an apartment and the water heater is gas.

Is there anything that I can do to make the water heater operate only when I need it ?
Since it is gas, I cant just flip a breaker.

( Actually, the trick would be getting to the thing, since my apartments have it behind a locked door on my porch. )

Thanks !

Heres another forum post about running a gas water heater on just the pilot light.

that post links to this article which talks about reducing the vent opening to keep more of the pilot light heat in to heat the water.

As for the locked door, you might be able to card the door if it's not a deadbolt. Failing that, since the door probably opens outward, a hammer and screwdriver applied to the hinge pins would do the trick, but be a lot more work.

[Christ]

Can you talk to your landlord about giving you access to the heater to control it, and offer to take responsibility for anything that might go wrong? That might be better than (illegally) breaking and entering a locked space that you aren't leased permission to access.

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by Cd

That's a great idea - really !
, but it reminds me of this image. The guy that rigged this up didn't put much effort into it !

I censored the image so as not to offend anyone.

It is a great idea. I have seen small conventional 120V water heaters for RVs, as well as the common gas fired ones.

[alohaspirit]

Chinese Water Heater? lolz


anyway, my WH has a timer
i have it set to go on at 3x in the day, for no more than 30 min/time
its good enough for 3 people

and if you ever need more, you push the button
(but dont forget to turn it off, or that sucker is on all day)