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How water heater Boosters Increase your hot water Output
Believe it or not, there are some pretty creative ways of getting more of your hot water out of the pre-existing water heater tank without having to upgrade tank sizes. One way you can do this is by increasing the temperature from the factory setting of 120 degrees to 140 and then add a mixing valve that will mix the overheated water with cold water, to create the stored hot water to go even further.
Just like with all things in life, there are downsides to consider with this option, so what is the next best thing? The Rheem Water Heater Booster is the way to go! This provides a long-term cost effective option while providing a high quality experience along with reliability.
What is a water heater booster?
With Rheem’s takless electric water heater platform, there comes the “booster” model transcending your electric water heater to a whole new level. The Water Heater Booster is a tankless electric water heater that is exclusive to Rheem and is installed directly onto the hot water outlet of a tank type water heater unit.
Most often think this can only be done on a new water heater installation, however this can also be installed on a pre-existing tank as well. The same power that is generated to power the tank is the same power utilized to energize the booster. This is a key benefit to every household’s water heater needs as there is no additional power source that is needed.
How it works:
So how exactly does the Rheem Booster work? Well the existing power is routed directly into the Booster, which then allows the Booster into the tank. The Booster than acts as a switch or rather controller of sorts to power the new water heating system component to produce a higher volume of hot water output.
Ideally, the Booster does nothing much, except allows the water to flow through itself. Sounds simple enough right? Well, once the temperature of the water that passes through is pre-set to a certain temperature, it will flip the “power-off” switch to the tank and simultaneously “on” to the tank itself. The power is then delivered to the heating element itself as it is contained in the Booster’s heating chamber, which is part of the waterway that the water travels through the tank.
It is important to remember that most single-element tankless electric water heater have a hard time producing hot enough water to meet the demands of the flow rates often created by sink faucets or shower heads. This is due to the temperature of the incoming water is either too fast or not high enough to heat to the desired outlet temperature.
There is ultimately only so much power that can be applied to the small electric tankless water heater to be able to raise the temperature to where you want it. The Booster is installed right at the outlet of your tank, allowing it t not be subjected to the lower inlet temperatures. The water that comes out of the tank has already been pre-heated.
Controlling your booster
One of the great aspects to the Booster is that it is fully programmable for when you would like it to activate a certain temperature and what the temperature should produce for your household’s needs.
For example, if a homeowner sets the activation temperature to 108 degrees and we set the outlet temperature to 120 degrees, however the tamp temperature is set at 120 degrees, this will ultimately create a temperatures of 110 degrees which is the ideal temperature most of us like to shower in. This happens when someone uses hot water (taking a shower, etc.) and the water that comes out of the tank is the 120 degrees which is sent to the shower valve but then is instantly mixed with the colder water component mixing the temperatures together to obtain the optimal shower temperature.
With this, it is important to notate that the water coming out of the tank will then continue to drop to 119 degrees and so on as they continue to shower or when they complete their shower and the next shower begins. The temperature of the water that comes out of the tank will then ultimately reach the set point activation of the Booster, which we previously mentioned was 108 degrees.
At this point the inlet thermistor within the Booster will tell the control board to redirect the incoming power from the tank itself to the Booster and begins to heat the water coming through it. The Booster is then able to create a temperature difference of 12 degrees that the Booster does with little to no effort. It is important to remember that as the hot water usage continues to occur, it will reach a certain point in which it is unable to maintain he outlet set point. This is indication that by this point most likely all of the hot water needs have been met and utilized.
Once the Booster is no longer able to meet the set point demand and the water has turned off, the power is then reverted back to the tank, which then proceeds to go through the recovery process. The idea in theory here is to only have the Booster to provide an extra “boost” of hot water during an increase in hot water demand.
Other than providing the instantaneous boost of increased hot water, the Booster remains low maintenance, as it essentially does nothing otherwise. This is another key component that ultimately contributes to the long life span of the product. As long as the Booster isn’t operating, it isn’t utilizing any energy and therefore not creating any cost for the homeowner. This is a big factor to consider as this means that the lifetime operating costs are substantially lower than when utilizing a higher set temperature and mixing valve component instead.
Increasing your hot water output
When choosing to add the Booster to an existing tank, it is essentially increasing the size of the water heater tank by precisely 45%. An example of this would be a 40-gallon tank would be able deliver the hot water needs of a 60-gallon tank. The same applies with a 50-gallon tank that can be converted to the hot water output of a 75-gallon and an 80-gallon would produce upwards to almost a 120-gallon equivalent tank.
It is also important to keep in mind that it makes much more sense than adding a second tank as this would require brining in another form of an additional power source in order to operate it, not to mention additional space it would take up in your house to store it. With the addition of the booster, it operates using the power at the tank and does not use it at the same time as the tank.
The Rheem Booster is pretty easy to install, therefore making the initial water heater installation Everett costs a smaller investment up front and a great way to overcome the “running out of hot water” issues. With the help of the Booster, this allows a household to downsize on a smaller water heater sized unit and still be able to get a larger output of hot water with less storage being consumed to hold the initial water heater tank. The Booster is also a great companion to a low-boy tank as these types of water heaters are also put in smaller spaces if there is a storage shortage in your household to hold a larger water heater tank.
Three ways to increase output- Here are three great ways to increase the hot water output in your household:
1. Increasing the tank temperature: this will ultimately provide additional hot water in your household but can often times create a lot of negative impacts
2. Mixing valve: this works great as it allows you to access more deliverable hot water without increasing your water heater tank size. One thing to keep in mind is that this usually leads to a decreased life expectancy for your water heater due to the higher set point temperature. This often tends to lend itself to also needing more frequent maintenance, as well as water heater repair and replacement services as well.
3. More deliverable hot water with less space occupied: this is key as this happens without negatively impacting the tank set a higher temperature rate. This allows the tank to live to its maximized potential lifespan and is a relatively low maintenance water heater with minimal installation costs to the homeowner.