Most of us don’t think much about our water heater temperature. To be fair, most of us don’t think about our hot water heater all that often. We rely on it on a daily basis, but we don’t spend much time worrying about or dealing with its maintenance or settings.
Yet, taking a moment to check and adjust your water heater temperature could provide a number of benefits for you and your hot water heater. We recommend setting your water heater temperature at 120F. Today we’re going to tell you why we think this is the perfect temperature in hopes of inspiring you to check and adjust your water heater’s thermostat as soon as possible.
An Effective Way to Fight Bacteria
Your water heater has standing warm or hot water in it. As you might imagine, this can be the perfect spot for bacteria to grow and thrive. Obviously, you want to avoid this as much as possible as it can create a number of health risks for your family.
The good news is that this is easy to do! If your water heater is set at 120F, it will be too hot for bacteria to survive and grow. Keeping your water heater temperature any cooler than this can allow bacteria to grow and thrive, so it’s important that you keep your water hot enough to avoid this risk. It’s an easy adjustment to make to keep your house and family a little bit safer.
The Costly Problems With Other Water Heater Temperatures
For most hot water heaters, the default temperature is 140F. While this obviously kills off bacteria, it also creates a number of other problems. First and most concerning, 140-degree water can be scalding and can create burning risks, something you should be particularly aware of if you have children in your home.
Next, it’s unnecessarily hot and thus is inefficient. Keeping your water too hot wastes both energy and money, as it causes a noticeable increase in your utility bills.
Keeping your water heater at 120F will provide you with water that is adequately hot and it will help make your home more energy-efficient. At the same time, it will enable you to avoid having dangerously hot water and unnecessarily high utility bills.
Ensuring Adequate Amounts of Hot Water
Perhaps the most compelling argument for many homeowners is the fact that setting your hot water heater’s thermostat at 120F will help to ensure that you have plenty of hot water without having to wait for it.
This setting will give you access to ample hot water with no long wait periods. That’s a practical benefit that we can all appreciate, especially when needing a hot shower! Do you know the temperature of your hot water?
If not, check it today and adjust it to 120F. If you don’t know how to do this or have any questions about your hot water heater, call Rooter MD Plumbing & Heating today at (248) 888-7777. We’re available 24/7 to help you with any hot water heater questions or issues.
