temperature sensor for hot water heater?

[gfs]

any suggestions for what device to use to monitor hot water temp from heater? i used to have an oregon sci device that i put the external wire probe on to the pipe and got a ballpark reading... which was fine... its to trigger an alarm if it goes OFF... not for the exact temp. thanks

[snedecor]

I used a Tee, a homemade "thermowell" and a probe

Here's how I did mine...

My hot water outlet came out of the water heater and went to an elbow over to the wall and the house distribution, in 3/4" pipe. I turned that into a 3/4" tee, which meant I had a 3/4" hole facing up that I could do something with.

I took a piece of 3/8" copper tubing, and used tubing fittings (swagelok, parker, or similar) to cap off the end. This make this piece of copper tubing closed on one end and open on the other. I put one of those Oregon remote sensor wires down the copper tubing down to the closed end. Then, I put in a mixture of pipe fittings and pipe to 3/8" tubing adapters to make the tubing go down through the open end of the tee and seal to the tee.

Therefore the tubing extended down into the water heater through the tee and the remote sensor went down into the open end of the tubing down to the closed end. I wrapped everything up with insulation.

Seemed to work pretty well. You could see the temperature fall off over time and recover as the burner kicked back on...

[gfs]

and what did you hook up the sensor to interface with HS?

[Steve Q]

temperature sensor for hot water heater?

Why measure the temperature? I explored this many years ago and decided it was better to measure the run time of the heating elements. I am looking at energy conservation. The temperature at the water heater outlet will depend on whether the water is flowing or not. There are lots of issues and threads on this subject. Check cocoontech.com



Steve Q


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Gogs]

Why measure the temperature? I explored this many years ago and decided it was better to measure the run time of the heating elements. I am looking at energy conservation. The temperature at the water heater outlet will depend on whether the water is flowing or not. There are lots of issues and threads on this subject. Check cocoontech.com



Steve Q


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Interesting point.

If you are going to monitor the temperature of your hot water surly it's the temperature of the water inside the tank you require.

Now I can see a use I could put that to.

[snedecor]

Interesting point.

If you are going to monitor the temperature of your hot water surly it's the temperature of the water inside the tank you require.

Now I can see a use I could put that to.

That's why I extended the thremowell down into the tank, so that I could measure the water temperature.

I did it mostly for my own information. I wanted to see if the temperature was going into either dangerously hot or uncomfortably cool extremes, and I wanted to see how quickly my my standard-insulated water heater was holding the water temperature, and what was the effect of adding a water heater insulating blanket on the cycles of the water heater (cut them roughly in half).

To me, counting the cycles by seeing the water temperature was easier than interfacing with the gas valve, which I could not figure out how to do.

Cheers!

[Steve Q]

temperature sensor for hot water heater?

It is much harder to measure the on/off cycles for a gas water heater. Mine is electric. I do remember however that someone successfully installed a temperature sensor near the burner. This was much easier than modifying the plumbing to get a sensor inside the tank. Measuring the temperature inside the tank provides a lot of information but it is difficult to figure out what it means. My water heater has dual heating elements which are activated "as needed". I really don't know how this works but I think it is based on the water temperature near the element. So for me measuring the water temperature at the top of the tank does not paint a complete picture. I think measuring the energy used to heat the water gives much more valuable information. I have been measuring the KWhrs used by my water heater for several years. I have tons of data. The most interesting thing I discovered is that a water heater blanket has no effect on the amount of electricity used by the water heater. Things that really matter: 1. Don't run the dishwasher every day unless absolutely necessary. 2. Shorten your shower time. Get wet, turn the water off, lather up, water back on, rinse off, get out. It's amazing how much can be saved annually by shortening every shower by a minute or two.

Steve Q



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[drozwood90]

snedecor,

How did you get the little pipe inside the T? Did you solder the little one into the pieces that got attached to the T?

--Dan

[snedecor]

Dan,

I did not solder, I do not trust my solder skills. I used plumbing type fittings.

The first was a 3/8" tubing to 1/2" male pipe thread adapter. This adapter has a "ferrule" and a nut that clamps down on the tubing and makes a tight seal. I think I may have had to drill out through the fitting to allow the 3/8" tubing to go all the way through, because this fitting is only designed to let you start running 3/8" tubing to your ice maker, etc. After I drilled it out, the 3/8" tubing went all the way through.

I then connected this adapter to the 3/4" female pipe thread of the tee with a 3/4" male to 1/2" female reducer or bushing, as it's sometimes called.

So, working back from the water heater, you have the 3/4 tee, with the branch facing left, and on the top of the tee, facing down toward the water heater itself, the bushing, the tubing adapter, and the tubing (going through).

Now you have to cap off the tubing so that water doesn't come up through the tubing. I did that with a 3/8" tubing union and cap. This is thicker than the 3/8" tubing and so won't fit down through the adapter, so you have to take that into account! Once it's capped off, you have the tubing close on the bottom (down in the water heater) and open on the top (so that you can thread your skinny sensor down the tubing to the bottom ).

You can possibly buy already sealed 3/8" "thermowell" tubing on the internet, but it would probably be expensive.

You could probably also make your own by crimping the end and soldering the gap closed, but as I said, I'm not good at soldering...

Let me know if you need more info...

Gayle

[spknapp]

Might this work?

I read this thread when it first came out and always had in the back of my mind to watch for a way to monitor the flame in a water heater. Yesterday I ran across this flame sensor http://www.mpja.com/10-15-13.asp?r=334576&s=11 and was wondering if anybody has tried something like this?

FWIW

[drozwood90]

Why measure the temperature? I explored this many years ago and decided it was better to measure the run time of the heating elements. I am looking at energy conservation. The temperature at the water heater outlet will depend on whether the water is flowing or not. There are lots of issues and threads on this subject. Check cocoontech.com



Steve Q


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Steve,

Lets you see if there is garbage/buildup in the tank. If it starts to take longer and longer to heat, then you have stuff in the tank you need to clean out.

--Dan

[drozwood90]

It is much harder to measure the on/off cycles for a gas water heater. Mine is electric. I do remember however that someone successfully installed a temperature sensor near the burner. This was much easier than modifying the plumbing to get a sensor inside the tank. Measuring the temperature inside the tank provides a lot of information but it is difficult to figure out what it means. My water heater has dual heating elements which are activated "as needed". I really don't know how this works but I think it is based on the water temperature near the element. So for me measuring the water temperature at the top of the tank does not paint a complete picture. I think measuring the energy used to heat the water gives much more valuable information. I have been measuring the KWhrs used by my water heater for several years. I have tons of data. The most interesting thing I discovered is that a water heater blanket has no effect on the amount of electricity used by the water heater. Things that really matter: 1. Don't run the dishwasher every day unless absolutely necessary. 2. Shorten your shower time. Get wet, turn the water off, lather up, water back on, rinse off, get out. It's amazing how much can be saved annually by shortening every shower by a minute or two.

Steve Q



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Michael, of xAP did it with a light sensor at the "viewing" port. I did something similar and it worked, but I did not put enough time into making it "stable". SO I am not monitoring right now.

--Dan