How Big Is A 50 Gallon Water Heater

Major Systems

Solved! How to Select the Correct Water Heater Size

If a new water heater is in your hereafter, take some fourth dimension to figure out whether the size of your current heater meets your needs. These pro tips will walk yous through the process.

What Size Water Heater Do I Need? Solved!

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Q: Our water heater is on its concluding legs. I've increased the temperature on the tank to its highest setting, but the water coming out just isn't hot anymore. So, it's time to purchase a new water heater! Our existing tank has a 30-gallon capacity, which was fine when nosotros bought the business firm x years ago, just our family unit has grown, and we're now using more water for bathing and laundry. What size water heater practice I demand?

A: It sounds like y'all will need a larger water heater this fourth dimension around. And y'all're right: More family members mean more water usage. In fact, "the number of users is key for tank-style water heaters considering the output is more or less fixed," explains Daniel O'Brian, the technical skilful for online plumbing retailer SupplyHouse.com. Whether yous're interested in replacing your existing unit with a tank or tankless model, O'Brian has suggestions for determining what size water heater will best meet your needs.

For a tank-style heater, household size is a simple indicator of hot water needs.

You can estimate the necessary tank capacity (in gallons) based on the number of people in the house:

i or 2 people—23 to 36 gallons
2 to 4 people—36 to 46 gallons
3 to 5 people—46 to 56 gallons
5 or more than people—over 56 gallons (add 10 gallons per additional person)

For the average family of four, a 40-gallon water heater like A. O. Smith'due south ProLine Ability Vent Gas Water Heater (available from SupplyHouse) should get the task done. But information technology shouldn't be your but consideration. You can get a more authentic sense of your family's hot water needs past earthworks a little deeper.

In addition to tank chapters, consider a h2o heater's first hr rating.

The starting time hour rating (FHR) describes how much hot water a given tank can produce in a single hr when it'southward fully heated. This figure reflects the appliance's efficiency (how quickly the h2o heater can reheat the water) and gives an idea of what it can handle at a height hour of usage. For case, the A. O. Smith l-gallon ProLine Ability Vent Water Heater (bachelor from SupplyHouse) has an FHR of ninety gallons, so information technology volition provide upward to xc gallons of hot h2o in an hour.

You lot desire to expect for an FHR that meets or exceed the number of gallons of hot water needed for all the activities that could exist performed simultaneously at the busiest bespeak of the day. Use the numbers below to help you judge meridian hour usage and decide the ideal FHR.

Bathing or showering (per person)—xx gallons
Washing pilus (per person)—vi gallons
Washing hands (per person)—2 gallons
Washing dishes past manus—six gallons
Shaving—3 gallons
Running dishwasher—fourteen gallons
Running clothes washer—30 gallons

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What Size Water Heater Do I Need? Calculating for a Tankless Water Heater

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If a larger tank won't fit in the existing space, consider a tankless heater.

Thanks to their lack of a hefty storage tank, "tankless heaters, which are ordinarily wall-hung, can fit in tighter areas," O'Brian explains. For instance, a 50-gallon tank water heater can exist as much as 6 feet high and 22 inches in bore. Only a tankless pick with comparable output—for instance, the Takagi Tankless Natural Gas Water Heater (available from SupplyHouse)—is just twenty inches high, xiv inches wide, and less than ten inches deep. If infinite is express, a tankless water heater may exist the mode to go.

What Size Water Heater Do I Need? Calculating for a Growing Household

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To select the right tankless water heater, judge the necessary flow rate based on hot h2o usage and the required change in temperature.

Tankless water heaters exercise not store hot water. Instead, they heat it as it's needed. "Flow rate is the key spec when sizing a tankless water heater," O'Brian says. The following data volition help you estimate your family's menses rate needs.

Get-go, calculate peak hot water usage. Height usage is that point in time when yous're consuming the greatest amount of hot water. Use this list of typical menstruum rates (per fixture) in gallons-per-minute (gpm) to calculate the maximum amount of hot water you would use at once:

Sink faucet—1 gpm
Bathtub—3 gpm
Shower—2.5 gpm
Dishwasher—3 gpm
Wearing apparel washer—3 gpm

For instance, if your peak usage occurs afterwards dinner when you're running the dishwasher and taking a shower at the same time (3 gpm + 2.5 gpm), you'll need a tankless h2o heater with a minimum 5.5 gpm flow rate.
Next, determine the temperature of the h2o entering your house. Simply plough on a cold h2o faucet—allow it run for a couple of minutes—and and so use a thermometer to accept the temperature of the cold water.
Subtract the cold water temperature from 110 degrees Fahrenheit (the boilerplate household hot water temperature) to determine the required temperature rise. For instance, if the common cold water temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit, the water heater will need to heat the water 45 degrees Fahrenheit in social club to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit, so 45 degrees Fahrenheit is the required temperature rise.
Arrange the menses charge per unit past the required temperature ascent. "All units should have a nautical chart that indicates the period of hot water at various temperature rises," O'Brian says. For example, the Takagi T-D2-IN Natural Gas Tankless Water Heater (bachelor from SupplyHouse) offers a maximum flow charge per unit of 10 gpm—the operative give-and-take being "maximum." In a warm climate where a temperature ascent of only 20 degrees is necessary, the Takagi has an efficient catamenia rate of 10 gpm. If y'all need the water heater to raise the h2o'southward temperature by 45 degrees Fahrenheit, however, the flow rate falls to about 7 gpm, as indicated on the manufacturer-provided flow rate chart.

For a more visual explanation, check out this SupplyHouse video on sizing tankless h2o heaters.

This article has been brought to you lot by SupplyHouse.com. Its facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.

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