mtnelectrical
Senior Member
- Location
- Essex, New Jersey
any recommendation for a good water heater controller that works with a wifi ? heater is 208 volts 30 amps
Electric Water heater wifi controlled
- Thread starter mtnelectrical
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hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
I would think that such would be a feature of the water heater from the manufacturer. Not something aftermarket.
-Hal
-Hal
buzzbar
Senior Member
- Location
- Olympia, WA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I use Wemo with a 30A contactor. Works great.
http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F7C030;jsessionid=A9E0E60327C0BA0DB7C7B1B7E61F092F/
Sierrasparky
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
- Occupation
- Electrician ,contractor
There are wifi water heaters as well as devices rated at 30 amps that can control the circuit.
If it is really desired I'd get the water heater with the Wifi because you can control the temp remotely.
If it is really desired I'd get the water heater with the Wifi because you can control the temp remotely.
mtnelectrical
Senior Member
- Location
- Essex, New Jersey
I forgot to mention that the water heater just has been replaced.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
Why would someone want to control a water heater via WiFi? Other than, they can.
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
Turning the temp down when going on a long vacation?
Mine has a control board on the top with 4 settings you can do right on the water heater. I guess WIFI would allow them to do it later if they forgot to do before they left the house. But how often would you really need to do that?
Sounds like more things to go wrong to me....
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
exactly.
These only have value to gadget junkies. Maybe someone that is obsessed with saving every tiny bit of energy they can or way to involved in being green for the planet (but those people shouldn't by nature even be interested in a tank type water heater) would also have an interest in such a product. Tank type water heater doesn't cost that much to maintain the tank when you aren't ever using any hot water. On top of that losses are only total losses during cooling season or if the tank isn't in a conditioned space (not happening here or you will have frozen pipes in the winter). During heating season those losses just supplement the heating system.
I recently seen a garage door opener with wifi abilities. What is so important about needing wifi to communicate with your garage door? Sure you might be able to remotely open the door from half way around the globe, but how bad is the need to do so? That same GDO I was asked to connect a new "wired wall control" for it, as the old one stopped working. New one didn't work either - problem in the main unit - the old wall control did work on the second door opener they had. What was wrong with the traditional simple normally open contact that we used to put inside the garage as a control? I can understand something with additional security for an outdoor control. I ended up fixing that one with a wall mount wireless controller. Sends same kind of signal as the vehicle remotes, just designed to mount on the wall. Was a lot cheaper then a new circuit board for the door opener.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Yes, too simple.
When you come back and turn it on again - that is for some reason the time some component will fail.
Sierrasparky
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
- Occupation
- Electrician ,contractor
Sorry to hear that.
There are Zwave 30 amp controls , they look like a intermatic timer,
Some from a company called Sinope
There are many.
If you don't already have a home automation platform I would look into one that has features you desire and go with that.
Hummm , Maybe they have a vacation rental , want to turn up the heat so it is ready when a guest arrives.
In a vacation home it can go months unoccupied , why would you want to waste the energy like that?
again vacation homes.
Everything will fail at some point. I think the benefit is great.
A simple ON-OFF switch??
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Thing with unoccupied is that things seem to deteriorate pretty fast. I don't care what it is, they just do.
I know people that have second homes just an hour or two away at a lake or river. Close enough they can go nearly every weekend if they want to.
What do they say they do most weekends when they go there? Work on stuff at the "vacation home".
Is that a vacation?
Maybe if you are a banker, insurance agent, real estate agent, or similar and you like to get your hands dirty on the weekend it is. If you are used to getting your hands dirty nearly every day, it is sort of the same 'ol thing you are accustomed to on a daily basis except you aren't getting paid.
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
Who is kidding who? With any rental property if you are in your right mind you are either a reasonable distance away or you have somebody who is to look after it. That person will open it, close it, clean it and make sure guests are behaving themselves and not trashing the place. So a simple on-off switch to turn the heater off if the place is to be vacant for a length of time and on again when it's rented is just fine.
A vacation property assumes one occupant so it's even simpler. Turn it on when you arrive and off when you leave just like the lights.
I really don't see the need for some Millennial generation toy.
-Hal
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
:thumbsup:
Unless you are going to need to shower as soon as you arrive, shouldn't be that big of a deal to turn it on when you get there. Might be other things you turn on as soon as you get there as well (other then lights).
Water heater tank that is already at room temp doesn't take as long to heat to 120-125 deg F as it takes to heat up freshly filled tank of only 55 deg F water either. Half an hour or so you probably can take a shower - might not be able to be a long shower but can have reasonably warm water. Bath is out of the question until tank is much closer to set point, if you want a really warm bath.
JFletcher
Senior Member
- Location
- Williamsburg, VA
Rather than get a Wi-Fi water heater, if I was leaving anywhere for a week, I would buy a water key and shut off the water to the house. I have seen too many places ruined by the tiniest water leaks. The amount of water that can spray out of even a busted toilet supply line is tremendous.
That happened at a hotel I was working at one time ... 3% occupancy, water line busted in a room somewhere between midnight and 2 a.m. ... At 7 a.m. they found it when the first floor hallway was under 2 in of water. between the repair cost and lost revenue for not being able to rent out 14 rooms, that little line breaking probably cost in excess of $100,000.
Wifi water heater... I'm sitting here shaking my head... Seems to me that most water heaters have these little things installed on them from the factory called thermostats that work pretty well.
That happened at a hotel I was working at one time ... 3% occupancy, water line busted in a room somewhere between midnight and 2 a.m. ... At 7 a.m. they found it when the first floor hallway was under 2 in of water. between the repair cost and lost revenue for not being able to rent out 14 rooms, that little line breaking probably cost in excess of $100,000.
Wifi water heater... I'm sitting here shaking my head... Seems to me that most water heaters have these little things installed on them from the factory called thermostats that work pretty well.
Sierrasparky
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
- Occupation
- Electrician ,contractor
You obviously have no idea how inept and useless some rental guests are. Also how
would one know if they guest turned the heater off?
hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
- Occupation
- EC
You obviously have no idea how inept and useless some rental guests are. Also how
As I said above that's EXACTLY my point! Again, as the owner of a rental house or unit you would be crazy to not have someone working for you (if you aren't close enough yourself) to look after the property whenever guests arrive, leave and during their stay to make sure they abide by the rental agreement and are not trashing the place. No way would I just hand over the keys. If you don't keep an eye on them you get renters throwing wild drunken parties with 100 people destroying the place. Makes your water heater the least of the problem.
-Hal
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
I do, but my comment was on "vacation houses" which is one branch this thread has grown.You obviously have no idea how inept and useless some rental guests are. Also how
If you have rental that changes occupants frequently, you either have a hotel or a property that likely isn't all that nice to begin with. Or both. Making sure you turn the water heater off between guests probably isn't a high concern if it is a fairly nice property.
Guy that I used to live next door to (been about 15 years since I lived there) had the house he lived in, and the house next to it was his parents house when they were alive. He moved into parents house and rented his old house. Was too lazy to manage things though. Had a renter that really trashed the place and he did kick them out. Did he say he was too lazy to manage things? Was mad when he found out after getting utility bills to find out they left hot water running when they left - and the place was right next door to where he lived.:slaphead:
Switch rooms and substations are generally unoccupied. Same with pumping stations.
Just sayin'
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