How Long Does Electric Water Heater Take To Heat Up

Are you wondering, "how long does it takes for a h2o heater to heat up?" Search no longer — our complete guide answer this question and much more. Read on to larn all yous need to know.

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How Long Does Information technology Take for a Water Heater to Rut Upwardly?

If yous have a storage water heater (one with a tank), it takes a piddling fourth dimension for the h2o in the tank to get hot. But how long does it take for a h2o heater to rut up?

You need to know this whether you've only had a new water heater installed or just want to observe out if your water heater is performing as it should.

In general, you tin can look hot water within 30 minutes (gas) to about an hr and 20 minutes (electric) after filling the tank.

Simply at that place are a few factors at play here. The water heater size, the power source, Get-go-Hr Delivery rate, and recovery rate all bear on how long you'll wait for hot water.

ReadNext: Gas vs Electric Water Heaters

How Long Does It Take a Gas H2o Heater to Heat Up?

A gas water heater is more than efficient and heats water faster than an electric model. They burn natural gas every bit fuel and heat h2o in the tank with powerful burners on the lesser of the tank.

How fast a gas h2o heater can oestrus upward depends on the temperature it's set to and the temperature of the common cold h2o it has to heat. Hither are some averages:

40-gallon gas water heater: 30-40 minutes
fifty-gallon gas water heater: 40-50 minutes
80-gallon gas water heater: threescore-seventy minutes

The average gas water heater is around forty gallons and takes nearly xxx to twoscore minutes to rut forty-caste h2o up to 120 degrees. A l-gallon unit volition take almost xl to 50 minutes to heat upward.

A large 80-gallon gas water heater takes almost 60 to 70 minutes to oestrus up. Of course, this is but an judge, and will vary by historic period and model.

How Long Does It Take an Electric Water Heater to Heat Upwards?

Electric water heaters take longer to heat up than gas units. These units use immersed electrical heating elements within the tank to oestrus the water. They accept virtually twice as long to heat up.

The fourth dimension it takes is influenced by the heating element wattage and the temperature the water heater is set to. However, hither are some averages:

xl-gallon electric water heater: 60-eighty minutes
50-gallon electric water heater: 145-150 minutes
fourscore-gallon electric h2o heater: 120-130 minutes

If you lot have a 40-gallon, 5500-watt electric water heater and set it to 120 degrees, it will take nearly an hour to an hour and 20 minutes to estrus up.

A 50-gallon electric unit will have near an hour and 45 to an hour and l minutes to heat up. For a big, fourscore-gallon electric water heater, it will take nigh ii hours for the water to heat up.

6 Factors That Affect Water Heating Time

Now that you've seen that water heaters can take anywhere from about half an hour up to more than 2 hours to heat upwardly, let'due south expect at the factors that touch on how long it takes.

Kickoff-Hr Delivery Rate

All water heaters have a first-hour delivery (FHD) rating. The FHD indicates how many gallons of hot water the heater can provide in an 60 minutes when it is full. FHD rates are given in gallons per hr (GPH).

A high FHD rate means y'all'll get more than hot water sooner than you would from a unit with a lower FHD rate. For a 50-gallon unit, a FHD charge per unit of about threescore to 80 GPH is good.

Recovery Charge per unit

A water heater's recovery charge per unit is how many gallons of hot water the unit can provide per 60 minutes as it is being used. Information technology tells yous how chop-chop the h2o heater tin can recover (aka refill) with cold water and heat information technology up.

A unit with a loftier recovery rate volition provide hot h2o faster considering it takes less time to oestrus information technology up. So even if y'all're using a lot of hot water at once, a water heater with a loftier recovery charge per unit will be able to heat the incoming common cold water apace.

Power Source

A h2o heater's power source (gas or electricity) has a lot to do with how long it takes to heat water up. Electric water heaters are known to take longer to heat water. This is because it's less efficient to use electrical heating elements than gas burners.

Your boilerplate 50-gallon gas water heater might accept a FHD rate of 80 to ninety GPH, only a 50-gallon electrical h2o heater volition take a FHD rate of nigh 58 to 66 GPH.

While you might accept to await well-nigh 30 minutes for an average gas water heater to oestrus all the water in the tank, you lot'll have to expect twice that long for an electric model.

Water Heater Type

Storage water heaters are those with tanks that hold and heat water. Tankless water heaters don't have storage tanks and heat the h2o correct earlier information technology comes out of the tap.

In that location's a huge departure in how long it takes these 2 types to estrus water. A storage water heater takes anywhere from 30 minutes upward to about an 60 minutes and a half to heat up.

A tankless water heater generally makes hot water available instantly. If too much hot water is being used at once, the flow charge per unit (in gallons per minute) will driblet, but the water that does come out will still be hot.

Read Next: Best Tankless Water Heaters

Water Heater Size

A storage water heater's size, or gallon capacity, has a lot to exercise with how quickly it tin heat water. Typically, storage water heaters can hold anywhere from about xxx to 80 gallons of h2o.

Smaller tanks oestrus water faster (and run out of hot h2o faster) because at that place are fewer gallons to estrus. This is just like heating water in a small-scale ii-qt. saucepan on the stove versus a full 12-qt. stock pot.

The h2o in the saucepan volition boil faster. But larger tanks don't have as long to estrus up every bit you might call back. Bigger electric models accept ii heating elements to help the process forth.

Large chapters gas water heaters have a bigger gas burner to assist them rut up quicker. Still, if you have a thirty-gallon chapters h2o heater, you won't wait as long for information technology to heat up as if you had a 50 or 80-gallon unit.

Read Next: All-time Small H2o Heaters

Original Water Temperature

The original water temperature has a lot to do with how long it takes for a unit of measurement to rut it upwardly. If the inlet h2o temperature is low, the water heater must piece of work harder to raise the water to the temperature y'all've called.

In colder climates, the inlet h2o temperature is usually virtually 40 degrees Fahrenheit. In warmer climates, it'southward most l degrees. The water heater takes time to heat water from 40-l degrees up to 140 degrees.

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And so, How Long Does Information technology Take for a Water Heater to Heat Upward?

If yous have a gas water heater set to 120 degrees and the incoming h2o is well-nigh 50 degrees, you lot shouldn't take to wait more than about 30-50 minutes for hot water (in xl and 50-gallon units).

If you lot have a 5500-watt electrical water heater fix to 120 degrees and the incoming water temperature is nigh 50 degrees, you lot'll have hot water after a little longer wait. Information technology will take nearly an hour to an hr and 45 minutes (in 40 and l-gallon units).

Generally, y'all should have hot h2o inside less than 2 hours, no matter what type of water heater you have. If your h2o heater takes more than well-nigh 2 hours to oestrus upwards, call a professional person to take a await.