Sense helps optimize water heater settings

We have your normal electric tank water heater but also have a recirculation system it’s connected to. We knew it did cost us extra money each month to have instant hot water by having a pump run and the extra load of keeping the water in the pipes the same temperature of the tank. After testing different run times for the temperature controlled pump, we were able to determine the perfect “happy medium” to keep the convenience of instant hot water and balance the cost to where we were comfortable. Without Sense I would have left it setup in the original configuration that was making our water heater makeup almost 20% of our electric bill. Now that is down to 13%. We are probably saving much more because now the family is “aware” of the cost of hot water in general and they don’t leave water running standing at the sink and I’ve noticed that showers have gotten shorter for all four of us.

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The water heater pump was always energized in the beginning. When water would drop in the lines by 10 degrees, the pump would turn off. I used Sense by using different timing for when the pump would have power by also using a smart plug with the pump. I tested several different on and off times and days until we found the right mix of settings to both have instant hot water and save on the original settings.

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