24A01G Thermal Relay - White Rodgers

[Nick31]

There's one of these (old) units attached to my old electric water heater.   The wire attached to it runs into the electric meter box.   Why do I need this relay?  What does it do?  The plumber replacing the water heater doesn't know.  Can I simply discard this and wire the electric heater directly to the 220 line?
 
Thanks.

 

[RAL]

This relay is typically used to shut off an electric load such as a water heater or electric heat via low voltage control.  Since it is wired to your electric meter, I suspect that your electric utility has (or had) you on demand metering that allowed them to shut off loads during times of peak power consumption.  Before you remove it, I would check with your electric company to see if you still should have this.  Removing it could result in higher electric bills.