Hot Water Heater Amp Ratings

[Captain Caveman]

Since the ELK-9100 is no longer available I am looking for a similar alternative.

The HAI 72A00-1 seems to be a good candidate and the cost is much less than the 9100, but I am not sure if the 20 amp rating is sufficient for most hot water heaters. Any thoughts?

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Take a look at your breaker and see what that's rated at.

Also, Elk has just released the Elk-9200 as a replacement.

You can find it HERE.

Since the ELK-9100 is no longer available I am looking for a similar alternative.

The HAI 72A00-1 seems to be a good candidate and the cost is much less than the 9100, but I am not sure if the 20 amp rating is sufficient for most hot water heaters. Any thoughts?

 

[Captain Caveman]

Please see my comments here

 

[politics123]

Please see my comments here

Your water heater should have a booklet on it that describes the electrical need. Otherwise, look at the circuit breaker it is connected to and the guage of wire that the water heater is plugged into.

My rheem (2 years old) is connected to a 30amp breaker. It has two thermostats and two heaters, but only one of which is "on" at a time (top heater gets priority). I like my 9100... everyone forgets its also an X10 repeater and phase coupler(!!). While I'm a z-wave house, I use X10 for low-cost power-saving devices (eg: flip off the stereo to save phantom load loss). I might save $2-$5/year per outlet; there's no break-even using Z-Wave outlets, but a cheapo $5-7 SR227 makes the payback around a couple of years.

I was just speaking to my electrician today, and they have contactor relays. Shouldn't be a big deal to get one installed.

 

[Captain Caveman]

The hot water heaters for one home that I'm working on are the low profile types that draw 4500 watts each. The circuit breakers have a 30 amp rating.

 

[Captain Caveman]

I was just speaking to my electrician today, and they have contactor relays. Shouldn't be a big deal to get one installed.

I'm not sure what you mean by this, where are the contactor relays? In the panel, water heater or outlet?