How Long Do Water Heaters Take To Heat Up

How Long Does It Take For a Water Heater to Heat Up

There isn't much that tin can ruin your twenty-four hours quite as quickly as an water ice cold shower, and if you have the wrong water heater, this could become your new normal. If your current heater is dying on you, don't allow the stress of the situation rush you into making the wrong choice for your replacement.

Before you choose a h2o heater, make sure you consider how long it takes for your water heater of choice to oestrus up. If you lot want to run lots of hot water at the aforementioned time, you lot'll need a more powerful system than if you only want to have a daily hot shower.

So, how long does it take a water heater to oestrus water in one case information technology reaches the appliance? While in that location are many factors which tin can affect the time, the chart below shows how long each type of water heater takes to estrus up on average.

How Long Information technology Takes A Water Heater to Estrus Up For The First Time

H2o Heater Type	Time Takes to Heat Upwards
Gas Tank	thirty-40 minutes
Gas Tankless	0 minutes *
Electrical Tank	60-80 minutes
Electric Tankless	0 minutes *

*Tankless water heaters provide near instantaneous heat if sized and installed properly.

Nautical chart Source

How Long Does information technology Take for a Gas Water Heater to Heat Up?

Your boilerplate gas tank heater takes about xxx to forty minutes to oestrus water once it enters the tank. This initial heat up occurs when new water from your plumbing supply is fed into the tank.

A more specific explanation of why this takes xxx minutes requires some math. The heater's tank size is manifestly a major factor, as more h2o will accept longer to heat. The adjacent major factor is the heater'south BTU (or British Thermal Unit of measurement) rating. Simply put, a BTU is the amount of heat required to raise i pound of water by ane caste Fahrenheit. A heater with more than BTUs tin can oestrus water faster.

For case, the boilerplate hot water heater tank is 40 gallons. There are approximately 8.3 pounds of water per gallon, so our example tank has about 330 lbs of water to heat.

40 Gallons x eight.3 lbs Per Gallon = 330 lbs of water

If the water is already 60 degrees and you lot want information technology to attain 120-degree hot water, a temperature ascension of 60 degrees is needed.

To avert getting into total-blown thermodynamics calculations, we tin can simplify and say that a 40,000 BTU organisation with a 40-gallon tank needs one one-half of one minute to heat each gallon, resulting in a half hour heat up time.

If you have a smaller tank or higher BTU rating, your hot water heater's warm-up time will exist shorter. If you have a larger tank or lower BTU rating, on the other hand, it volition take longer to heat your tank.

If you desire an efficient h2o heater which will heat up your water in the amount of time you desire (afterwards information technology runs out of hot h2o) besides as store a adept amount of hot h2o, these are the specifications y'all will need to keep in mind.

Also, go on in heed that this is the amount of time it takes for new cold h2o to be heated in your tank. When turning on the hot water for the first fourth dimension subsequently your tank has been storing hot water already, y'all should accept hot water within just a few moments considering tanks store pre-heated water.

This amount of time it takes to rut up new h2o comes into consideration when all the hot water in the tank is used upwardly. That's when the gas tank water heater volition take to commencement heating new h2o again from the incoming groundwater temperature.

A gas tank water heater volition take approximately 30 minutes to oestrus up new incoming water for the starting time fourth dimension.

How Long Does information technology Take an Electric Hot Water Heater to Rut Upward?

electric water heater hanging on the wooden wall

Electric tank water heaters typically crave double the amount of time compared to their gas counterparts. Electric elements, while typically more economical, simply cannot compete with the high performance of gas-fired systems. From the fourth dimension new water enters, it would have about an hr for an electric water heater to warm the 40-gallon tank described higher up.

This is why homes with larger water demands usually decide to purchase a whole house gas tank water heater instead of an electric model. Electric models are excellent for smaller homes and smaller h2o demands.

An electric tank h2o heater takes sixty-lxxx minutes compared to 30 minutes that a gas tank heater takes to heat water.

How Long Does it Take a Tankless Gas Heater To Warm Up?

Tankless water heaters warm up your h2o "on demand", so the distance from your heater to the appliance being used is the merely consideration which determines how long it will accept to receive the hot water out of your faucet.

If the system is working properly, this should non be more a few seconds with a normal sized home. With a large habitation, information technology may accept a few more than seconds to travel through the water pipes and reach appliances further abroad from the heater.

A tankless gas heater heats upward water instantly so it should only take a few seconds earlier that hot water travels through your pipes into your fixture.

How Long Does it Have a Tankless Electrical Heater To Warm Upward?

But like tankless gas water heaters, tankless electric h2o heaters just begin to warm upward your water once an apparatus demands it. In other words, the water is not warmed until you plow on the dishwasher or turn in the faucet.

In most cases, an electric tankless heater will provide hot water inside moments, merely they can take a tiny bit longer than gas systems, due to the power of gas rut.

A tankless electric heater heats up water instantly so it should too but take a few seconds before the hot water travels through your pipes into your fixture.

Factors That Affect Rut Upward Fourth dimension

In add-on to the factors we've already explored, such as tank size and BTU rating, at that place are other circumstances that could dictate how long your h2o heater takes to warm up water for the first fourth dimension.

Incoming Temperature – For both tankless and tank-fashion h2o heaters, the temperature that the water starts at volition help determine estrus upward time. Considering tank heaters store water and go on them heated, the incoming temperature shouldn't impact it so greatly. Tankless heaters, yet, feed incoming water on need simply moments earlier information technology comes out of your faucet. This means that if the groundwater temperature is very depression, the water may not get as warm equally fast. Both types of heaters tin be affected past extremely cold ambient temperatures in the room or surface area where they are stored.
Settings – Although water heaters seem relatively simple when compared with other household mechanicals, they often accept more to them. If your heater isn't working, a professional may need to come to check out any settings or calibration that could exist negatively impacting its functioning.
Age / Maintenance Bug – Just like any other mechanical equipment, your heater's historic period and condition could somewhen affect its performance, including how long information technology takes to estrus up. A lack of full general maintenance, particularly declining to make clean up sediment that may be in the pipes could crusade operation problems too. Pipe sediment is more than likely in areas with hard h2o.
Distance from Appliance – Sometimes it'southward easy for the end user to forget, just your hot water is traveling from the ground, through the heater, and pipes in your dwelling house before reaching the appliance you are using. The farther your appliance is from the heater, the longer it could take for the heated water to reach it. A savvy installer should business relationship for this when setting up your system, and so information technology should not be likewise much of an issue.
Pipe Bore – In addition to the length of piping, the width of your h2o pipes could affect how long it takes the water heater to heat up. A wider pipe is beneficial every bit it carries more than water, but it will crave more h2o to be heated earlier the pressure builds enough for it to push button through the remaining pipage arrangement.

In summary, there'due south a heater perfect for everyone out in that location. Whether information technology'south a archetype tank or tankless, think nearly your needs before selecting ane.

Now that you lot know how long it takes both gas and electric h2o heaters to heat up, see our review of the best models on the marketplace.

With cracking brands like Bosch, Rheem, and Takagi, you're sure to find a match!