Hi, writing this from the office just now so I don't have my specific equipment info, but will add that later tonight when I am home.
I have an indirect water tank adjacent to my 1992 Well Mclain boiler (oil fired). I believe the tank is about the same age. We bought the house in 2009.
I'm probably really an idiot waiting so long to realize there has likely been an issue the whole time we've been there, but here is my experience with my heater:
I have the manual dial thermostat at the base of the water heater dialed at between the 5 and 6 mark on the dial which is significantly above the 120F mark which if i recall is around 4. When we first bought the house, I was surprised it was set so high so I turned it down to 4 and then the next time i used the hot water, it was barely warm (maybe 80 degrees if i had to guess). I played around with the settings and in the end realized that the minute i turn it just below the 5-6 mark, that the water temperature in the tank drops down like 40 degrees. I'm assuming this is a thermostat issue?
I've forgotten about it until this past week when I went and looked at my oil tank level (getting ready for a really expensive oil price this winter) and my 330 gallon tank was just below 1/2 and the majority of this consumption has been just heating the water tank as we had it filled in May which is right at the end of our heating season here in southern CT. I'd say this means we've been using on average about 40 gallons per month. It's a household of 4 when the kids aren't off at school and my daughter does take pretty long showers but the rest of us take about 5-10 minute showers on energy saver heads daily. No bathtubs and no other significant uses of hot water than the normal. If it is 40 gallons per month at the current $4.50 per gallon price, we're paying $180 per month just to heat water!!!!
Does this seem excessive for oil consumption for heating a hot water tank? Should I just upgrade the tank along with the thermostat? Tank seems fine and i've been told by my service guy its a good tank and well insulated. I've also had a water heater blanket over the thing since we moved in along with all the hot water supply lines. The tank itself is powder blue and kind of like a giant Tylenol capsule with rounded top and bottom if that helps in describing before i get more information later.
thanks in advance for any input.
I have an indirect water tank adjacent to my 1992 Well Mclain boiler (oil fired). I believe the tank is about the same age. We bought the house in 2009.
I'm probably really an idiot waiting so long to realize there has likely been an issue the whole time we've been there, but here is my experience with my heater:
I have the manual dial thermostat at the base of the water heater dialed at between the 5 and 6 mark on the dial which is significantly above the 120F mark which if i recall is around 4. When we first bought the house, I was surprised it was set so high so I turned it down to 4 and then the next time i used the hot water, it was barely warm (maybe 80 degrees if i had to guess). I played around with the settings and in the end realized that the minute i turn it just below the 5-6 mark, that the water temperature in the tank drops down like 40 degrees. I'm assuming this is a thermostat issue?
I've forgotten about it until this past week when I went and looked at my oil tank level (getting ready for a really expensive oil price this winter) and my 330 gallon tank was just below 1/2 and the majority of this consumption has been just heating the water tank as we had it filled in May which is right at the end of our heating season here in southern CT. I'd say this means we've been using on average about 40 gallons per month. It's a household of 4 when the kids aren't off at school and my daughter does take pretty long showers but the rest of us take about 5-10 minute showers on energy saver heads daily. No bathtubs and no other significant uses of hot water than the normal. If it is 40 gallons per month at the current $4.50 per gallon price, we're paying $180 per month just to heat water!!!!
Does this seem excessive for oil consumption for heating a hot water tank? Should I just upgrade the tank along with the thermostat? Tank seems fine and i've been told by my service guy its a good tank and well insulated. I've also had a water heater blanket over the thing since we moved in along with all the hot water supply lines. The tank itself is powder blue and kind of like a giant Tylenol capsule with rounded top and bottom if that helps in describing before i get more information later.
thanks in advance for any input.