Are there any real benefits to using low wattage heating elements?

[Atomic1]

I have hard water with an electric water heater and thought I'd give a low wattage element a try because it was marketed as great for hard water. These elements fold back on themselves to gain the extra surface area. After 2 years I decided to pull the element to clean out the tank of sediment and found that the dang thing had warped and unfolded, making it impossible to remove, not to mention that I had as much sediment as usual in the tank (up to the bottom element).

It begs the question, why do people use these types of elements if they really dont cut down on the sediment and are a pain to remove?

 

[Atomic1]

Hugh? I'm talking about low watt density elements. You can get, for example, 4500 watt elements in normal watt density and low watt density. Same wattage, just more surface area so the energy transfer is done at lower temperatures and in theory produces less solid byproducts.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Hugh?

Hugh??

 

[hj]

Low density elements will last longer but do nothing to minimize the deposits in the tank. Some elements do not require immersion in water so they will still operate when submerged in the deposits. They are just not efficient when it happens.

 

[Atomic1]

Hugh??

You are a post whore

Seems lately I can always rely on this site for some nice misleading and worthless information from people who think they're plumbers. too funny