Water heater power drain?

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Tessie

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Hi,
My electric bill is double what it usually is this time of year. Nothing new and same routine. My question has to do with electric water heaters. Mine is a 240 vac double element. I read on an older post in this forum that "One terminal on each element will always have 120 vac as measured to ground." I get 120 on each terminal to ground. I only get 240 vac when i turn the thermostat setting by hand. Can this be a power drain? Should i replace the thermostats? The elements read 13 ohm each. THANKS for any help/advice.
Steve
 

Jadnashua

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Having voltage does not mean it's drawing power. Power requires a complete circuit. Back at the power panel, ground and neutral are connected together. The thermostat in the WH only opens one lead, not both, so that's why there's 120vac when you measure to ground. Since there's 120vac on both sides of the element, that also means that there's no current going through it, otherwise, the voltage would be different on each side.

If you measure from one terminal to the other on the same element, it will read zero volts when there's no current, and 240vac when there is. YOu pay for the amount of current it uses...the voltage is the potential. Without potential, nothing can flow, but to do so, it needs a complete circuit.

While there can be a fault that is drawing current, if there was in the WH, you'd measure a voltage potential when measuring between the two side of the element.

IOW, if you have zero volts across the element's contacts...it's not drawing any power.
 
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