Home Improvement and Remodeling

Each water heater is required by law to have a tag, plate, or sticker showing size tank (gallons), Voltage for operation, and element size in Watts.

The manufacturer’s plate on a typical water heater could show tank size of 40 gallons of water, 240 volts, and top and bottom elements at 3500 watts each. Each element needed 240 volts. These sizes are typical of a heater. The size in gallons can be 1 gallon up in size. Common voltages in residential units are either 120 or 240 volts.

A volt, ohm meter is needed to properly check a water heater. These need not be expensive. A $15- $20 unit from Radio Shack or a hardware store will suffice. Voltage and Resistance tests are sufficient. Read the rest of this entry »