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I have a water heater which uses gas,since natural gas price is not coming down,can I just shutoff the water heater in the summer so I take a cold shower,wash my dishes in cold water and wash my hair in cold water?
Your last line is the most important line in the thread, if it indicates you are hiring a licensed electrician to do the work.
I really dislike the photo and link and the SPST method.
A proper disconnect, let into the WH circuit near the water heater should be an easy task.
Seconded. High current on a wall-type switch is frowned upon. They have enough problems with appliances, to the point that using them in a circuit with a space heater is discouraged. Also, an electrician may balk, as a disconnect switch is supposed to be line-of-sight to the water heater.
I did a quick search on water heater switches, and there appear to be remote switches you can control with your phone via wifi within the house, or with a Lutron remote control https://www.amazon.com/Water-Heater-...eater+Switches
I have a water heater which uses gas,since natural gas price is not coming down,can I just shutoff the water heater in the summer so I take a cold shower,wash my dishes in cold water and wash my hair in cold water?
This is a different scenario than the OP's. If you plan not to use any hot water for months at a time, your choice. Do you have a bypass (the option for incoming water to bypass the heater entirely)? The manufacturer may suggest draining the tank if it will sit unused for that long, but in summer there wouldn't be a risk of freezing.
I have a water heater which uses gas,since natural gas price is not coming down,can I just shutoff the water heater in the summer so I take a cold shower,wash my dishes in cold water and wash my hair in cold water?
If you have a tank water heater running on gas - yes you could turn it off for the summer.
In some locations the incoming ground water could be warm enough to be used as is without heating - especially if the incoming water pipes are in a hot Florida garage or attic
The map shows average annual temperature - it should be warmer in summer. Find yours
Before you turn off your water heater - familiarize yourself with the way your heater works and how to safely turn it back on - lit the pilot if it turned off or went out.
Make sure you have carbon monoxide detectors nearby for your safety too.
I have a water heater which uses gas,since natural gas price is not coming down,can I just shutoff the water heater in the summer so I take a cold shower,wash my dishes in cold water and wash my hair in cold water?
Yes, you can easily do this - just be sure to keep using the hot-water faucet (only) for all those activities so that you get continuous flushing/cycling of the water in the tank so that it doesn’t become a stagnant listeria breeding tank!
Breaker. Only takes about 30 mins for hot water. It is so hot here that the water never gets cold anyways. 9 months out of the year i could go without it since the garage is around 90 to 97f.
Seconded. High current on a wall-type switch is frowned upon. They have enough problems with appliances, to the point that using them in a circuit with a space heater is discouraged. Also, an electrician may balk, as a disconnect switch is supposed to be line-of-sight to the water heater.
OK, so you don't like the idea of a wall switch at all, especially at the top of the basement stairs. You think the breaker would be better, correct?
You should not use a common wall switch to turn on and off an electric water heater. You should use a contactor (relay) if you want a remote switch to interrupt power to a high power draw device like the water heater.
But the whole idea's silly. You're going to create a ton of work for yourself, including all the times you need to take a quick shower and then you realize you forgot to start the water heater an hour ago, all for a few pennies saving in electricity. You'd do better to insulate the hot water pipes. For that matter a closely-located tankless would probably save more in water by not having to run the water till it gets hot, than you'd save by all this switching-on-switching-off routine. What's really going to happen, if you get this conglomeration successfully and safely installed without burning down the house (which also means you're probably going to eat up all the savings by what you have to pay the licensed electrician), after going through your look-at-me-I'm-saving-so-much-money gyrations a dozen times or so, you'll get sick of the whole fandango and just leave it on.
Or you could just cut straight to the last scene of the play and drop the idea now, saving lots of time, money, and aggravation.
Breaker. Only takes about 30 mins for hot water. It is so hot here that the water never gets cold anyways. 9 months out of the year i could go without it since the garage is around 90 to 97f.
But that won't make the water in the tank 90-97 degrees!
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