Relaince 6 Gal water heaters – water too hot

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

I have a Day Care and the water temp. can not exceed 110 degrees. I have turned the thermostats down
as far as they go and the temp. is
over 115 degrees. I tried taking the adjusting screw all the way out(counter clockwise) and it was no help. Can I buy another thermostat to achieve a lower water temp. for these or is there some other way to get this temp. down? These are model 5 6 15M54 K water heaters.

[Jerry PeckParticipant]

accidental double post – see post below
[Edited by Jerry Peck on 21 November 2000]

[Jerry PeckParticipant]

You would be better off setting the temperature to 120° f and installing a tempering valve or a thermostatic mixing valve (both of which mix cold water in with hot water to produce warm water at a given temperature), then set this to provide the 110° f you need.

Setting the water heater to 120° f provides a fail safe level not to exceed 120° f should the mixing valve fail, while maintaining the minimum recommend temperature in the water heater.

Setting the water heater temperature higher will provide a higher safety margin for keeping bacteria out of the water heater, however, if the mixing valve fails, serious burns could result on the skin of small children in a very short exposure time.

Water which is 130 degrees will produce 2nd and 3rd degree burns in about 30 seconds, ON ADULT SKIN.

Water which is 140 degrees will produce 2nd and 3rd degree burns in less than 5 seconds, ON ADULT SKIN.

[Author]

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