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Stove or Water Heater


wrillo

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Which is more efficient? If I want to get a pot of water boiling, does it use more electricity to

fill the pot with luke-warm/cold water, heat to boiling on the stove

or

fill the pot with hot water, heat to boiling

Water heater & stove are electric

Edited by wrillo
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cold water boils faster than hot water...... or so i have been told...

you've been told incorrectly. I know if I start with hot water from the faucet, the water will boil faster on the stove. Thats not what I'm interested in though. I'm wondering if it takes less energy for the water heater to get the water hot or for the stove to.

Either way I'm starting with cold water, its getting hot, then its boiling. Do I want the water heater to do most of the heating or the stove? (for least electricity usage)

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IMO the water heater uses more energy for sure.

it has to heat X gallons of water. which takes longer and more energy than the stove heating 2 cups or whatever you are cooking with.

honestly though, i think its a push, because your hot water heater would have heated that water regardless of whether you used it for a shower or cooking...

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This seems to answer your question as well.. just read it.

Question?

Cold water boils faster than hot water. If hot water freezes faster, maybe cold water boils faster! Again, this defies common sense—and again, say scientists, it’s simply wrong. Hot water from the tap should in fact boil much faster than cold water. However, using hot water for boiling does not actually save any energy. You may use less gas (or electricity) on the stovetop, but your water heater will have used the same amount of energy to heat the water in the first place. (If you use solar energy to heat your water, of course, that’s a different story.) Some water heaters may introduce additional sediment into the water, giving you another reason to consider starting with cold—at least, if time is not of the essence.

Taken from http://itotd.com/articles/521/water-freezing-and-boiling-myths/

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IMO the water heater uses more energy for sure.

it has to heat X gallons of water. which takes longer and more energy than the stove heating 2 cups or whatever you are cooking with.

The thing is though, I'm only talking about the electricity to heat those 2 - 6 cups of water. I don't care about all the other water in the water heater.

honestly though, i think its a push, because your hot water heater would have heated that water regardless of whether you used it for a shower or cooking...

Remember, we're only talking about lets say 6 cups of water though. First, lets say that water comes in to my house at 55°F, the water heater is set to 140°F

Okay, so if I get 6 cups from the cold faucet:

stove has to heat the water from 55° to 140° (to match the water heater)

THEN the stove has to heat to 212° (boiling)

water heater has to keep 6 cups at 140° for the time it takes the water in the pot to go from 55°F to boiling (since we didn't use the already heated water)

Water comes from the water heater

stove starts with 6 cups of water at 140° then heats to 212°F

water heater has to heat 6 cups from 55° to 140°

This seems to answer your question as well.. just read it.

Question?

Cold water boils faster than hot water. If hot water freezes faster, maybe cold water boils faster! Again, this defies common sense—and again, say scientists, it’s simply wrong. Hot water from the tap should in fact boil much faster than cold water. However, using hot water for boiling does not actually save any energy. You may use less gas (or electricity) on the stovetop, but your water heater will have used the same amount of energy to heat the water in the first place. (If you use solar energy to heat your water, of course, that’s a different story.) Some water heaters may introduce additional sediment into the water, giving you another reason to consider starting with cold—at least, if time is not of the essence.

Taken from http://itotd.com/articles/521/water-freezing-and-boiling-myths/

Not really.. only because they talk about energy. No matter what the heating element, the water will always have to absorb the same amount of energy. The question here is, which heating element delivers the energy most effectively. (using the least amount of electricity)

My thinking here is that the heating element on the stove is surrounded by air, and connected to a big ass stove (great conductor of heat). So while the stove is heating my water, its heating the air & the entire stove for that matter. That is lost heat, that isn't heating my water. Now the water heater, on the other hand, is insulated like crazy.

Edited by wrillo
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This seems to answer your question as well.. just read it.

Question?

Cold water boils faster than hot water. If hot water freezes faster, maybe cold water boils faster! Again, this defies common sense—and again, say scientists, it’s simply wrong. Hot water from the tap should in fact boil much faster than cold water. However, using hot water for boiling does not actually save any energy. You may use less gas (or electricity) on the stovetop, but your water heater will have used the same amount of energy to heat the water in the first place. (If you use solar energy to heat your water, of course, that’s a different story.) Some water heaters may introduce additional sediment into the water, giving you another reason to consider starting with cold—at least, if time is not of the essence.

Taken from http://itotd.com/articles/521/water-freezing-and-boiling-myths/

this article is incorrect. it is not taking into account the various inefficiencies of the separate mechanisms. the stove, heats the pot and a lot of air along with the water, and im not sure what exactly a water has going for it, but they are different. yes, in a perfect physics world, the same amount of water requires the same amount of energy to heat. oh well, try em both :)

Edited by Benyen Soljax
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Work is work ;) The energy required is the same.

/agree with flounder's article. Don't use hot water because of impurities.

the article ignores the heating elements and thats exactly what my question is about

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