Raising the water temperature will help you get hot water quicker if the hot water isn’t hot enough for you. So, how to adjust temperature on Rheem electric water heater?
I’ve done this countless times and I’ve broken down the process into simple steps that you can easily follow. They are:
- Shut off the power supply to the heater.
- Set the right temperature at the lower and upper thermostats.
- Restore the power to the water heater.
- Check the water temperature and make further corrections if needed.
I’ll discuss all these steps to adjust the temperature in detail in this guide. Besides, I’ll also talk about what’s the right temperature for an electric heater and why the upper thermostat should be higher than the lower thermostat. So, let’s dive right in!
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How To Adjust Temperature On Rheem Electric Water Heater [5 Easy Steps]
There are many people whose first thought is to increase the water heater temperature when their heater starts producing less hot water. The common scenario here is that either the heater produces no hot water at all or very little hot water.
You should keep in mind that the most likely culprit here is a damaged heating element. So, you’d be better off replacing it if it’s bad. Check out my Rheem electric heater problem-solving guide to learn how you can test and replace the heating element by yourself.
With that said, you may want to change the water temperature for the right reasons. If that’s the case, you can follow the steps below to do that:
Step 01: Cut Off The Power Supply To The Heater
The first step you have to take to adjust the temperature in your Rheem electric heater is to turn off its power. You need to flip the circuit breaker that powers the heater to the Off position.
If you don’t know where your circuit breaker is located, follow the power lines of the heater. It’ll take you to the right circuit breaker. Once you find the correct circuit breaker, the next step is to find the breaker that supplies power to your heater.
There should be a drawing on the left-hand side that will show you which sub breaker powers the water heater. If you don’t see such a drawing, then you have two options.
Firstly, you can shut off the main breaker and cut off the power supply to your entire house. Secondly, you can turn off each breaker one by one to see which one shuts off the power to your heater.
I have a tip for you that’ll help you narrow down your search for the water heater breaker. You’ll see many small one-pole breakers in the circuit breaker. You can ignore all of them as water heaters will almost always be powered by 2 pole breakers. Here’s a picture that represents what I am talking about:
If you find the right breaker that powers the water heater, you should label it. You won’t have to go through all this hassle again to find the correct breaker if you do that.
Remember that shutting off the power to the heater before adjusting its temperature is essential. It’s not optional. If you don’t do it and try to change the temperature, there are wires in the thermostat that could give you an electric shock. So, please play safe and don’t skip this step.
Step 02: Adjust The Lower Thermostat
A typical electrical heater will have two thermostats and heating elements. That is also the case with most Rheem water heaters. If your unit has a single heating element, it’ll have only a thermostat. You can only adjust that thermostat to change the water temperature.
But you’d most likely have two thermostats in your heater. You can adjust them in any order based on your preference. But I’ll be adjusting the lower thermostat first in this case.
Ideally, both of these thermostats should be within 5 to 10 degrees of each other. The temperature on the lower thermostat should be lower and the temperature on the upper thermostat should be higher. I have a dedicated section on why that’s the case.
Unscrew the two screws that hold the lower element access door in place. Then, pull out the door and set the screws aside. Be careful not to lose the screws as you’ll need them later on.
Then, unfold the insulation and you’ll see a white plastic cover. You don’t have to remove that cover to have access to the thermostat. Locate the thermostat dial on the water heater and be ready to adjust it. You’ll need a flat-blade screwdriver to do the Rheem electric hot water temperature adjustment.
Once you have access to the thermostat, you should make sure that the power to the heater is really turned off. There are times when the heater is on even after turning off the circuit breaker.
You can use a multimeter or a voltmeter to test the thermostat and make sure the heater has no power. Once you’re sure that the power is off, you can set the thermostat to your desired temperature.
Normally, you can set the temperature up to 160°F in most water heaters. But I don’t recommend going higher than 125°F if you use the hot water directly. Anything above that opens you up to a potential scalding injury.
It’s a good idea to use thermostatic mixing valves if you plan to set the temperature higher than 125°F. The hot water will get mixed with cold water if you do that and it’ll significantly bring down the risk of scalding.
Once you decide the temperature you want, rotate the temperature adjustment screw to that value on the thermostat. Here’s a picture to show you what adjusting the temperature would be like:
The thermostat has been isolated in the picture so that you have a better view and understand how to do it. When you’re done setting the temperature, fold the insulation like it was before. After that, put the lower element access door back on the heater and tighten the screws.
Step 03: Set The Right Temperature On The Upper Thermostat
You already know how to adjust the temperature on the lower thermostat. You’ll follow pretty much the same steps to adjust the upper thermostat. There’s not really much to add here.
You just have to make sure that you set the temperature on the upper thermostat a little higher than that of the lower thermostat.
Remove the upper element access cover first, and take off the insulation. Then, turn the knob to your desired temperature settings. After that, put everything back together.
Step 04: Restore Power To The Water Heater
The final step is to restore the power to the heater. You have to flip the circuit breaker back to the “On” position to do that. Make sure you give the heater enough time to heat the water before your next hot water use.
It can take anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours depending on the temperature you’ve set the heater to. Make sure that the tank is filled with water before you turn it on. Otherwise, the heating element can get shorted out if you turn the heater on with a half-empty tank.
Step 05: Test The Water & Make Adjustments
After you’ve set the water temperature to your desired settings, open a hot water faucet and check the temperature. Ideally, you should wait for at least two hours for the water to get to the desired temperature.
If that period has passed and the water still hasn’t reached your desired temperature, you can adjust the temperature again. Set it higher by 5 degrees than the last one and keep going until you find the temperature you like.
Don’t increase it too much at a time due to scalding risks. The downside to electric heaters is that it’s not as convenient as other heaters to change the water temperature.
As you’ve seen, you have to do a lot of work and wait for a while to change the water temperature. So, it’s important to find the right water temperature for you and stick to it.
How To Adjust Temperature On Rheem Electric Heaters With Electronic Controls?
Even though adjusting the temperature on a normal Rheem electric water is easy, it takes a while to do it. Luckily, that’s where technology comes in and fixes the issue in the units that have a keypad.
Adjusting the temperature on such water heaters is as easy as 1 2 3. It’s intuitive and you should have no difficulty doing it. The first thing you have to know about these water heaters is how to activate them.
When you turn on these water heaters, they don’t instantly start heating the hot water. It’ll be in disabled mode and only the power LED will be illuminated.
You’ll have to keep pressing the right arrow unless your desired temperature is shown. Once you do that, the heating element will be activated and it’ll start heating the water.
You’ll know when it’s working as the water temperature indicator will start blinking when the heating element is on. So, that covers how to activate the water heater. Now, let’s look at adjusting the water temperature.
You should see two arrow buttons on the keypad. If you press the right arrow, the temperature goes up by 5 degrees. If you press the left arrow, the temperature goes down by 5 degrees.
If you want to get more precise control over the water temperature, you can use the EcoNet app for your Rheem water heater. Set the heater to your desired temperature using these arrow buttons.
You can lock the temperature settings so that someone doesn’t accidentally change it if you want. All you have to do to lock the keypad is to press both the left and right arrows together for 3 seconds.
If you do the same thing again, it’ll unlock the keypad. So, you can toggle between lock and unlock mode depending on what you need.
You should set the heater to vacation mode if you intend to not use your heater for a while. If you leave the water heater on during this time, it’ll be a waste of energy. So, you should put it in vacation mode.
You have to keep pressing the left arrow button until you see the “Vacation” indicator is lit. That’s all you have to do. You can get out of this mode by pressing the right arrow button until you reach your desired temperature settings. Then, lock the keypad and enjoy the hot water.
What Is The Ideal Temperature For A Rheem Electric Water Heater?
There seems to be a lot of debate on the internet about the right water temperature. While I have also glanced over this topic a little bit, it’s something that I should discuss in detail.
Now, the numbers you’ll often hear to be the right temperatures are 120°F and 140°F. The value of 120°F is recommended by the US Department of Energy. It’s a good temperature as it’s ideal for energy savings and it also takes away the risk of scalding.
But OSHA recommends that you set the water heater to 140°F. That’s because setting the water heater at this temperature will kill the bacteria inside the tank. Both of them have promising arguments. So, which one is correct?
The right answer is that you should set it to what you want. Keep in mind that the thermostat dial is adjustable for a reason. If you feel like you’re not getting enough hot water, feel free to turn up the temperature.
But there’s one thing you should remember before you do that. When you set the temperature too high, it opens up the kids and the elderly to a much higher risk of scalding.
For example, setting the water heater at 140°F will only take about 5 seconds to produce a serious burn. Babies and the elderly may not sense the heat that fast. They might not move away their hand in time and get seriously burned. So, you should avoid setting it too high if you have such people in your house.
But if you don’t have such people in your house and you don’t care about the higher energy bill, you can set the heater to your desired temperature.
You can also follow your manufacturer’s instructions and set the temperature as per their recommendation. You’ll usually find a sticker in the heater showing the temperature they suggested. Here’s an example:
Why Should The Upper Thermostat Have A Higher Temperature Than The Lower Thermostat?
I’ve mentioned that you should set the upper thermostat a little higher than the lower thermostat. And you may be wondering why that’s the case. To know that, you’ll have to understand how the heater works.
Before I get into that, you should know that setting both thermostats to the same temperature is okay. But what’s not okay is to set the temperature on the lower thermostat higher than the lower thermostat. Now, let’s understand why you should follow these rules by looking at the basics of an electric heater.
The cold water supply goes to the bottom of the tank through the dip tube. Let’s assume for now that your tank is filled entirely with cold water. In that case, the upper heating element will always be prioritized by the heater. So, it’ll come on first to heat the water.
But in reality, the top part of your tank will already be filled with hot water when new cold water comes to the bottom of the tank. The upper heating element won’t be activated in that case. That’s because the top portion of the tank is already at the desired temperature.
So, the lower heating element will come on first to heat the new cold water. That’s why the lower heating element often has a lower lifespan and goes bad quicker as it does more work.
That’s typically what’ll happen if you set both thermostats to the same level. The lower thermostat will go out even more quickly if you set it higher than the upper heating element. That’s why I don’t recommend it.
You can avoid these issues by setting the upper thermostat a little higher than the lower temperature. If you do that, the lifespans of both the heating elements will pretty much even out. That’s why I recommend this setting. But you can also set both thermostats to the same temperature if you want.
FAQs:
What makes the water in my Rheem electric water too hot?
The most likely scenario is that you’ve set the thermostat too high. Dial it down to solve the issue. If that doesn’t work, you either have a shorted heating element or a faulty thermostat.
Can you use any screwdriver to remove the heating element access door screws?
You’ll have to use a Phillips to unscrew the access door screws in most cases. Make sure you don’t overtighten the screws when you put them back on. Doing so can strip the screws and the access door won’t have a tight connection.
How do you reset a Rheem electric water heater?
First, you’ll have to turn off the power to the heater. Then, remove the upper access panel and unfold the insulation to access the reset button. Press the reset button. You’ll hear a clicking sound when the heater has been reset.
Why is the hot water in my Rheem electric water heater not hot enough?
The main reason why the water temperature isn’t hot enough is setting the thermostat too low. If you increase the temperature, that should solve the issue. The other culprits are a faulty heating element, a melted dip tube, and plumbing leaks.
Conclusion
How to adjust the temperature on Rheem electric water heater? Now, you know all about it in detail. Make sure you follow all the steps correctly and set the thermostat at the right temperature for your needs.
Keep the safety of the children and elderly in mind as well when you set the temperature. Check out my guide on maintaining Rheem water heaters to prolong the life of your water heater and get more out of them.