Domestic Hot Water Temperature

Hot water water at a temperature greater than or equal to 110 f 43 c.

Domestic hot water temperature. Not only will setting it to 120 degrees meet most. Most experts recommend that hot water temperature should not exceed 125 f 51 66 c. Guidelines from the department explain that most hot water heaters are automatically set to 140 degrees fahrenheit but that s usually unnecessary. To minimize the growth of legionella in the system domestic hot water should be stored at a minimum of 60 c 140 f osha why are hot water heaters set to 120 degrees f.

So i investigated why is that. The plumbing codes define hot water as follows. Hot water is normally supplied to fittings and their consumers at 50 60 oc. A water temperature exceeding this poses serious risk of bad burns particularly to children.

In fact even at 125 f if the child puts his or her hand in the water continuously for two minutes he or she may get second or third degree burns. For canteens and professional kitchen temperatures of 65 oc are often required to satisfy hygienic standards. Homes with occupants that have a suppressed immune system or respiratory disease should keep the hot water set to 140 degrees. If you read the model codes it states the maximum hot water temperature for a shower or bathtub is 120 degrees fahrenheit.

Test your water temperature. Consequently osha recommends the minimum water heater outlet temperature in residential systems to be set at 130 degrees f to produce a faucet temperature of at least 120 degrees f. You might be one of many who have heard that the best hot water temperature setting should be 120 f. Hot water should not be stored at temperatures below 60 oc 140 of to avoid the risk of legionella contamination.

If you read the warning labels on the side of most water heaters the maximum hot water temperature is 120 degrees fahrenheit on some labels and 125 degrees fahrenheit on other labels. This does not mean it is good design to store the hot water at 110 f. No there is no code language addressing a minimum domestic hot water storage temperature.