While electric water heaters can be annoying, often requiring specific components, you can figure out the type of repair you need, or even consider doing it yourself.
Water heater wires can be the most expendable component on the water heater, and if you get someone in to do this simple fix it could set your further back then necessary.
Alternatively, it can be good to know what repair you are asking someone to help with, so you can get an accurate price for the job.
Whether you are looking to do some home fixes yourself or just want to be more in the know when the repairman comes round, this article will help you figure out the wire size you need for your specific water heater.
Read below to figure out which size you need, and more.
What Is An Electric Water Heater?
Put simply, an electric heater uses electric, rather than gas, to heat the water you need in your home to have a shower or bath, as well as wash dishes, etc.
Electric water heaters can collect this water in a tank within your home and heat this, or it can be tankless and heat water in a separate location.
While electric water heaters are extremely energy efficient, using a hybrid or heat pump system to concentrate existing heat from the air, there can be systemic failure when certain components are bust.
In this example, the mains wire that supplies the necessary electricity into the heater to power it can break.
Replacing a broken wire in your water heating system can be key to powering the unit, and if we are going to replace it we must understand that different sizes of heater can require different size wires.
Keep reading to figure out which size wire you need for your specific boiler.
What Types Of Electric Water Heater Are There?
There are generally three types of electric water heater that dominate the market, although you can get gas water heaters which don’t require a wire.
Conventional
The most historic and traditional electric format of water heater. Water fills an internal tank, and is heated and then distributed where it needs to be in the house.
Your tank size will alternate depending on how much hot water might be required in the house. Available hot water is kept in the tank and then distributed.
Tankless
Rather than using a tank and containing the water within the tank, tankless, or ‘instantaneous’ heaters use electric coils that heat water only when you require it, but do this super fast.
These coils may be located where your heater tank would be, or they can be localized nearer the taps that require hot water.
They are generally more expensive and less energy efficient, but allow hot water to run pretty easily on request.
Hybrid
Hybrid are a newer, more green, version of an electric water heater. They utilize natural heat sources in the ground and air, drawing them in to heat water instead, in a concentrated form.
With newer technology this can heat water pretty efficiently but also in a very green way that is better for the environment.
As a general rule of thumb, the type of heater you have will not affect the type of wire you need, insofar that each type of heater will require its own level of wattage, which will inform the wire size.
What Size Wire Do I Need For My Water Heater?
So, no matter the kind of water heater, or the tank size your water heater has, the type and size of wire you need is generally affected most by wattage.
Wattage broadly ascribes the flow of electricity required to power the system, and the wire is what accommodates the electricity required.
The wattage of your heater will generally be decided by the amount of water it is heating, for tank heaters a 50 gallon or 30 gallon water heater likely requires around 4500 watts, the ‘gauge’ of the wire will decide whether it is suited to carry a certain amount of watts or not.
This said, it’s generally better to have more wire than necessary; we suggest erring on the side of caution and get a wire that is slightly more than is required in order to ensure there is no overload.
Here are some broad identifications of the wire you will need for certain wattage, but without prior experience, it can be worth checking with a professional to make sure you aren’t wasting money or wiring something up wrongly.
Put simply:
Smaller 10 -20 Gallon Water Heaters will generally use somewhere between 1000-2000 watts.
Most water heaters that are 30 – 80 Gallons will likely require 4500 watts.
Larger water heaters that are 90 – 100 Gallon capacity will need 4500 watts minimum but likely a wire that will accommodate more than 4500 watts to be safe.
Wire gauge is the classic way to refer to a wire’s physical ‘size’. Each gauge has a numerical designation that indicates the diameter of the wire.
The smaller the gauge the larger the diameter of the wire, and thus the more wattage a wire can carry.
A heater that requires 1000-2000 watts, generally of 10 or 20 Gallon size, will require a 16 or 18 gauge wire.
A heater that requires 45000 watts, usually between 30-80 Gallons, will require a 14 gauge wire.
A heater that requires over 4500 watts in order to heat 90 to 100 gallons of water, will likely require a 14 – 6 gauge wire.
Final Thoughts
It should be clear that wattage and the tank size will generally deliberate the type of wire you need. The sizes of these wires are generally indicated by gauge which dictates the amount of watts the wire can carry.
To understand the size of wire you need, you need to understand the type, capacity, and wattage of your specific water heater.
Hi everyone! My name is Jason, and I am the founder of HeaterWise.com. Having run my own business as a Heating Engineer for 21 years, I have picked up a few things along the way.
I wanted to create Heater Wise as a place where anyone could come, from far and wide, to find the information that they need.
I hope you will join us here at Heater Wise, to get started on your own journey, to expand your knowledge, and make the best heating choices for you and your family.
