Pro Handyman Blog

Want to save 4%-9% of water heater energy costs? Insulate your water heater. According to the US Dept. Of Energy you can do just that by adding insulation to your water heater. How can you tell if your water heater needs to be insulated? Just touch it. If it feels warm, it could benefit by wrapping it in a water heater jacket. You wouldn’t send your child into the cold without at jacket right? You shouldn’t do that with your water heater either.

Installing a water heater blanket is easy. The kits come with complete instructions, but basically you wrap the tank with the blanket and tape it into place. Electric water heaters are easier, as you don’t have the vent or gas connections to avoid.

Although most blankets come with come cutouts already provided, you will have to make some cuts to allow for controls and piping. If you need to get around a pipe, such as the TPR fitting, cut a slit in the insulation and fit it around the fitting. Tape the cut insulation back together.

At the top of the tank will be the cold inlet supply pipe and the hot water outgoing pipe that supplies the house. Some water heaters will have a heat trap built in to the nipple, but you won’t be able to tell unless you take it out. You can bend the flex lines so that there is an arch at the top of the pipe to prevent hot water from backing out of the tank. Also, you can install pipe insulation on the copper flex lines to keep them from losing heat as well.