[Electric_Light]

There is an article on National Institute of Health from a public health organization in Montreal, QC, Canada. It conducted a study and of many water heaters tested, it found many electric water heaters set to 120F to be a hazard for growth of Legionella inside the tank. Interestingly it did not find any contamination in fuel burning types.

They've always recommended 120F for burn safety and energy conservations, but this organization recommends 140F in electric units for biological safety. I suppose another option is for 140 to 150F and a thermostatic blender (or whatever its called) at the water heater to combat the biological safety and scald issues. With the reduction in amount of volume of hot water needed by storing it hotter, I suppose you could mitigate energy concerns by going with a heater a size smaller than one you would use if you were to set it to 120F.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094925/

 

[Anti-wingnut]

Your sited article was published almost eight years ago. For us to enter into a meaningful disscussion, it would be nice to know what subsequent research and statistical analysis has contributed to this question. Since I have heard very little recently about this subject, I would tend to believe that the conclusions drawn by these researchers has been discounted, and that it is felt that the potential for fatal and serious burns by water from water-heaters set to the higher levels is a much greater real- and statistical concern than the unanswered potential for legionnaires disease

 

[KillerToiletSpider]

In the eight years since this research was published how many actual cases of legionnaire's disease have been directly linked to this?

 

[Anti-wingnut]

In the eight years since this research was published how many actual cases of legionnaire's disease have been directly linked to this?

And how many (primarily) young children and elderly people did nit get badly hurt or killed by scalding? Probably many more than the total world-wide aggregate of Legionnaire disease.

Thank you once again Electric Light, for bringing this (comparatively) ancient research to our attention

 

[loneframer]

I saw a documentary a few years back, about the Legionaires outbreak in Philadelphia. If I recall, it had something to do with faulty fans on rooftop AC units. When the fans were repaired, they sprayed illness in all directions, causing folks who never actually entered the building to become ill as well.

 

[rex]

my hot water is 170+ degrees.......