Neometrix / Thermal & Energy Test Equipment / Water Heater Test Facility / NMX-WHT-80

NMX-WHT-80 · ENGINEERED-TO-ORDER CLASS — SPECIFY · SIZE · BUILD · CALIBRATE · RUN · PROVE

Water Heater Test Facility. What it keeps, what it loses.

Name: Water Heater Test Facility
Brand: Neometrix
SKU: NMX-WHT-80

A water heater test facility tests electric storage water heaters, the kind often called geysers. It measures what a heater gives, which is hot water, and what it loses, which is heat. Both are found with the heater connected as it is used.

So the facility has to hold the room still, hold the inlet water steady, read the water at several heights, and count the energy, not the dial.

Discuss a water heater test facility Capability note (PDF)

A water heater test facility on a plain white studio background: a low pale grey steel test frame holding two plain white enamelled cylinders side by side, a stainless steel pipe running down from each to a stainless manifold of four small valves along the front edge, thin black sensor cables with small stainless probe sleeves at the top of each cylinder, and at the right end a pale grey cabinet and a small stainless supply vessel joined to the manifold by two pipes, and no people

Fig · 01 — A water heater test facility: two heaters on a test frame, each with its pipes and probes, a manifold of valves, a supply vessel and a cabinet at the end — illustrative render.

The result

heat kept, hot water givenenergy, standing loss and output

The room

still air, steady temperatureso a draught cannot fake a loss

The water

inlet held steadytemperature and flow, outlet read fast

The count

energy, not the dialtrue energy through every thermostat cycle

Status

engineered to orderno delivered facility claimed

ISO 9001ISO 14001IS 2082 and IEC 60379 reference standards

Overview

Why the whole job is the room.

Because the loss of a heater is a small number, found by holding everything round it still and counting the energy it takes.

One electric storage water heater set up for testing on a plain white studio background: a plain white enamelled cylinder on a small pale grey steel stand, two stainless steel pipes with short valves at its base, a vertical row of six thin black cables with small stainless probe sleeves entering its side at different heights, and a short cable to a small grey junction box on the stand, and no people

Fig · 02 — One heater set up for testing: a cylinder on a stand, a pipe pair at its base, a row of probes entering its side at different heights and a cable to a junction box — illustrative render.

What it keeps, what it loses.

What the facility is for

It tests electric storage water heaters for household use. It suits a performance bench for one heater, a multi-heater bay on one supply, and a safety station for the hot electrical checks. Each heater is connected as it is used, filled, and held at its set temperature before any test starts.

Why the loss is hard to find

A heater that holds its water hot uses a little energy all the time, only to replace the heat that leaks away. That energy is small, and it is found by counting over a long time. The result is a difference: the energy put in, less the heat the water has stored or lost in the meantime. So the water has to start and finish at the same heat, or the difference is wrong.

Why the air is held still

A draught carries heat off the surface of the heater and makes it look worse than it is. So the heater stands in still air at a steady temperature, with the room sensors where the method puts them, and the room is shown to be steady before the test and during it.

Why the inlet water is held

Hot water output depends on how cold the water goes in and how fast. If the inlet temperature drifts or the flow wanders during a draw, the output changes for reasons that have nothing to do with the heater. So the supply is conditioned to a set temperature and the flow is held at a set rate.

Why the water is read at several heights

Hot water floats. The water at the top of the cylinder is hotter than the water at the bottom, and a draw leaves a hot layer above a cold one. A single probe would give the wrong heat stored, so the facility reads the water at several heights and at the outlet, fast enough to follow a draw.

Why the energy is counted, not the dial

A thermostat switches the element on and off, so the power is never steady. The facility counts true energy with a power analyser over whole cycles, on a supply held steady in voltage. The dial of the thermostat is a separate check: the water temperature is compared with the setting and the difference is recorded.

Why safety is a separate station

The electrical checks are made with the heater at working temperature and a high voltage on the test lead. So they sit behind a guard and an interlock, apart from the performance bench, and they include proving that the thermal cut-out works without the thermostat.

The method

Specify, size, build, calibrate, run, and prove.

Six steps in a fixed order. Showing that the room is still and that the inlet water holds steady are the two a quick order skips.

1 · Specify

The heaters, the tests, the method the customer names and the number of heaters to run together are stated by the customer.

2 · Size

The water supply is sized for the largest heater and the longest draw, and the enclosure for the number of heaters in it, with clear air round each.

3 · Build

The stands, the supply loop, the draw-off control, the enclosure, the probes, the energy meter and the logger are built as one installation.

4 · Calibrate

The temperature probes, the flow meters and the energy meter are calibrated against a reference, so that every reading has a record of its own.

5 · Run

A reference heater is run first, to show that the room is still, that the inlet water holds and that the energy count repeats.

6 · Prove

A record is kept for every heater, with its conditions and its results, and handed over with the facility.

Which test for which question

Test	What it answers	What to watch
Standing loss	how much heat the heater loses when nobody is drawing	still air, a steady room, a settled start, and energy counted over a whole period
Energy consumption	how much energy the heater uses to heat and to hold	true energy counted through every thermostat cycle, on a supply held steady
Hot water output	how much usable hot water the heater gives from cold	inlet temperature and flow held, the outlet read fast, and the draw stopped by the rule of the method
Heating-up and reheating	how long the heater takes to heat, and to recover after a draw	a uniform start, a steady supply voltage, and temperatures read at several heights
Dial calibration	whether the thermostat setting matches the water	the water read at several heights before it is compared with the setting
Safety at working temperature	whether the heater is safe when it is hot	the heater at working temperature first, the test behind a guard, and the thermal cut-out proved independent of the thermostat

The step people underrate is the settled start. A test that begins before the water has settled is measuring the heater warming up, not the heat it keeps.

Work content

What the facility contains, element by element.

Read it as a checklist: a facility missing a row will measure a heater and give a number, but not a number you can defend.

A conditioned water supply and metering skid on a plain white studio background: a low pale grey steel skid frame holding a stainless steel cylindrical supply vessel, a pump with a grey electric motor, a grey junction box, and a run of thin stainless pipes carrying two small stainless flow meter bodies and three valves to two open pipe ends at the front, and no people

Fig · 03 — A conditioned water supply and metering skid: a supply vessel, a pump, a pipe run with two flow meters and valves, and a junction box — illustrative render.

Element	What it does	What matters
Test stand	carries the heater as it is used	supports and connections that hold the heater as it is installed, without adding a path for heat that the installation would not have
Water supply and conditioning	gives the inlet water	a reservoir, a pump and a conditioning loop that hold the inlet temperature steady, with a mixing valve and a flow that does not wander
Draw-off control	runs the draw	a valve and a flow meter that start, hold and stop each draw at the set flow, with the volume totalled
Ambient enclosure	holds the room still	an enclosure or room with conditioned air at a steady temperature, no draught across the heater, and sensors where the method puts them
Temperature sensing	reads the water	probes at the inlet, at the outlet and at several heights in the cylinder, fast enough to follow a draw, entering through sealed fittings
Energy and power measurement	counts the energy	a power analyser that reads true energy through the thermostat cycling, on a supply held steady in voltage
Logger and controller	runs the tests	sets every draw, logs every channel at a steady rate, works out the results and writes a record for every heater
Safety station	proves the heater safe	leakage and high-voltage checks with the heater hot, a guard and an interlock, and a check of the thermal cut-out
Procedure	fixes the sequence	specify, size, build, calibrate, run and prove, the same for every facility
Testing & documentation	prove the facility first	a reference heater run, the room shown still, the inlet shown steady, the energy count shown to repeat, and a record the customer can inspect

The elements that decide whether the numbers are true are the ambient enclosure and the temperature sensing, and the one that decides whether they repeat is the water supply. The first two keep the room and the water honest, and the third keeps every draw the same.

Full specification — expand

System	A test stand that carries each electric storage water heater as it is used; a water supply with a reservoir, a pump and a conditioning loop that holds the inlet temperature steady; a draw-off control with a valve and a flow meter; an ambient enclosure or room with conditioned, still air; temperature probes at the inlet, the outlet and several heights in the cylinder; a power analyser that counts true energy on a steady supply; a logger and controller that run the tests and write a record for every heater; a guarded safety station for the hot electrical checks; a written test plan; and calibration, testing and documentation before handover
The One Idea	What it keeps, what it loses.
Why The Loss Is Hard To Find	A heater that holds its water hot uses a little energy all the time to replace the heat that leaks away, so the loss is a small difference found by counting over a long time, and the water has to start and finish at the same heat or the difference is wrong
Why The Air Is Held Still	A draught carries heat off the surface of the heater and makes it look worse than it is, so the heater stands in still air at a steady temperature and the room is shown to be steady before and during the test
Why The Inlet Water Is Held	Hot water output depends on how cold the water goes in and how fast, so the supply is conditioned to a set temperature and the flow is held at a set rate for every draw
Why The Water Is Read At Several Heights	Hot water floats, so the water at the top of the cylinder is hotter than the water at the bottom, and a single probe gives the wrong heat stored; several probes at known heights and a fast probe at the outlet show what is really there
Why The Energy Is Counted	A thermostat switches the element on and off, so the power is not steady, and a power analyser counts true energy over whole cycles while the dial is checked separately against the water
Standards	IS 2082 is the public standard for electric storage water heaters for household use and covers performance as well as safety, IEC 60379 sets out methods for measuring the performance of electric storage water heaters for household purposes, and IEC 60335-2-21 sets the particular safety requirements for storage water heaters. This page prints none of their limits, tolerances or test conditions, and no edition year: those come from the method the customer names and from the heater. Approval of a heater, or of a test result, rests with the customer and the authority they name; none is claimed here
Configurations	A performance bench for one heater, a multi-heater bay on one supply, and a safety station for the hot electrical checks
Scope Boundary	This page is the water heater test facility. It is not a heat exchanger test bench, which balances the heat between two flowing fluids (see heat exchanger test bench), not a flow calibration rig, which checks flow meters against a scale and a clock (see flow calibration rig) and not a climatic and environmental test chamber, which holds a product at a set climate (see climatic and environmental test chambers). A solar water heater rig and an instantaneous heater rig are different equipment again. No certification is claimed here
Status	Neometrix engineers water heater test facilities to order, and no delivered water heater test facility is claimed.

Configurations

One method, three ways to build the facility.

The method, the conditioned supply, the enclosure, the probes, the energy count and the record are shared. What changes is how many heaters run together and which question is asked.

Performance bench

One heater, every performance test

One heater on a stand with a conditioned supply, a draw-off control, an ambient enclosure and a logger, for energy, standing loss, hot water output, heating-up time and dial calibration.

Multi-heater bay

Several heaters, one supply

Several stands in one room on a shared conditioned supply and one logger, so that a batch is tested together and compared like with like.

Safety station

The hot electrical checks

A guarded station for the leakage, high-voltage and thermal cut-out checks with the heater at working temperature, interlocked and apart from the performance bench.

And the part that is not equipment at all, yet decides all three: the test plan. It fixes the heaters, the tests, the order they run in, the settling time before each one and what is recorded. It is written from the method the customer names, not from the facility.

Where it is used

Wherever a heater is rated for what it keeps, and the rating has to be measured.

The common thread is an appliance that sits hot for most of its life, and a test that has to say how much it costs to keep it so.

Appliance makers

Where new designs, insulation and elements are compared and each production lot is checked.

Test and certification laboratories

Where heaters are tested to a named method for makers and buyers.

Component makers

Where elements, thermostats and insulation are proved before they go into a heater.

Research laboratories

Where the way hot water layers and loses heat in a cylinder is studied.

Watch

See it in motion.

A short walkthrough video of the water heater test facility.

FAQ

Common questions.

Longer answers, for readers who want the reasoning.

Q · 01 What does a water heater test facility actually do?

It connects an electric storage water heater as it is used and measures how it behaves. It supplies water at a set temperature and flow, draws hot water off, holds the room still round the heater, reads the water at several heights and counts the energy. From those it works out how much heat the heater keeps, how much it loses, how much hot water it gives and how long it takes to heat. It does not decide whether a heater passes: that is the job of the method and of the people who name it.

Q · 02 Why is the standing loss so hard to measure?

Because it is a small number found as a difference. While a heater holds its water hot it uses a little energy all the time, only to replace heat that leaks away. To find that energy you count over a long time, and you must make sure the water holds the same heat at the end as at the start, or what you counted includes heat that was stored or lost on the way. That is why the test begins only after the water has settled, and why the room must not change while it runs.

Q · 03 How is the room held still?

Two things matter: the temperature of the air and its movement. The heater stands in an enclosure or room whose air is conditioned to a steady temperature, with the supply and the extract arranged so that no draught crosses the heater. Sensors at the positions the method names show that the air is steady before the test and during it, and their readings go in the record. A draught would take heat from the surface and make the heater look worse than it is.

Q · 04 Why read the water at several heights?

Because hot water floats. In a cylinder the water at the top is hotter than the water at the bottom, and after a draw there is a hot layer above a cold one. One probe would give a wrong value for the heat stored, and so a wrong loss. Several probes at known heights give a truer picture, and a fast probe at the outlet follows what a user would actually get while the water is drawn. We set out the probe positions against your heaters before we propose a layout.

Q · 05 Is this the same as the heat exchanger test bench, the flow calibration rig or the climatic chambers?

No, and the differences are worth stating precisely. The heat exchanger test bench page covers balancing the heat between two flowing fluids. The flow calibration rig page covers checking flow meters against a scale and a clock. The climatic and environmental test chambers page covers holding a product at a set climate. This page is the water heater test facility. A solar water heater rig and an instantaneous heater rig are different equipment again. It does not replace any of them, and it does not claim what they claim a second time.

Q · 06 Has Neometrix built one of these?

We would rather answer this plainly than let a page imply otherwise. Neometrix engineers water heater test facilities to order, and no delivered water heater test facility is claimed. What stands behind the offer is adjacent: Neometrix engineers a heat exchanger test bench (see the heat exchanger test bench page), a flow calibration rig (see the flow calibration rig page) and climatic and environmental test chambers (see the climatic and environmental test chambers page). The pumps, conditioning heaters and chillers, valves, flow meters, probes, power analysers and loggers are catalogue items, bought in, not invented. What Neometrix engineers is the facility around them: the stands, the conditioned water supply, the draw-off control, the ambient enclosure, the sensing arrangement, the procedure and the test plan. So the honest position is that the facility is engineered to order, the neighbouring disciplines are in the building, and the first facility of this exact kind will be built around the customer's own heaters and method rather than taken off a shelf.

Q · 07 Which standard applies, and what can the facility not do?

IS 2082 is the public standard for electric storage water heaters for household use and covers performance as well as safety. IEC 60379 sets out methods for measuring the performance of electric storage water heaters for household purposes, and IEC 60335-2-21 sets the particular safety requirements for storage water heaters. This page prints none of their limits, tolerances or test conditions, and no edition year: those come from the method the customer names and from the heater. The facility holds conditions, counts energy and keeps a record. It does not certify a heater: this page claims no certification or accreditation. No temperature, flow, energy, time, size or quantity figure is printed here, and approval for use rests with the customer and the authority they name; none is claimed here.

Q · 08 What do you need from us to quote?

Six things, and most of them describe your tests rather than the facility. First, the heaters: the kinds you test, the range of their sizes and how many you want to run together. Second, the tests: which of energy, standing loss, hot water output, heating-up time, dial calibration and safety you need. Third, the method you name. Fourth, the supply: the range of inlet temperature and flow you need to hold. Fifth, the room: whether you have one or want an enclosure. Sixth, the record: what you want kept for every heater. From that we come back with a facility concept, a written test plan you can check, and a budgetary price.

The neighbouring test pages, and how they differ from this one.

Three neighbours: one balances heat between two fluids, one checks flow meters, one holds a climate.

↗ Heat between fluids

Heat Exchanger Test Bench

A bench that runs oil or fuel against coolant and balances the heat given and taken - heat moving between two flowing streams, where this page measures the heat a heater keeps.

↗ Flow meters

Flow Calibration Rig

A rig that checks flow meters against a scale and a clock - the reference for flow, where this page uses flow meters to hold and total a draw.

↗ Held climates

Climatic and Environmental Test Chambers

Chambers that hold a product at a set temperature and humidity - a product tested inside a chamber, where this page holds the room still round an appliance.

Browse all Neometrix product lines.

Get a quotation

Tell us the heaters, the tests,
and the method you name.

The projects desk replies within two working days with a facility concept, a written test plan you can check, and a budgetary quotation. Write to [email protected] or use the form.

Enquire — water heater test facility Capability sheet (PDF) +91 7777 876 876

ISO 9001 / 14001 ENGINEERED-TO-ORDER CLASS — WATER HEATER TEST FACILITY SPECIFY · SIZE · BUILD · CALIBRATE · RUN · PROVE — WHAT IT KEEPS, WHAT IT LOSES ENGINEERED IN NOIDA · INDIA