SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
maddybeagle

What size tub can a 50 gallon water heater support?

maddybeagle
6 years ago

Help me with some real-life experience here. I've seen formulas and forum posts about how big a water heater to buy for a certain size tub, but I need to come at it the other way: given the water heater I have, how big a tub can I get?

I'm a one-person household. I have a relatively recently installed and healthy 50 gallon water heater that I don't want to replace. (It certainly doesn't make sense to have bigger than that for one person.)

I currently have a too-shallow-for-soaking 60 x 30 tub, in which I can easily take a too-shallow bath that's plenty hot enough for the parts of me that are actually submerged, and have hot water left over.

I want to replace the too-shallow tub with a 60" or 66" proper soaking tub. As I compare tub models, I'm keeping an eye on their capacity in gallons. But I'm not sure what the upper limit is of what my 50 gallon tank will support for a good, hot soak, including novel-reading and topping up with more hot water as the pages turn.

If you have a deep tub with a comparatively small footprint, can you report on your water-heater-to-tub-gallons experience? Thanks!

Comments (4)