WINTEMP WN36 Electric Tankless Water Heater: Endless Hot Water, On Demand

In millions of North American homes, there lurks a silent, unassuming beast. It sits in the darkness of a basement, the quiet of a garage, or the cramped confines of a utility closet. It is the conventional tank water heater, and it is tirelessly, ceaselessly, performing a task most of us have never questioned: keeping 40 or 50 gallons of water hot, just in case. This silent vigil, however, comes at a cost. It’s a phenomenon physicists call “standby heat loss,” a constant, invisible drain of energy as the heat inside the tank bleeds into the cooler surrounding air. The U.S. Department of Energy identifies this as a primary source of wasted energy in the home. It’s a ghost in our electrical grid, a relic of a bygone era of engineering, and its reign of quiet inefficiency may finally be coming to an end.

To understand its downfall, we must first appreciate its ascent. Before the late 1880s, readily available hot water was a fantasy reserved for the wealthy or the endlessly industrious. Then, a Norwegian-American mechanical engineer named Edwin Ruud had a revolutionary idea. In 1889, he patented the first automatic, storage-tank gas water heater. It was a marvel, a household god that liberated families from the drudgery of heating water pot by pot on a stove. Ruud didn’t just invent an appliance; he democratized comfort and redefined domestic hygiene. For over a century, his invention reigned supreme, a symbol of modern progress. But every revolution, in time, becomes the old guard, its brilliant solutions revealing new, unforeseen problems.

Flash forward to today. Picture the familiar chaos of a 7 a.m. weekday. The first shower is a blissful, steamy refuge. The second is slightly shorter, a little more hurried. By the time the third person steps in, they are negotiating with a dwindling resource, turning the handle with the trepidation of a bomb disposal expert. And then, the inevitable betrayal: the water turns from warm, to lukewarm, to a shocking, breath-stealing cold. This is the tyranny of the tank—a finite supply, a built-in anxiety, a daily reminder that our comfort is on a timer. It’s this very modern frustration that has catalyzed the next leap forward, a shift in philosophy from storing energy to creating it, in the moment, on demand.

Harnessing an Electron Flood: A Lesson in Power and Intellect

Enter the world of the electric tankless water heater, a device that embodies this new philosophy. A prime example of this technological shift is a unit like the WINTEMP WN36. It doesn’t have a tank; it has a brain and an incredible amount of brawn. Its mission is to accomplish in seconds what Edwin Ruud’s invention did over hours. And to do this, it must command a staggering amount of power.

The WN36 is rated for 36,000 watts, or 36 kilowatts (kW). This number is difficult to grasp in the abstract, so let’s contextualize it. A high-powered hair dryer might pull 1,800 watts. The WN36, when running at full capacity, commands the equivalent power of twenty of those hair dryers switching on at the exact same instant. It’s an immense, controlled flood of electrons, and its purpose is rooted in fundamental physics. The first law of thermodynamics dictates that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted. Water has a high specific heat capacity, meaning it takes a great deal of energy to raise its temperature. To heat a significant flow of water—say, 5 gallons per minute—from a frigid 45°F groundwater temperature to a pleasant 105°F shower in the time it takes to travel through a shoebox-sized device requires this colossal, instantaneous application of energy. This is achieved via Joule heating, where the resistance of internal heating elements converts the electrical current directly into heat with ferocious efficiency.

But raw power without intelligence is just a blunt instrument. The true genius of the modern tankless system lies in its intellect. This is where the WN36’s “self-regulating technology” comes into play. It’s more than a switch; it’s a command center. As water begins to flow, a sensor measures its incoming temperature, while another measures the flow rate. This data is fed to a microprocessor—the ghost in this new machine. In milliseconds, the microprocessor calculates the precise amount of power needed to achieve the user’s set temperature. It functions like a masterful orchestra conductor, calling upon the exact number of instruments—in this case, watts—required for the piece. If you turn on a second faucet, the conductor sees the increased demand and summons more power. If you slightly reduce the flow at the sink, the conductor gracefully quiets a section of the orchestra, reducing power consumption instantly. This constant modulation is the key. It ensures an unwavering output temperature and means the unit only ever consumes the absolute minimum energy required. When the taps are off, the orchestra is silent. The energy drain is zero. This is the science behind the claims of up to 99% energy savings—it’s not magic, it’s the elimination of standby heat loss.

The Foundation of an Instant Future

Commanding such power requires a proper stage. The WN36’s demand for 240 volts and a maximum of 150 amps means it cannot simply be plugged into a standard wall outlet. It requires a robust electrical foundation, typically four separate 40-amp double-pole breakers, professionally installed to comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC). This is not a design flaw; it is a law of physics. It’s akin to building a dedicated superhighway for a fleet of supercars, rather than forcing them down a residential side street. This infrastructure is the necessary price of admission for instantaneous performance.

The reward for this one-time upgrade is twofold. The first, of course, is a functionally endless supply of hot water, banishing the 7 a.m. cold shock to memory. The second is more subtle but equally profound: the reclamation of space. At a mere 21.1 inches tall and 13.7 inches wide, the unit is up to 90% smaller than its tank-bound ancestor. The bulky utility closet is suddenly transformed. The space once occupied by a rumbling metal cylinder becomes a canvas for storage, a workshop nook, or simply open, uncluttered room to breathe. It’s a physical dividend paid by efficient engineering.

A Node on the Network

The evolution doesn’t stop at hardware. With integrated WIFI remote control, the WN36 steps into the 21st-century ecosystem of the Internet of Things (IoT). This is more than a convenience feature for adjusting the temperature from a smartphone. It represents the appliance’s transformation from a dumb, isolated machine into an intelligent, communicative node on the home network. In a future of smart grids and dynamic energy pricing, it’s conceivable that such devices could intelligently schedule their highest loads during off-peak hours or respond to utility requests, becoming active participants in a more efficient and resilient energy infrastructure.

Coda: Redefining the “On” Switch

The journey from Edwin Ruud’s ingenious tank to the microprocessor-driven WN36 is a story about more than just water heaters. It’s a story about our evolving relationship with energy itself. For a century, we operated on a philosophy of storage and standby, a brute-force approach that valued availability above all else. We are now entering an era of intelligence and precision, where the ultimate luxury is not just raw power, but power applied wisely.

The technology inside a tankless heater redefines what it means to turn something “on.” It’s no longer a binary state of being, but a dynamic, responsive conversation between a need and a resource. It is the end of the tyranny of the tank and the dawn of an age where our comfort is no longer finite, but created, brilliantly and instantly, in the moment we ask for it.