The tanks can be set to bring the temp up to 60° specifically to prevent this.
Comment on Heat-pump water heaters are a winner for the climate — and your wallet
redcalcium@lemmy.institute 11 months agoMy concern is legionella. If you don’t get enough sun and the water temperature stay at ~45°C for extended amount of time, isn’t the water tank became an ideal breeding ground for legionella?
Squizzy@lemmy.world 11 months ago
MNByChoice@midwest.social 11 months ago
Chlorine is also pretty effective at killing Legionella.
It is helpful to have backup heat when using solar is sunny days are not plentiful.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionella
At 50 °C (122 °F) – 90% die in 80–124 minutes, depending on strain (D = 80–124 minutes)
48 to 50 °C (118 to 122 °F) – can survive but do not multiply
Blaat1234@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Powered solar heat pumps sanitize themselves once a week if temperature doesn’t reach 70C at least once. Same for heat pump boilers, they are usually set to 50C but goes up to 70C weekly.
On solar, there is always a downstream heater that can heat cold water to 60C+ and must be set at least that high for legionella. My setup is like that, unpowered solar tank for free heat if available, and gas boosts it up to safe temperature and does all the work in the winter.