when an electric water heater has two elements, are the two thermostats set at the same temperature or is it normal to set the top thermostat say 5 degrees higher than the lower one since the water in the top of the heater is hotter?
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Normally, if the tank is reasonably sized, you set them both the same.
If the tank is oversized, however, and you want to wring the last 3 cents worth of efficiency out of the setup, you set the top thermostat to the temp you want and set the lower one 5-10 degrees lower. (But the savings may literally be on the order of 3 cents.)
No real point in ever setting the top thermostat lower than the bottom one.