DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the drawing there is shown a water heater 10 in accordance with this invention which includes a housing 12 having an enlarged internal cavity 14.
This housing 12 includes an inlet 16 and an outlet 18 so that it may be connected into a conventional water line (not shown).
The cavity 14 is preferably shaped so that any flow from the inlet 16 to the outlet 18 will pass three different resistance heating elements 20, 22, and 24.
These resistance elements 20, 22, and 24 may be mounted or supported within the cavity 14 in any convenient conventional manner.
If desired, an insulating cover 26 may be located generally around the housing 12 for the obvious purpose of conserving heat.
In the heater 10 the resistance elements 20, 22 and 24 are connected in lines 28, 30 and 32, respectively.
These lines 28, 30 and 32 are, in turn, attached to conventional, protective circuit breakers 34, 36 and 38 as illustrated.
These breakers 34, 36 and 38 are supplied with power through three separate supply circuits 40 which will be normally used to each supply a 220-240 volt AC current through conductors 42 from a conventional distribution source (not shown).
Because the breakers 34, 36 and 38, in effect, act as switches which automatically open in response to a current overload, it may be considered that they are switch means connected in series with the resistance elements 20, 22 and 24.
Because these breakers 34, 36 and 38 are supplied through separate conventional circuits 40 they need not be as large and as expensive as would be required if all heating current passed through a single breaker.
The lines 28, 30, and 32 all are connected to what may be regarded as a composite, conventional, known switch 44 consisting of three separate switches 46, 48, and 50 ganged together through the use of a conventional mechanical connection 52.
With this construction the switch 46 is in series with the element 20, the switch 48 is in series with the element 22, and the switch 50 is in series with the element 24
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