31 replies to this topic

[4thgenFolsomite]

Don't fix what isn't broken. Amiright?

[ducky]

Get a tankless installed on the outside of your home, and then you won't have to deal with all the leak worries.

[Steve Heard]

Get a tankless installed on the outside of your home, and then you won't have to deal with all the leak worries.

 

Do you have one? How do you like it?

[cw68]

 
Do you have one? How do you like it?

Do you have one? How do you like it?

I don't have one now, but put one in a house 10 years ago. I mostly loved it. It took about 10 seconds longer to get my hot water, but it never ran out so if I ran the dishwasher and then a load of laundry on warm/hot and wanted to take a shower, I was good. I went medium powered so it would produce enough hot water for two appliances at a time so I could run a load of laundry and shower. The thing I liked most was the room it gave me in my 1941 laundry room.

While they are more efficient than traditional tank models, they really aren't worth the extra money. The installations costs are high, exhaust piping often has to be replaced with materials that can withstand the higher temperatures, and the unit costs themselves are high. They don't save you money equal to the increased cost and, while emmissions are cleaner, they use more electricy than tank heaters. A good article on them is here: http://www.greenbuil...ers-waste-money

A better use of your money is to buy a condensing water heater (they also have condensing tankless heaters if you still lean towards that). They are very efficient and are so efficient that the time it takes to heat the water is often about the same amount of time that it takes to heat the tank so you never run out of hot water with them either.

[ducky]

 

Do you have one? How do you like it?

 

I do have one and the best feature is not running out of hot water and not having to keep a tank full of water hot constantly.  There's only been one time we had to call someone out in 12 years and it was fortunately just a part replacement and it's still going strong.  It made sense to us to go ahead and spend the money at the time because we were having to completely relocate the water heater so the new plumbing was going to happen anyway.

 

I've read that article cw68 posted and it is pretty accurate.  I think our bills are only a little lower than with the standard water heater.

 

Elliott homes is putting them in their SMUD Elite Solar Smart Home up in Empire Ranch.

[Tyto Alba]

We have been in our present home here in Folsom since June 2000.

That is over 14 years now. I was reading about hot water heaters and

the article said that they typically last between 3 to 12 years.

 

Do they just quit operating, get holes in the bottom (leak) ??

 

Should I be keeping a close eye on it?

 

Anyone go through this recently?

 

We have been in our present home here in Folsom since June 2000.

That is over 14 years now. I was reading about hot water heaters and

the article said that they typically last between 3 to 12 years.

 

Do they just quit operating, get holes in the bottom (leak) ??

 

Should I be keeping a close eye on it?

 

Anyone go through this recently?

My water heater lasted 10 years.....anything over 10 is great.      You should utilize your water heater to the end of the service life(until it leaks).    If your worried about water in the garage,   what you can do is install a pan under and keep it monitored until it leaks.  They have these pans at Home Depot and Lowe's.   They run about $18.    If you notice in the picture you can install a hose to the pan to route the water out of the space or to a drain.      

 

On the water hoses entering the water heater on top the "O" ring can fail and drip water inside and down the water heater.    This can give the appearance the water heater is leaking when there is a slow drip at this point.     In this picture,  the exhaust mainfold pipe on top is unsafe and needs adjustment.   The cob webs are for Halloween.

[ducky]

I've also seen water leak alarms in a catalog called "Improvements."  I have no idea of they really work or are just a gimmick.  They are $19.99.  You set them on the floor where there might be a problem

We had the TPR valve do its job once on the original water heater that came with the house.  You'll definitely hear that without an alarm.

[camay2327]

 

My water heater lasted 10 years.....anything over 10 is great.      You should utilize your water heater to the end of the service life(until it leaks).    If your worried about water in the garage,   what you can do is install a pan under and keep it monitored until it leaks.  They have these pans at Home Depot and Lowe's.   They run about $18.    If you notice in the picture you can install a hose to the pan to route the water out of the space or to a drain.      

 

On the water hoses entering the water heater on top the "O" ring can fail and drip water inside and down the water heater.    This can give the appearance the water heater is leaking when there is a slow drip at this point.     In this picture,  the exhaust mainfold pipe on top is unsafe and needs adjustment.   The cob webs are for Halloween.

 

How can you put the pan under the heater? It looks like the bottom of the heater is flush with the floor.

I don't think you can lift it and place it under it?? I will look later this morning.

[Dave Burrell]

I've still got the same water heater that came with my house when I bought it 10 years ago.  No idea how old it is, but so far so good (fingers crossed).

[Homer]

Get a tankless installed on the outside of your home, and then you won't have to deal with all the leak worries.

 

 

 

I was going to put in a tankless to free up space in my garage for cabinets/office space until the plumber recommended that for less then a third of the cost he could just move the hot water heater outside. That solved all the potential water heater heater issues plus has the added benefit of fresh water storage during an emergency. 

[supermom]

Living there for 13 years and still have boxes on the garage floor?

 

;P

[ducky]

 

 

 

I was going to put in a tankless to free up space in my garage for cabinets/office space until the plumber recommended that for less then a third of the cost he could just move the hot water heater outside. That solved all the potential water heater heater issues plus has the added benefit of fresh water storage during an emergency. 

I wish we would have had that option.  We had space constraints, plus that would have put the water heater far, far away from the kitchen & bathrooms.  I did gain some sorely needed storage space so silver lining, I guess.

Did you have to build it its own little closet when you moved it outside?

[Homer]

I wish we would have had that option.  We had space constraints, plus that would have put the water heater far, far away from the kitchen & bathrooms.  I did gain some sorely needed storage space so silver lining, I guess.

Did you have to build it its own little closet when you moved it outside?

 

 

Lowes and Home Depot sell galvanized steel sheds for hot water heaters that come with the the exhaust vents and are easy too assemble, I don't recall the exact cost however i seem to remember it being less then $100.  In my case it was easy to move the water heater, It only needed to be moved a few feet to the side yard on the RV pad. When the plumber suggested this it made me realize why i have been a customer of his for the last couple of decades. If i had to have an indoor water heater i would go the tankless route to avoid expensive failures.

[ducky]

 

 

Lowes and Home Depot sell galvanized steel sheds for hot water heaters that come with the the exhaust vents and are easy too assemble, I don't recall the exact cost however i seem to remember it being less then $100.  In my case it was easy to move the water heater, It only needed to be moved a few feet to the side yard on the RV pad. When the plumber suggested this it made me realize why i have been a customer of his for the last couple of decades. If i had to have an indoor water heater i would go the tankless route to avoid expensive failures.

 

I didn't know they sold those.  Definitely an economical way to go.  Good point about the extra water storage, too.

[supermom]

Tankless means when the government goes bye-bye due to a Zombie Apocalypse or an Ebola cluster iii zone... you won't have water in the house, right?

 

 

Yo, just go ahead and put a big x on your front door. Nobody gonna try to break-in and hunker down there..