New Hot Water Heater?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Interested in hearing advice and ideas about replacing the hot water heater that was there when we bought our house 15 years ago. I don’t know what brand it is, but now we’re at the point where no one can take a shower at the same time, and if someone’s just taken one, you have to wait 30-45 minutes before another person can take one. I don’t know if this means it’s not working anymore, or if it’s because with 2 teenagers and 2 adults, our hot water needs have increased.</p>

<p>We will probably be selling our house in 2-3 years so I’m reluctant to put money into this if I don’t have to. My questions are:</p>

<p>Will this thing just “blow” at some point so it’s better to replace it now?
Will replacing it help for resale or will a potential buyer not really notice how old it is?
If we do choose to replace it now, how do I determine what size to buy? I guess I could just buy what I have now.
Has anyone bought a tankless heater? Are they overall less expensive (because they just heat up the water as you need it)?
What’s the best brand – Rheem? What’s the middle of the line brand that’s perfectly acceptable? Anyone have a bad experience with a specific brand or type of heater?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>A 15+ HWH is past or approaching it’s lifetime. I’d replace when it is convenient (now), not when you have 30-40 gallons of water on the floor and no hot water!
Sales - you will have to disclose age of all appliances and could wind up replacing it as a condition of sale anyway.
If you are running out of hot water now, you need combo of at least same capacity AND faster recovery time. We went bigger/faster, but we were also looking at 2 adults + near teens at the time.
Discuss with a plumber +/- of tankless. Unsure if they make sense for whole-house. Eliminates risk of flooding, I believe are more expensive to install, cheaper to operate; but you are unlikely to see payback in 2-3 years.<br>
I think we caught a sale @ Sears; you can also check the usual big box stores and your independent appliance shops & plumbing companies. Research 1st - some of the store sales people know their stuff, many are just sales droids. Consumer Reports may have recents reviews. If you live in an area served by Consumers Checkbook Magazine, you can get info (or Angie’s List) on cost & performance of plumbing contractors.</p>

3

<p>Natural gas or electric? If you have gas, stay with gas. If you have electric, look into tankless.</p>

4

<p>My only advice for you is to do your research and replace it before you really need it. That is, before it is leaking or stops working completely. Ours died on Christmas eve two years ago. My husband’s family was visiting, so they had to endure the lack of hot water with us. We couldn’t get anyone to replace it until the 26th. It was so much fun…heating water on the stove to was dishes, no hot water for showers, and on and on. Yep. My best advice is to research and do it now.</p>

5

<p>Don’t forget to add a drain pan under the heater with a drain pipe connected to the storm drain. It will prevent future flooding. I priced out a tankless, its LOT more expensive than the conventional ones, as stated before, the pay back may not worth the upfront.</p>

6

<p>Is this a gas fired water heater? Does it leak? Has the water heater ever been serviced (i.e. drained to remove sediment from the bottom of the tank)?</p>

<p>If the tank is not leaking, try the following:</p>

<p>Turn off the gas to the water heater. There should be a lever on the gas line leading to the gas valve of the water heater, </p>

<p>Turn off the cold water leading to the water heater.</p>

<p>There is a pressure relief lever near the top of the water heater. The lever is attached to a metal pipe leading to the floor. Place some rags on the floor under the pipe. Lift the lever for a few seconds to release air in the system. Some water may come out of the pipe.</p>

<p>Open a hot water tap somewhere in the house to move water out of the plumbing.</p>

<p>At the bottom of the water heater is a drain valve with a threaded end that fits a garden hose. Attach a hose to the drain valve and route it to the nearest floor drain. Or place a bucket under the valve and turn the plastic knob to release water from the tank. Be careful, the water will be hot. Drain a gallon at a time. If the water draining is gray in color, it has sediment from the sacrificial anode rod inside the tank. Keep draining water from the tank until it runs clear.</p>

<p>If there is a lot of sediment in the tank, it will act as an insulator and slows the water heating capacity of the water heater. The gas burner stays on longer than necessary which stresses the glass lined water tank which leads to cracking of the glass and leaking.</p>

<p>Once the water runs clear, close the drain valve, turn the cold water back on and then turn on the gas. You may need to turn on the hot water taps in the house to insure that any trapped air in the plumbing is flushed from the system.</p>

<p>This procedure should be done every couple of months.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Tankless water heater…? If you’re thinking of selling your house in a couple of years, you will never see a return on your investment. </p>

<p>I have a cheap 40 gal GE gas water heater with a six year warranty. Going on strong for five years with no problems… The instructions recommended not using an insulating water heater blanket since it was built with sufficient insulation to retain heat. </p>

<p>Avoid Whirlpool gas water heaters. Do an on-line search and read about the gas valve problems that thousands of people have had with these units! Whirlpool uses a non-standard gas valve that most part stores do not carry.</p>

7

<p>We are also in the market to replace our water heater. We have gas, and we are just going to stay with it. Tankless is nice, but just not something we can justify right now.</p>

8

<p>Prob. electric since you do eventually get HW.
One of the heating elements is bad. Typically the bottom element since it works the hardest. If the access plate is accessible, the element is easy to replace, Approx $25. Biggest headache is not stripping the bolts or breaking the bolt heads, which attaches the element to the tank. Turn off power, Drain water from tank.Be prepared to replace tank. </p>

<p>If you live in a high electric cost region. Better to give a hoot and don’t pollute, go gas. There is so much NG around and prices so low, that The Chesapeake Corp, 2nd largest NG producer, has stopped production drilling and exploratory drills for NG. </p>

<p>Last year or two, in Scientific American, electricity from coal: by memory -??: 80% energy conversion efficiency by burning coal. 80% efficiency in electric transmission. 80% conversion in electric to heated water conversion and heat loss in heated water storage=~50% best coal to hotwater efficiency. Direct gas heating using tankless hotwater is 75-90%.</p>

9

<p>Thank you everyone who took the time to post – I really appreciate it. I am now convinced we should replace it now, and that tankless isn’t worth the money for me at this point. Thanks for the tips on how to make the unit I’ve got work better too. :)</p>

10

<p>State water heaters are inexpensive and Made in America.</p>

11

<p>If you have hot water heat, look into the stainless steel tank in a tank hot water system.
It is its own zone on the boiler and gets priority when the water becomes too cold (less hot). Never run out of hot water and no leak potential.
Love ours since 2008.</p>

12

<p>Great idea to replace before the flood - learned this the hard way :slight_smile: Home Depot was awesome btw - they were at my house at 6:30 am the day after the flood and installed a new water heater (gas) at very, very reasonable price. We just bought the basic b/c we also were planning (and did) sell the house w/in two years.</p>

13

<p>I’ve used the same plumber for years, so had him come, determine my needs, and replaced the next morning. It was same price as HD. I showed plumber the various reviews from CRs, and he explained why I should save $100. on one model vs. another.</p>

<p>The advantage is that the next time I need the plumber, I can have him clean the WH. I’m rather nervous/lazy about draining.</p>

14

<p>^ahh…good idea – I called Home Depot yesterday to get a quote on someone coming to the house to give me a quote (yes, that’s how they describe it on the website – fee for “diganostics”) and they wanted so much info before even telling me a cost that I hung up. I trust our plumber – I might ask him to get it, install it, then he can also service it.</p>

15

<p>We had our water heater replaced about 2 years ago. It’s great, I can hardly believe that we can take a shower and use something else at the same time. After years of an old house with old plumbing, it’s heaven lol!</p>

<p>Just one thing. I wonder if you have low flow shower heads on your showers. It makes such a difference in how long our showers stay hot. My sister doesn’t have them on hers and I can tell the difference even though they just drained their hot water heater.</p>

16

<p>^good question. Would my plumber be able to tell me if he looked at the shower heads? What’s better if you want a hot shower - -low flow or high flow?</p>