We live in earthquake country. I’m not sure what you mean (ie… not bolted to a structure…), but we’ve always used straps to secure our water heater. They are not difficult to install. In 2004 we had over 80k in damages due to Northridge earthquake, water heater held up just fine.
As to delay in getting hot water, we have a water pitcher that we catch water until it gets hot and dump water into bucket just outside bedroom slider, which my wife then uses in garden. Sometimes it takes 1.5 pitchers before we get hot water, so a minor inconvenience. It also helps that we have a one story house that makes it very easy to dump water.
When we last replaced our hot water heater (gas - big tank) - they installed it in a special pan with a detector. If water is detected in the pan then it cuts off water supply to the tank. Hopefully, eliminating a huge flood possibility.
All tank heaters located inside the house are required to have that pan here… Thankfully, ours is in the garage, so no $300-500 charge for that stuff. There has been a change in codes, so we did have to pay for some extras to retrofit.
I called (3) plumbers, basically interviewing them for when our HWH dies (it is about 20 years old and still going strong! – AOSmith). I thought tankless would be the way to go, but all 3 strongly suggested NOT considering a tankless, for the exact reasons @younghoss mentioned. I also thought (and vaguely remember reading online or CR), that the units with a higher warranty are actually made better. All 3 plumbers said that is not the case. The unit is the same, and you’re just paying extra for 'insurance". All 3 suggested we get the standard 6 year warranty, especially since our water is not very hard.
I’ve also been informed that any plumbing units purchased at a big box store (including faucets, toilets to HWHs) are not built to the same standards as those purchased through plumbers, including brand names (Delta, Kohler, etc.) I thought maybe that was just a line by plumbers, but it was reinforced by some local remodeling contractors as well.
Like Bunsen Burner, our homes are also required to have that overflow pan, which really irks me. Our HWH is in the basement, literally 2’ from the floor drain. If it leaks, any mess would be minimal.
Very true about HD/Lowe’s futures. Unless it is a specific, unique brand name model, for example, like a Toto toilet. Those are usually not kept in regular stock but must be ordered online.
Having just researched water heaters, the ones with longer warranties do indeed have other features. The heating elements are made of different materials (copper, stainless, etc), and they sometimes have varying settings or ease in changing heat settings, or ability to change settings over wifi. Whether this changes how long they last? No idea. I’m not sure there’s any difference at all in the construction of the tank itself. We live in an area with hard water and were told by several people that water heaters last 6-7 years max. We have a water softener, however. The heater we just replaced lasted 12 years and three weeks. It had a 12 year warranty. It also had a “lifetime” extended service contract which was was useless–it is invalid if there’s visible rust on the outside of the tank. :-\ The regular warranties don’t cover installation beyond one year and that can be hundreds of dollars or more. Some friends had one fail after a year and they were pretty upset to pay labor a second time even though the water heater was under warranty.
I’ve installed several “recirculating” pumps on hot water heaters. In our area they are big water savers, but do use more energy. The ones I use are a programmable box that attaches to the top of a new gas hot water heater. The only requirement is to hook up a wireless attachment onto pipes below furthest bath or kitchen sink. If you have several branches, I think you can attach another one to another sink pipe. Then you program it to circulate hot water to those points at certain times of day (probably when using bathroom in the morning)
@Parentof2014grad --what caused you to replace the 12 year old (and three week) water heater? My concern is flooding when the unit fails. My indirect water heater is 18 years and counting…so I am following this thread.
Re: tankless
I have researched these a couple of times and each time went with traditional. There are all the considerations mentioned above, but the killer for me, unless this has been addressed by now, is that tankless heaters and HE front load washers don’t play well together. The washer uses such a tiny bit of water that it does not trigger the water heater, or if it does, the water shuts off before the hot water arrives.
This may also apply to dishwashers. I know many dishwashers have internal water heaters but then that is an additonal energy cost to factor in.
I also looked at switching to natural gas as I have gas heat but with all the startup costs, I just went with electric again.
I did not wait for mine to leak. An element went out and I had it replaced, revealing incredible mineral buildup. I planned that the next time the element went out I would just replace the heater and I did.
Don’t you have to install it in line of the hot water pipe? Is it something one can do without a plumber?
When we lived in Europe when our kid was small, this was big pain. She loved playing in the water while taking bath. At home we would just turn it on and off. With tankless, one could never get decent temperature when you frequently turn on and off for small amount of water. That was 20 years ago. I am sure they have better tankless these days but I have no desire getting a tankless after that experience.
@CT1417 We walked out to the garage one morning and there was water all over the floor.It was a lot of water but we just swept it out of the garage. Nothing damaged. It leaked from the bottom. I’ve been told that they can rupture and spray water all over the place. Our last one also leaked when it failed, but just a trickle.
@Parentof2014grad — thanks. Mine is located in the unfinished side of the basement, but backs up to the finished section, so water could easily seep under the wall. A trickle I can handle or even a small flood, but not continuous gushing.
@alooknac Some HE washers have a built-in heater. HE washers only use a few gallons of water anyway, so unless it’s really close to heater chances are they’re getting a good percentage of cool water regardless of the water heater type. So folks who really care about getting really hot water for their laundry might want to look for a washer with a built-in heater.
Ah, here we go. “Built in heater” even comes up as a filtering option on Home Depot search results for washers.
You’re so lucky! My AOSmith sprung a leak after about 5-6 years. It was still under warranty, but labor cost me $500-$600 bucks for removal and replacement.
I had an indirect Buderus tank that was heated by the boiler. Unfortunately, when I installed this system I got one where the boiler sits on top of the water tank. Big mistake in retrospect- to remove/replace the tank would have required major plumbing work to the boiler and would have doubled the cost.
So I just got a freestanding indirect tank and had it connected. My boiler now has a fancy stand.
The old one failed, not with any problem with the tank, but the pipes that go in and out of the tank rotted out and there’s no way to fix it. I caught it at the slow leak stage, before a major disaster happened. I got 16 years out of it though.
Two pieces of advice:
Check with your local utility about rebates. Many models of indirect tanks in my state (MA) are eligible for a $400 rebate, I made sure to pick one of those.
Make sure the quote you get includes any extra piping/plumbing work necessary. My plumber charged me an extra $300 on top of what he quoted for the tank, because he had to run new pipes to/from the tank instead of just being able to drop it in. He knew about this, too… I was not happy.
Not sure about hot water heaters, but a lot of the things they sell at the big box stores are units made by the manufacturer to be sold there and they may not be the quality you get if you get them through a contractor (there are contractors who buy through the big box store consumer line, and charge you as if they did it with the higher end model, a pox on them). I did my furnace recently through home depot services, and they don’t use the units they sell on their website, the furnaces they had were high end models.
In terms of tankless hot water heaters, I have asked about them, in part because we have a large tub that can be hard to get enough hot water for. The contractor who did my furnace when I asked said because we have hard water we would likely need yearly service on it and wouldn’t recommend them (we don’t have a water softener,that is another story in itself), that even with service they won’t last.
I am lucky with my hot water heater, if it decides to leak it is literally right next to the well for the sub pump, so it will drain right into that and be pumped out (I use that when flushing the hot water heater, it is very convenient). The pan option is a good one, and you can get a water alarm for a couple of bucks that if water goes in the pan, it goes off, and they aren’t particularly expensive.
Both of our water heaters are in utility rooms with drains on the floor. My H who in his business goes through a lot of water heaters agrees that what you buy at Home Depot is not the same.
Unless you have a valve at the bottom of the heater, there is no way to flush it. Ours came with such option: we would fill a large bucket with hot water to wash the dog or the cars. Because sediment that damages the tank collects at the bottom, there is really no need to drain the entire heater. All you need to do is drain the bottom layer with whatever sediment there is (I could not see any, LOL).