I had a new hot water heater installed, and shortly after that, it would discharge water. The plumber who installed it, said that the pressure was too high likely in the house. He looked at the pressure reducer value which he said was old and broken. So he replaced it. He also claimed this would stop the water spike we got in the house. I'm defining a water spike, that at random times during the day or night, when you turn on any facet water will blast out for about 10 seconds and then return to a normal flow. I have not been able to see a pattern for this. I have seen it do this within minutes after using the shower and then getting a drink a water from the kitchen sink.
The plumber, who by the way has a master plumber's licenses was surprised that we still had the water spike problem. Assuming that the new unit might be defective, he replaced it with one that was assemble in the US instead of China, thinking that perhaps the charge in product might have caused the problem.
This didn't solved the problem, still several times a day, without warning water comes blasting out. The plumber said he didn't know what to do, since he didn't think it was likely that both of these pressure reducer valves were defective. I asked if perhaps the ones he was installing simply were robust enough to handle the high pressure and he said that this is a very normal device he has been installing in my area for many years and never had a problem.
This led us to talk with the local water company. Maybe the pressure coming in from the street was so great that this device couldn't handle it when it would spike. After many phone calls I finally got the water company to return my call and be interested in the problem. The last call, I gave him the phone number of my plumber since he was most familiar and understood the system. After all, I'm just a home owner and don't know much about this stuff. I got a phone call back from the water company and said he talked with my plumber and after discussing the problem the plumber agreed with the water company that we should install an expansion tank over the hot water heater. I explained that the water spikes come from the hot water and the cold water as well. How is an expansion tank over the hot water heater going to solve the cold water spikes too I guess, and he said he didn't know. He said the plumber will be contacting me.
I talked to the plumber and he said that about in 25% of the homes that they install new hot water heaters, they need expansion tanks, and that this affects the hot and cold water as well. While I am waiting for a quote to have this expansion tank installed, I thought I would post and ask if others have had this experience or could shed some light on it. Does an expansion tank sound like the solution?