Well, water heater's bottom (near pilot light) is getting rusted out, inner "door" is like a quarter eaten away (is no longer rectangular), is 15 years old.
(Was looking in home-repair book, described how water heater works (fairly obvious!), except learned about something called the "sacrificial anode" -- so I guess that's gone, no hope for the water heater to last. Also, drip drip drip.
So, what's out there? Anything decent available these days?
Thanks!
David
They're all pretty much the same (probably made by the same handful of companies) unless you go to something real high end with a stainless steel tank or similar.
Just look for something with a long warranty and/or multiple anodes. Also I don't know if they still have them or not but I prefer a tank with a standing pilot - that way if the power goes off you can still have a hot shower.
Finally I recommend before you even fill the new tank to replace the drain valve with something a little more robust - I used a dielectric nipple, a 3/4" ball valve, a 3/4" MPT to male garden hose adapter, and a brass garden hose cap to make one for mine. Something like this:
Which reminds me, it's about time for the annual water heater flush...
nate
Nate:
Replaced my HW Tank last spring. As someone already posted, they all look the same, just the name on the tank is different. Lowes sells a brand named Whirlpool, Whirlpool don't make HW tanks, Lowes just uses the brand name for sales reasons. Warranties seemed about the same also.
BTW: cheaper price, higher install costs; the end total cost appeared to me just a few dollars difference. The big savings comes with DIY installs as then you just deal with the costs of the tank; I, however, won't mess with Nat-Gas so I got hit hard with install costs.
Hopefully you won't have to go thru what I did. In my municipality, any HW tank install requires a city building permit (about $70.00 fee for inspection) plus the cost of the install is bumped up by about $200.00, if needed, for installing a smaller diameter metal flue, and re-working the chimney connection. The city inspector focused on the rise of the metal flue, the mortar (some new pre-mixed stuff in a plastic tub) around the metal flue and the bricks of the chimney.
I also got a lecture (free of charge) by the city inspector encouraging me to install a carbon alarm in the basement area with furnace, HW tank, and gas-dryer.
Aside: I found out a bit later, if replacing a gas furnace, that also requires a building permit. The city requires a new chimney liner modification to reduce the diameter of the chimney. Something about major effort by city and county to reduce the back-drafting of flue gases during very cold weather (below 0 degree F.)
Whats out there, units sold range in efficency from 55-95%, go to
gyster.gov=EF=BF=BDand learn. If you want to save energy you must
tankless are a bad idea for most people, they have so many trade offs and by the time you pay for the install its a loser.
You already have gas so a gas tankless demand water heater is where I would go. If you have to wait a long time for hot water (second floor from the basement) then get point of use tankless heaters. They do save lots of money especially if you don't have teenagers.
ergyster.govand learn. If you want to save energy you must
Talkin stupid again, mine is 8 yrs old, it paid for itself in 4, to bad you couldnt afford one or even a new condensing unit on your recent replacement. So you still have an inefficent new junk unit.
They certainly don't make 'em like they used to. I just replaced a THIRTY year old Amana here about a month ago, with a GE 6-year warranty unit from Home Depot. It was nowhere near rusting out that I could tell, and made great hot water... AFTER you got done taking your cold shower... It didn't keep the water hot, and didn't kick on until the water was almost completely cold.
I've had many people tell me that the only difference between the 6 year tank and the 12 year tank is the price. Quality of build is the same. You're paying for the warranty.
Warranties have lots of fine print, and a process to go through that takes time. By the time all is said and done, you've been without hot water for days or weeks, and you only get "prorated" value of the tank, if you get anything at all.
I suspect that the main diff between a 6yr and 12yr tank is that the
6yr probably only has one anode while the 12yr may have two. thus the 12yr is probably a better buy assuming the price is within $50. If the cost is a deal killer if you simply inspect the anode every year or two and replace it when necessary a 6yr tank can last a long time.nate
high initial install costs, needing LARGE gas supply line, possibly a upgraded flue, typical gas hot water tanks about 40K BTU tankless to supply a comparable sized family over 100,000 BTUs. delay when turning on hot water till burner gets going, waste of water and sewer... tricle uses oif water may result in cold water, theres a minimum flow to activate burner. current tankless with no pilot are as or more complex as a 96% efficent furnace requiring perodic pro service and possible flushing of sediment from heat exchanger. many tankless require line voltage to operate. power failure means noi hot water at all.
the federal government cost comparison website says tankless save little money because of high upfront costs.
towww.energyster.govand learn. If you want to save energy you must
Stupid? No. Whats stupid ransley is YOU for making statements like this:
All that, PLUS you can't get 140 degree water out of them in the winter. (if ever)
s
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