Water heater

[Steve Barker]

he was probably suggesting that an electric one probably does not lose it's heat up the flue. He is correct.

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Malcom "Mal" Reynolds" wrote

No, but without a flue, they are not lost up the flue. Either statement can be true or false depending on the location of the heater, if the heat is actually used, if there is an AC" and if it is affected.

[Ed Pawlowski]

wrote

That is of questionable value too. If the pilot is keeping the water hot, little is wasted.

[clare]

Only in that no standby losses would go up the stack with electric.- and there is no "pilot" standby loss with electric OR electronic ignition gas units. (which mine is NOT.)

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

I seriously doubt that the pilot light contributes very much in the winter or costs much in the summer compared to the standby losses of the tank as a whole

[clare]

But if the insulation is good, there COULD be a few dollars in savings over the life of the heater. Again, not likely worth the extra cost - which is why I chose to go the way I did. I'd have saved more by buying from the distributor across town instead of from Home Despot - but the convenience of having HD so close to home outweighed the potential savings, given my time constaints etc.

[Robert Neville]

They don't contribute to any loss - the heat from the pilot heats the water in the tank.

[Nate Nagel]

Also, standing pilot is nice when the power goes out; you can still take a hot shower.

nate

[bob haller]

and water heater standing pilots have tiny flames using very little gas, till heat is called for, believe its called 2 stage ignition, and whats burned by the pilot helps keep the water warm..... new tanks insulation is much better than older ones too.

take note tankless manufacturers claim very long life, but their warranties are actually shorter than many tank type heaters.

when a tankless fails you have zero hot water. and a soophiscated device probably requiring pro service and perodic flushing to remove sediment.

I dont mind investing 30 bucks a year in a 12 year tank type heater knowing i will likely never have to do a thing to it besides replace it at end of life........

well i probably should wash dust off the outer case perodically.........

[clare]

I replaced the pilot thermocouple at least one - I think twice, in 18 years. That is definitely minimal maintenance. My wife likely dusted the top a few times.

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

which according to the poster I was responding to contributes to heating the house in the winter and as I said must therefore contribute to heating the house in the summer...which must be a loss (AC)

[Nate Nagel]

My last water heater I replaced the anode - just about when it should have been. also replaced the T/P valve when it failed (d'oh!) and the drain valve which I had to cap off to get it to fill without leaking. Of course, it was something like 20 years old when SW(useta)MBO had it replaced to make the house more saleable, and IMHO it was a waste of money :P

I (heart) gas water heaters, because I (heart) long scalding hot showers. I also tend to only be home briefly, so "oh, you can't take a hot shower, I just ran the (dishwasher, washing machine, whatever)" is unacceptable to me - but not a problem w/ a properly sized gas tank.

I really miss that house, now, actually :/ It was finally getting to the point where most of the stuff just... worked.

nate

[krw]

When we were kids, my brother kept his tropical fish alive, during an extended power outage, that way. He surrounded the tanks with bottles he kept filled with hot water.

[croy]

Before installing a tankless (instantaneous), take a look at the unit's circuit diagram. If that doesn't scare you off, then you don't scare easily!

[Robert Neville]

Be careful of making assumptions based on where you live. It's quite common in moderate temp climates to have the hot water heater located outside the heating envelope of the house - i.e. in the garage.

[bob haller]

and anywhere that freezes the plumbing including water heater must be indoors.

[Robert Neville]

Not true in every location... Last winter we hit 30F below zero and our fully code compliant water heater is located in a non-heated garage. It was an unusually cold winter last year, but every winter it can and frequently does get close to zero at night. The heater is obviously insulated, as are the input and output water lines.

[trader4]

com

Yes it does. With a conventional tank gas water heater, most of the standby losses go up the flue. With an electric, there is no flue path up the middle of the tank where heat gets lost. There are also the direct vent type which use an inducer blower like high efficiency furnaces. Those would have very little standby loss up the vent path as well, more like electric ones.

However, the standby losses are not huge. I have a conventional gas water heater and the TOTAL cost to run it is maybe $15 a month. That includes all the water actually used, as well as standby loss. One of these days, if I remember, I'm going to log the gas meter before going away for a week and get an actual number.

Also, one of the more crazy things that always pops up here is the above claim that standby losses don't matter because they heat the house in winter. Even if all the standby losses did exit via the tank into the surroundings there are two major problems with that claim. One has already been pointed out, which is that if it helps in the winter, then it's a disadvantage in the summer, at least for those of us with AC. And second is that most water heaters are not in the living space itself. Hard to believe heat escaping my water heater in the unfinished basement is going to do much good heating the house.

[willshak]

Oh, shit. I have to move my water well, septic system, and dry well inside the house.

[clare]

or as in Africa - OUTSIDE.