Water Heaters...where to buy/what to buy

[redly]

We have a nice little puddle under out water heater. I can't say that it comes as a surprise, being that it is 14 yrs old and originally had a 6 yr warranty. Plus we have very hard water and a water softener adding corrosive agents to the mix.

Anyway, time for me to obsess over this new purchase. I have narrowed it down to a 50 Gallon Natural Gas Water Heater. I would like to find one with an Energy Factor of 0.62 or greater, but its not critical since the credit is only $50.

Any suggestions>?

 

[legoman666]

mine is leaking

duct tape

 

[redly]

I tried scotch tape, that didnt work.
They I drank a bottle of scotch, that didnt work

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Unless you are running a *huge* demand, then a tankless natural water heater from the likes of Bosch or another company is by far your best bet.

 

[KK]

Curious if you had ever changed out the anode rod on you tank.

 

[redly]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Unless you are running a *huge* demand, then a tankless natural water heater from the likes of Bosch or another company is by far your best bet.

I don't see the benefit.

costs twice as much ($450 more, give or take)
saves 20% per month (advertised)
my water heater costs $20/month on average to run
20% savings on $20 is $4
payback is 112.5 months (9+ yrs)
lifespan of tankless vs tank water heater is about the same (maybe less for tankless, based on warranty terms I have seen)

I would love to hear I am wrong, because I love the concept of endless hot water.
Not so in love with the lead time between turning on the faucet and getting hot water

 

[Rubycon]

oatmeal

 

[redly]

Originally posted by: KK
Curious if you had ever changed out the anode rod on you tank.

no, I have not. I just noticed the age of the tank and the puddle on the floor and figured it was time

 

[JC86]

another vote for a tankless water heater, saves energy and heating water on demand is pretty fast these days. I have one and don't really notice any difference in comparison to traditional water heaters.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: redly

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Unless you are running a *huge* demand, then a tankless natural water heater from the likes of Bosch or another company is by far your best bet.

I don't see the benefit.

costs twice as much ($450 more, give or take)
saves 20% per month (advertised)
my water heater costs $20/month on average to run
20% savings on $20 is $4
payback is 112.5 months (9+ yrs)
lifespan of tankless vs tank water heater is about the same (maybe less for tankless, based on warranty terms I have seen)

I would love to hear I am wrong, because I love the concept of endless hot water.
Not so in love with the lead time between turning on the faucet and getting hot water

For one thing. It varies in savings. For instance, unless you switch off the breaker before leaving everyday, your water heater is heating water the whole time your gone. While that's fine if you have someone there using water all day, it's no so great if the house is empty 8-9 hours a day.

Additionally, water heating is just about as rapid in tankless as it is in tank heaters.

 

[IGBT]

Originally posted by: JC86
another vote for a tankless water heater, saves energy and heating water on demand is pretty fast these days. I have one and don't really notice any difference in comparison to traditional water heaters.

..seems to be the way to go. although it's nice to have 30-50 gal of emergency water.

 

[akshatp]

Tankless FTW

 

[amdskip]

Hopefully tankless become a little more popular and get the price to come down.

 

[d33pt]

the only reason why i want tankless in my house is because i'm scared of a huge 50gal tank of water just hanging around waiting to burst when i'm away. heck even when i'm there, 50 gals of scalding water is no fun.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: d33pt
the only reason why i want tankless in my house is because i'm scared of a huge 50gal tank of water just hanging around waiting to burst when i'm away. heck even when i'm there, 50 gals of scalding water is no fun.

BLEVE's are very rare with home water heater tanks. Only when the homeowner has plugged the escape pipe on the TPR valve AND the thermostat fails this can happen. Scalding water is not just the worry if it happens - a 50 gal tank becomes a formidable missile that will give your butt the new look if you happen to sleep above it. :Q

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: redly

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Unless you are running a *huge* demand, then a tankless natural water heater from the likes of Bosch or another company is by far your best bet.

I don't see the benefit.

costs twice as much ($450 more, give or take)
saves 20% per month (advertised)
my water heater costs $20/month on average to run
20% savings on $20 is $4
payback is 112.5 months (9+ yrs)
lifespan of tankless vs tank water heater is about the same (maybe less for tankless, based on warranty terms I have seen)

I would love to hear I am wrong, because I love the concept of endless hot water.
Not so in love with the lead time between turning on the faucet and getting hot water

450 more, maybe for the unit itself if you get a cheap model. Installation would probably be double what the unit cost also, as you have to have special venting, you just use the old vent pipe your gas water heater uses. Also for the heating ability, look at the rise in temp charts. I was briefly looking at them awhile back, and was amazed how much the incoming water temp had an effect on there heating ability.

 

[indamixx99]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: d33pt
the only reason why i want tankless in my house is because i'm scared of a huge 50gal tank of water just hanging around waiting to burst when i'm away. heck even when i'm there, 50 gals of scalding water is no fun.

BLEVE's are very rare with home water heater tanks. Only when the homeowner has plugged the escape pipe on the TPR valve AND the thermostat fails this can happen. Scalding water is not just the worry if it happens - a 50 gal tank becomes a formidable missile that will give your butt the new look if you happen to sleep above it. :Q

Yup... haven't seen the mythbusters episode where they blew up a water heater? That thing shot up like 250ft!

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune

Originally posted by: redly

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Unless you are running a *huge* demand, then a tankless natural water heater from the likes of Bosch or another company is by far your best bet.

I don't see the benefit.

costs twice as much ($450 more, give or take)
saves 20% per month (advertised)
my water heater costs $20/month on average to run
20% savings on $20 is $4
payback is 112.5 months (9+ yrs)
lifespan of tankless vs tank water heater is about the same (maybe less for tankless, based on warranty terms I have seen)

I would love to hear I am wrong, because I love the concept of endless hot water.
Not so in love with the lead time between turning on the faucet and getting hot water

For one thing. It varies in savings. For instance, unless you switch off the breaker before leaving everyday, your water heater is heating water the whole time your gone. While that's fine if you have someone there using water all day, it's no so great if the house is empty 8-9 hours a day.

Additionally, water heating is just about as rapid in tankless as it is in tank heaters.

First of all, there isn't a breaker for a gas hot water heater. 2nd of all, you just explained why there's a 20% energy savings. As far as advertising an energy savings, I'm prone to believe that the people promoting 20% savings are the same people promoting the tankless heaters. i.e. 20% is probably at the high end of "it varies." What makes it vary is the temperature the tank is set at and how well insulated the tank is. If you want to improve the efficiency of your hot water tank, you can put an insulating blanket around it, and most importantly, insulate the first few feet of water line coming from (and entering) the hot water tank.

The real advantages of tankless water heaters are
a) endless supply of hot water
b) cuts down on the use of natural gas

Redly's analysis is probably correct - saving money isn't really a big advantage. (Personally, I don't have a tankless water heater. My hot water tank can usually outpace demand. If I'm the 4th person using the shower in my house, I have to use MORE cold water, because the hot water gets too hot!)

edit: I just checked a few sites, and those *really* promoting the tankless water heaters are throwing around numbers like 50% savings. <cough>bullshit</cough>
However, on one site, they did point out something important: with electric vs. electric, you save more money than gas vs gas. A neutral resource lists it at 24% to 34% if you use a smaller volume of hot water each day (41 gallons or less) As the volume increases, the savings decreases. So, your 9 year break-even point may actually be 6 years. Don't forget in your analysis, price of natural gas has been tending to increase.

 

[DrPizza]

For homes that use 41 gallons or less of hot water daily, demand water heaters can be 24%?34% more energy efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters. They can be 8%?14% more energy efficient for homes that use a lot of hot water?around 86 gallons per day.

eere

 

[potato28]

Uss lots of duct tape and some epoxy. Should work fine.

 

[agibby5]

Originally posted by: IGBT

Originally posted by: JC86
another vote for a tankless water heater, saves energy and heating water on demand is pretty fast these days. I have one and don't really notice any difference in comparison to traditional water heaters.

..seems to be the way to go. although it's nice to have 30-50 gal of emergency water.

Kinda like its nice to have 4 wheel drive and a big 8-cyl engine, but you only actually need those luxuries <10% of the time...

 

[mattocs]

Just had to replace mine. I got a cheap GE gas one. $300 at Home Depot. Cheapest gas one. Real easy to install. If you have electric and want to spend some money, get a tankless one. Unlimited hot water.

 

[lokiju]

Might be a good time to invest in a tankless water heater if you can swing the cost and will be there long enough for it to pay for itself.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: mattocs
Just had to replace mine. I got a cheap GE gas one. $300 at Home Depot. Cheapest gas one. Real easy to install. If you have electric and want to spend some money, get a tankless one. Unlimited hot water.

Home Depot, Lowes or equiv place and get a heater that is about the same size as what you have.

Efficiency will affect price.

At the same time, get all the attachments that you will need and tools up front.
Stuff you do not use can be returned; it is a pain to run to the store to get something halfway through the job.

Drain the old heater while at the store.
The new one can be handles by a single person, the old one will need to be rolled" to the trash area - all the sediment will increase the wieght considerably.

 

[agibby5]

Originally posted by: Common Courtesy
the old one will need to be rolled" to the trash area

I'm pretty sure you can get a chunk of change from a scrap yard, rather than contributing to the landfills...