Replacement home water heater

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Even a tank gas water heater can recover quickly. Its only an electric tank water heater that is slow.

My water heater is a tank with some copper coils and its plumbed as a zone off my oil boiler. Never run out of how water. I think they last forever.


Well they last the life of the boiler which could be anywhere from 40-60 years or more. It's a tankless loop. You can add a hot water storage tank if the tankless doesn't deliver enough hot water. Only issue with it is that it still runs even in the summer.

Normally you need a larger tank for electric vs gas. I forget the ratio but you see 50-80 gallon electric tanks where the gas one would be 40-50 gallons. Plus in this area, electric costs a lot more per btu than gas so gas is the way to go.

 

[PeterPolyol]

I love the old school gas fired tanks. No fan assist, no electronic control/ignition, nothing just a mechanical Unitrol. Around here, you've had to fight to keep it with all the door-to-door water heater scammers soliciting homeowners to buy a new tank each year. Call me a luddite, but this luddite was having hot showers during the week-long ice storm power outage a few years back!

Also a notice to our tankless friends, de-scale regularly!

 

[WhyMe]

installed a paloma about 10 years ago. Still working just fine. installed it myself. Was not too hard. my old water heater was gas already so i just used the piping that was going to it. a little pipe soldering and it was good. it cost me about 1200 back then . i recouped the space there the old water heater was for my 80 gallon compressor.

if you are handy and have a good assortment of tool its not too hard to install. most of the new houses in my area are getting tankless as standard equipment these days

 

[alarmguy]

I grew up with tankless heaters in our community and that was in the 1960s as a child and it was a big deal when you upgraded to a heater with an actual tank! *L*
The only thing new about tankless is the marketing and larger profits.

Over time, slime and scale can build up in a tankless and the coil will need to be cleaned depending on the water in your area. This slim and scale can reduce the amount of getting the proper amount of hot water. Yes much of these concerns have been improved on but not entirely eliminated.
Also with tankless, its VERY important the proper size unit is selected or you will end up with cool showers if to many people using hot water at one time.

We just replaced our 11 year old gas 50 gallon tank hot water heater with the same, I just dont see why, since we have the room that I should select a tankless with possibly less available hot water and more profits for the installer.

 

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: JMJNet
Most of the old tank water heater's drain valve needs replacing with a good size valve.
The plastic valve is very restrictive.

I drained my 24 years water heater this past summer.
I had to drain from the plastic valve for about half a day to drain before I can change it with a nice size brass valve.
After the brass valve was installed, I can flush and drain all the cruds in there.
I changed the anode rod a couple of years ago.

This summer I will drain it again to clean all the cruds.

Check youtube, there are a lot of instruction to change the valve and drain/flush the water heater so it will last longer.
My brother got a new boiler and instant water heater a couple years ago. His old tank water heater was only about 5 years old so I took it home. It was filled with rusty scale about a foot deep in the tank. The plastic drain valve only has a 1/4" opening for the water to drain. I took it out and it still took many flushes to clean out the tank. I ended up giving it away.

I have a tank style I installed in the early 90's. The original water heater was in the house when I bought it 20+ years before that. The new water heater I took the anode rod out as it was causing a sulfur smell. Soft water is the key for me as I have hard well water.

The water heater is out in an attached garage with the water softener next to it. With the temps so cold (-20F) the last couple of days I use the water heat from the water heater t keep the softer and pipes from freezing.

The best thing you can do to a tank heater (unless you are using the waste heat) other than soft water is to wrap it with some reflective bubble wrap. Very effective insulation and a great upgrade.

 

[JTK]

I could not be bothered with the complexities associated with a tankless WH, unless I had an issue with space, aesthetics, packaging, etc.

The one thing I would recommend when installing a new tank WH is, yank the POS plastic drain valve and replace it with a 3/4" ball valve with a garden hose adapter. You'll be able to flush anything out of it with the flow this will offer. Anything else is a tiny orificed needle valve that won't do anything but hopefully drain the tank the day you need to replace the heater. If you try to use these valves, they will leak. Sometimes they leak on their own with never being touched. I've experienced both!

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: RedOakRanch
Most take a larger hard line gas supply and exhaust. That is usually the big hold up when switching.


Yes, this! I'd make them practically mandatory in new construction, but for retrofits, it's often impossible.