There be hot water.

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97) 01/08/2018 at 14:28 • Filed to: Houselopnik

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After Lowe’s and Home Despot quoted me around $400 just to install a new tank and thinking (in my best Clarkson voice) “how hard could it be”, it turns out the answer is not very. A friend came down and helped me lift the new tank into the closet, and the rest of the installation was plug and play.

Were we staying in the house, I probably would’ve upgraded to a 50 gallon and gone with a 12 year warranty tank for around $600. Because the house is being listed on the market this week, $450 for a similar 40 gallon and a 6 year warranty will be good enough. For the next owner of the house, it will be an upgrade over the el cheapo 3-year warranty tank the house was built with in 2012.

Now just have to find out what one does with an old hot water heater. I suppose for the next few hours it will be a monument to crappy hot water heaters in the driveway while I find out.

Hi! My Name Is Rossssssss > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:31

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that overflow setup cannot be to code, can it? in MN they require a straight pipe down that ends no less than 6 inches from the floor. And definatly not PVC fittings

Party-vi > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:32

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Good job. Water heaters aren’t the devil, but some installations make it very tricky. If my water heater ever goes I’ll have to demolish the mech room and bathroom wall to get it out.

My bird IS the word > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:33

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This used to be a bit more of a pain in the ass. I have helped my dad replace standard hot water heaters. Anymore they use hoses with easily disconnected fittings for everything.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:36

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Great Job! I hope I never have to do it in my current home. Ours is in the attic.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/08/2018 at 14:37

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That would be bad news.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:39

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I have an idea...

user314 > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:40

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Not that it helps you much, but my municipality will pick up heaters with the regular trash. 

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:41

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I installed that exact same water heater in my house this past summer. Was not very hard at all. If you have any metal recycling plants near you I think I got like $20 for my old water heater.

Urambo Tauro > Party-vi 01/08/2018 at 14:49

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“Hey, this looks like a good spot for a wall.”

You mean access panel?

“Pfff, that’s the next guy’s problem.”

Thomas Donohue > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2018 at 14:51

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Some tanks have an extra anode for longer life, but many are the same exact internals and just charge more to extend the warranty within the same model range (i.e, 6 yr vs 10 yr warranty). Haven’t been in the biz for a while, but AO Smith did that....not sure on Rheem vs others.

Party-vi > Urambo Tauro 01/08/2018 at 14:55

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|[]()|

^ artist representation of a wall, a furnace, a water heater, and another wall.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/08/2018 at 14:56

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My brother’s home when he lived in Memphis had a water heater in the attic. He would up having to replace it, and a wall and portion of ceiling when it decided it wanted to do an impression of a koi pond fountain.

PartyPooper2012 > Party-vi 01/08/2018 at 15:03

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Once you get it out, however, get a tankless. Never worry again.

TheRealBicycleBuck > PotbellyJoe and 42 others 01/08/2018 at 15:04

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It’s what I consider a design flaw in our house, but it’s a standard feature here in Louisiana. The water lines are also exposed in the attic. As long as there’s enough heat leakage through the insulation, it’s not a problem. But if the power goes out during a long freeze, those lines are probably doomed to failure. They say PEX lines are burst-proof, but the fittings might not be freeze-resistant. I still think it would have been better if they ran the lines under  the insulation.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/08/2018 at 15:14

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I like PEX. Color-coding is a sweet upside. It kills me that it makes all of the effort I put in to learning to sweat pipes is effectively replaced by clamps, but it’s faster, cleaner and they tend to be pretty damn durable.

TheRealBicycleBuck > PotbellyJoe and 42 others 01/08/2018 at 15:18

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Color-coded!?! All of ours are semi-transparent . Clearly, the contractor wanted to save a little more money by sticking with only one “color.”

Party-vi > PartyPooper2012 01/08/2018 at 15:19

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Heckin’ nope. I am a Luddite and will continue with my installation of what appear to be rocket fuselage parts.

Urambo Tauro > Party-vi 01/08/2018 at 15:22

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|[]()|

_

PartyPooper2012 > Party-vi 01/08/2018 at 15:22

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mmmmkay.

TorqueToYield > user314 01/08/2018 at 15:26

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Mine will as well you just need to pay for some fancy orange stickers and leave it by the curb.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/08/2018 at 15:27

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Yeah, there’s no codes requiring it (shit plumbing has no national codes at all,so...), but you can get PEX in red, blue and that white-ish color you mentioned. easy to keep track of hot and cold water lines that way.

I mean how satisfying is this?

user314 > Party-vi 01/08/2018 at 15:29

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“Appear to be”

user314 > Hi! My Name Is Rossssssss 01/08/2018 at 15:33

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IIRC it is, because the tank isn’t in the basement, so it has to drain to an outside wall.

TheRealBicycleBuck > PotbellyJoe and 42 others 01/08/2018 at 15:47

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Very. Now I’m thinking about re-doing all the plumbing in my house. We were talking about converting the attic into liveable space and that would require me to re-route all of the plumbing through the joists anyway....

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Hi! My Name Is Rossssssss 01/08/2018 at 16:37

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It is. Here the set up you describe would require the garage or water heater closet to have a floor drain. Otherwise it must drain to the exterior of the house. There are no basements in this part of the country. CPVC is suitable for T/P valve discharge piping per code.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > user314 01/08/2018 at 16:39

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There are virtually no basements in this part of the country. It must either drain exterior to the house (as mine does), or the garage or hot water heater closet must have a floor drain.

smobgirl > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/08/2018 at 19:39

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The main water line to my house has frozen in the crawl space more than once. It’s PEX. Nothing burst (yet)...though I’m doing my best to prevent a future occurrence.

TheRealBicycleBuck > smobgirl 01/08/2018 at 23:45

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Look for some heat tape. It’s an electrified ribbon of plastic that provides heat to a pipe like a warm electric blanket. We had pvc pipes at my mom’s house and learned the value of heat tape the hard way.