Hot Water Heater Leaking

[AU_Tiger_2000]

If you replace your heater I highly recommend the Rinnai tankless.  Especially since you already have the gas line run in.  They are expensive (around $850) but you get a $300 tax credit.  We installed one in our house when we built it and it is great with the two kids since we never run out of hot water.  Also my parents switched from a tank to the Rinnai and their gas bill was 50% of what it had been (the only thing they use gas for at their house is the hot water heater).

[GarMan]

If you replace your heater I highly recommend the Rinnai tankless.  Especially since you already have the gas line run in.  They are expensive (around $850) but you get a $300 tax credit.  We installed one in our house when we built it and it is great with the two kids since we never run out of hot water.  Also my parents switched from a tank to the Rinnai and their gas bill was 50% of what it had been (the only thing they use gas for at their house is the hot water heater). 

I don't have the final recommendation, but I did a ton of research on this at the time.  I wanted to go with the tankless option as well, but the test reports, opinions and experiences of others convinced me to stick with a tank... for now.  Not meaning to turn this into a whole new discussion, the advertised benefits seemed to be offset with some of the real-world experiences.  Apparently, most models seemed to exhibit inconsistent temperature issues.  Energy savings also seemed to be less than $100 annually (a typical Friday night outing), and the system for my house would have cost around $2,000 to install.  There also seemed to be some unknowns related to life expectancy and periodic maintenance.  I decided to wait for the next go-round. 

[Townhallsavoy]

I don't have the final recommendation, but I did a ton of research on this at the time.  I wanted to go with the tankless option as well, but the test reports, opinions and experiences of others convinced me to stick with a tank... for now.  Not meaning to turn this into a whole new discussion, the advertised benefits seemed to be offset with some of the real-world experiences.  Apparently, most models seemed to exhibit inconsistent temperature issues.  Energy savings also seemed to be less than $100 annually (a typical Friday night outing), and the system for my house would have cost around $2,000 to install.  There also seemed to be some unknowns related to life expectancy and periodic maintenance.  I decided to wait for the next go-round.

I've been calling/talking/reading/emailing people about the tankless system for the past 45 minutes.

It seems like the tankless water heater has to be installed properly or your water temperature will be inconsistent.  I talked to Lowe's who said they will install it for around $200.  But do I trust Lowe's to do it?  I don't know. 

I think I'll hold out to see what kind of piece of shit AHS will provide.  It's completely rusted on the bottom and has visible cracks in the pipe.  This bitch is about to blow.  It has to be replaced with something.

[Saniflush]

I don't have the final recommendation, but I did a ton of research on this at the time.  I wanted to go with the tankless option as well, but the test reports, opinions and experiences of others convinced me to stick with a tank... for now.  Not meaning to turn this into a whole new discussion, the advertised benefits seemed to be offset with some of the real-world experiences.  Apparently, most models seemed to exhibit inconsistent temperature issues.  Energy savings also seemed to be less than $100 annually (a typical Friday night outing), and the system for my house would have cost around $2,000 to install.  There also seemed to be some unknowns related to life expectancy and periodic maintenance.  I decided to wait for the next go-round.

I've seen your Friday nights.  $100 won't cover it.

[Snaggletiger]

I had the Rinnai installed when I built my house about 4 years ago.  I'm still about 50/40 on whether I'd go with one again.  For showers.....fantastic.  You can stay in there all day if you want and the water temp stays consistent.  You can rub one out, bathe and then rub another one out if you so desire.  Biggest drawback is you waste a ton of water waiting on it to heat up if your using a fawcet far away from the system. Ours is installed on one side of the home right outside the master bath.  No problems whatsoever in that room.  Water heats up in a few seconds.  However, if you're in the kitchen on the opposite side of the house, you might have to run the water for a minute or more to get it heated up.

[Townhallsavoy]

I had the Rinnai installed when I built my house about 4 years ago.  I'm still about 50/40 on whether I'd go with one again.  For showers.....fantastic.  You can stay in there all day if you want and the water temp stays consistent.  You can rub one out, bathe and then rub another one out if you so desire.  Biggest drawback is you waste a ton of water waiting on it to heat up if your using a fawcet far away from the system. Ours is installed on one side of the home right outside the master bath.  No problems whatsoever in that room.  Water heats up in a few seconds.  However, if you're in the kitchen on the opposite side of the house, you might have to run the water for a minute or more to get it heated up.

My tank heater does this anyway.  Our showers heat up quickly, but faucets take about 45 seconds.

[GarMan]

American Home Shield is a home warranty company.  $40 a month and a $60 deductible.   

They're a pain in the ass to use, but it does save money.  For example, last summer our air conditioner went out.  It took three appointments to finally get the company they hired to admit I needed a new unit, but all I paid was $60 and received a brand new air conditioner. 

I'm sure this will be a pain in the ass too to get fixed/replaced, but in the end, this service will only cost $60 instead of $500+.

So running the numbers... 
- I've been in my house for at least 16 years...
- In that time, I've had to replace a dishwasher, a washing machine and a water heater. 
- Under a plan like this, I would have paid $7,680 in monthly fees at $40 each and $180 in service calls at $60 each. 
- Without the plan, I would have spent $300 for a comparable washing machine, $300 for a comparable dishwasher and $800 for a water heater.  Of course, I spent a bit more than that, because I had to get a matching dryer with the washer and upgrades to the latest fancy models with bells, whistles and computers were absolutely necessary.  You probably don't have that option under your plan. 

To be fair, I've also had about three HVAC issues in the last 5 years at about $100 per visit.  I've also had a roof replaced, but would that have been covered under your warranty? 

Coming up in the next couple of years...  I'll need to replace both HVAC systems.  Thanks to the Dumbo-crats and the Global Whining movement, I can no longer repair my systems.  I'll have to completely replace them.  They don't call this a tax, but it's still going to cost me an ass-load of money to satisfy the worthless feelings of skat-for-brains politicians. 

[GarMan]

I've seen your Friday nights.  $100 won't cover it.

True...  My Tuesday nights... 

[Saniflush]

True...  My Tuesday nights...

If you go home by 10.  maybe.

[GarMan]

I've been calling/talking/reading/emailing people about the tankless system for the past 45 minutes.

It seems like the tankless water heater has to be installed properly or your water temperature will be inconsistent.  I talked to Lowe's who said they will install it for around $200.  But do I trust Lowe's to do it?  I don't know. 

Yeah...  Lowe's has a magical tool that enables them to install these devices properly and prevent inconsistent water temperatures.  I believe that Halliburton designed and manufactured this device around the same time that they built Bush/Cheney's Evil Weather Machine.  I understand that the technician is required to chant during the installation process in order for it to work properly. 

I think I'll hold out to see what kind of piece of poop AHS will provide.  It's completely rusted on the bottom and has visible cracks in the pipe.  This bitch is about to blow.  It has to be replaced with something.

I agree...

[Townhallsavoy]

So running the numbers... 
- I've been in my house for at least 16 years...
- In that time, I've had to replace a dishwasher, a washing machine and a water heater. 
- Under a plan like this, I would have paid $7,680 in monthly fees at $40 each and $180 in service calls at $60 each. 
- Without the plan, I would have spent $300 for a comparable washing machine, $300 for a comparable dishwasher and $800 for a water heater.  Of course, I spent a bit more than that, because I had to get a matching dryer with the washer and upgrades to the latest fancy models with bells, whistles and computers were absolutely necessary.  You probably don't have that option under your plan. 

To be fair, I've also had about three HVAC issues in the last 5 years at about $100 per visit.  I've also had a roof replaced, but would that have been covered under your warranty? 

Coming up in the next couple of years...  I'll need to replace both HVAC systems.  Thanks to the Dumbo-crats and the Global Whining movement, I can no longer repair my systems.  I'll have to completely replace them.  They don't call this a tax, but it's still going to cost me an ass-load of money to satisfy the worthless feelings of skat-for-brains politicians.

We had the first year free provided by the seller.  This is the only year we've paid for it.  We already got a new air conditioner.  Hopefully we'll get a new water heater, and I plan on calling about our upstairs AC unit in June. 

Then I'll cancel AHS. 

[CCTAU]

Having recently priced them, I didn't find any gas water heaters in the $250 range.  The 40 gallon models seem to start in the $400-450 range and go up from there.  Everything is automatic on my new one, and yes...  They had to upgrade some items to meet the new gubm'et codes, probably resulting in the added expense.  Like I said, plan on spending between $800-1000. 

I don't think the HW pump can be easily installed in an existing home.  You need to run parallel plumbing for all of the hot water feeds in the house to make that work properly.

They have a system now for around $200 at Home Depot. You add a valve under the farthest sink from the wh. You can set it to run at peak times or leave it running. The only thing needed is a power supply (115v). I put it in my house about 4 years ago. The kids love me now. They used to turn on the hot water and let it run for about 2 minutes to get hot water to their bathroom. Now only about 10 20 seconds.

The valve allows the system to use the cold water lines to push water back to the wh. The only drawback is that your cold water will now usually be luke-warm all of the time. We have not found this to be a problem.

The hardest part of changing out the wh is getting the old one out. The part that scares people is sweating the lines. (soldering) It really is a simple process that anyone can do. You just have to be patient.

And now in most cases, you do not have to sweat the lines any longer. They have these things called shark-bites that will join two copper tubes together just by pushing them together. So as long as you have enough room above your wh to push the copper pipes up about an inch, you can use the shark bites.

Oh. And I am not sure the power company will give you one unless you are all power. I think if you still use gas for anything, they will only discount. But it is worth looking into.

[GarMan]

If you go home by 10.  maybe. 

And, don't make any Peachtree, Cheshire Bridge or Fulton Industrial runs... 

[Token]

I switched to an electric tank last year when I started the massive remodeling job on house. Right now, it's about $50 less a month. I was worried about running hot water out with 2 kids, but we've never had a problem. If your tank is close to your breaker box, it wouldn't be hard at all to switch. If it's not close you are looking at having to run electricity to it. Probably still wouldn't be costly.

 The one thing I will give gas over electric. You lose power?  Cold shower. Tornado fucks up power in the spring/summer, cold showers not bad. Snow storm kills power in mid January?  Those showers are a bitch.

[GarMan]

I switched to an electric tank last year when I started the massive remodeling job on house. Right now, it's about $50 less a month. I was worried about running hot water out with 2 kids, but we've never had a problem. If your tank is close to your breaker box, it wouldn't be hard at all to switch. If it's not close you are looking at having to run electricity to it. Probably still wouldn't be costly. 

This might be true right now, but proceed cautiously.  The impacts of politics, regulations and foreign affairs on energy prices is significant. 

[AU_Tiger_2000]

I don't have the final recommendation, but I did a ton of research on this at the time.  I wanted to go with the tankless option as well, but the test reports, opinions and experiences of others convinced me to stick with a tank... for now.  Not meaning to turn this into a whole new discussion, the advertised benefits seemed to be offset with some of the real-world experiences.  Apparently, most models seemed to exhibit inconsistent temperature issues.  Energy savings also seemed to be less than $100 annually (a typical Friday night outing), and the system for my house would have cost around $2,000 to install.  There also seemed to be some unknowns related to life expectancy and periodic maintenance.  I decided to wait for the next go-round.

We've really liked ours, so have my parents.  We had our plumbing sub install ours, my dad installed his own.  The majority of the problems I have heard have been with the electric models or people who have really hard water.

[Godfather]

Do not...I repeat do not ...get a tankless water heater. 

If you need a reason why... I built custom homes and remodels for 8 years as a project manger, trust me go with a tank heater (gas or electric)

[Snaggletiger]

Do not...I repeat do not ...get a tankless water heater. 

If you need a reason why... I built custom homes and remodels for 8 years as a project manger, trust me go with a tank heater (gas or electric)

Just cause' you're a shitty contractor, don't take it out on us tankless guys.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

Just cause' you're a poopty contractor, don't take it out on us tankless guys.

Spreading the word about energy efficient water heating systems is a tankless job.