Hot water heater question

[Farm Gal]

:lol: :lol: Joanne:

And don't you LOVE the floorspace your recover?

FYI for those living in colder climes who are considering the installation of these units:

1. You need to make sure you do NOT have balanced valves in any of your showers

2. Place the unit as close to the bathing area as possible.

3 If you live in really cold country you may need a small water heater/preheater to fucntion really well: our installation now has a small electic tank to prewarm and cut down on waste water useage :roll: .

Live an learn!~

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Our only problem has been summer time since we are on a private community water system. During the summer everyone is watering their yards and running their evaporative cooling systems, which reduces our water pressure. The faucets adjacent to the heater work very well, but the faucets further away don't have enough pressure in the summer to send a message to the heater to turn on. So when I am warshing dishes in the sink 50' away, I just go turn on the bath sink faucet until the pilot clicks on, the water is already running in the kitchen, then shut the bath sink off and I can have hot water for hours. Have the clothes washer, dish washer, kitchen sink faucet, bath sink faucets, both showers and everything running at once, all have as much hot water as anyone wants. And I would never go back to a standard hot water heater tank! I was able to get rid of a 5' x 8' room that held the furnace and the hot water tank and add that space to my dining room. The new heating system is a gas pack that provides both heating and refrigerated cooling and hangs from the gable of the roof. As well as a Master cool/Aero Cool unit directly below it using the same ducts for when the summer is still dry. When the monsoons arrive about late July or early August we will have to use the refrigerated air conditioning, which means I have to shut doors and windows and I don't like that. An evaporative cooler costs about half of a refrigeration unit to operate; with upducts, solar screens, cellular blinds, it is very efficient when the humidity is low (also my 8" thick adobe walls help everything).

 

[bradellis]

Larry,

Oh, the term "how water heater" is quite common in IL and CA, too. One is not wrong by using it- it simply rankles me a bit (would never call someone on the carpet for it and cannot prove what is right or wrong here). I just use the term water heater- everyone knows what it is, and there ARE some out there who get very upset, believe it or not. How do you think I first got into this? Right. Some egghead wrote me up on it. Actually asked me to explain why I had to heat watrer that is already hot!

Imagine my chagrin! Imagine also, if you can, what I did. I'll just tell you that you do NOT want to get ME PO'd by something like this. But, I had to admit, in the end, that the egghead had a point!

Larry, "hot water boiler"? Actually never heard that one before. In Chicago, they are simply boilers. I guess this is like "units", "duplex" "2 flat"- depends upon where you are.

Whatever floats your boat.

On those hot water on demand systems, they can really be great. Lots of advantages- so long as you take care to ensure they have proper delivery rates for the task at hand. Those under sink thingees may be adequate for washing your hands, but not always for taking a shower. I've used them in rehabs. In one case, the utility room got enough room to turn it into a pantry.

Have fun, all...

Brad Ellis, IFA,RAA

 

[David S. Roberson]

Jo Ann;

I saw one of those water heaters at a trade show about fifteen years ago, but have yet to see one installed. I think they called it an "on-demand water heater". What brand is it? Would you recommend it? I like the idea of space saving Lee Ann refers to, and the constant supply of hot water. Any maintenance problems? How long have you had it?

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

It is manufactured by AquaStar or Controlled Energy Corp, their web site is www.cechot.com and located in Vermont. Their term is "Automatic Instantaneous Type Water Heater". They can be for either natural gas or propane and I am sure they make electrical ones. Back in November, 1995 James Dully had an article about them, he called them whole house tankless water heaters. Or there are mini point of use units. I had appraised several homes through the years with this type and owners raved about them. So when we remodeled our house 3 years ago, I decided to go with the tankless to give us more space in the dining room. Purchased at Home Depot, so they are probably also at Lowes and other similar home warehouse stores. Most plumbers in my area are not familiar with them. My plumber had never installed one before, but the company provides an 800 phone number for technical service to installers, so he just made lots of phone calls. It is very senistive to pressure and distance from the faucets, but I have been so impressed with it, I think they should be standard in all homes. The savings in energy costs and could last a lifetime (per James Dulley) offset the initial costs, which are slightly higher than a good quality standard tank. Only individual parts would ever need to be replaced since there is no storage tank. So yes, I definitely would recommend one!!! Oh yes, just noticed on the back of the book, water pressure has to be between 30-50 psi for homes with a private well system. The unit is 9" out from the wall, 18" wide and 30" high (looks like a suitcase hanging on the wall). And it can't be in an unvented closet, needs lot of air.

 

[Farm Gal]

Units readily available at Lowe's Home Depot and many other national hardware stores...

:lol: :lol:
Speaking as one who ATTEMPTED to install one of these the night before Thankgiving two years ago....

Gas units venting is an issue, you do need double wall 5" all the way out to permit adequate exhaust, they do need adequate air intake.... Plan on hanging the thing LOW enough that said ducting is possible to twist and turn to the exit location (not through a joist). 5" duct is tough to manuver in short runs

Lowes AND Home Depot stock the 5" double wall FITTINGS over by the woodstoves, NOT near the units... to this day I still check and grouse at them :evil: . The straight run fittings are near the units over by water heaters. The help doesn't know where the fittings are at EITHER store :roll: . The stores may (proabaly) won't stock all the fittings you need at one location :evil:

When you hang the thing on the wall don't try an be cute and flush mount it, use at least a 2 x 4 as it is darn near impossible to get the fittings in place under the unit for the water in and water out... they are slightly squirrely to thread in place. :roll:

Said fittings must be installed far more perfectly thatn normal threaded fittings. Very very fussy and prone to pinhole leaks if the threads are bunged even a little (for example by dropping on a cement floor). Take 10!

Find the person with the smallest hands to do the threading.

We ate out turkey day :wink: Mission accomplished next day. The shower felt great 8)

Next lesson is how to adjust your heat setting if any one is interested

 

[Larry Lyke]

Something else to think about when "hanging" a water heater is that when it's filled with water, it weighs an additional 83 lbs. per 10 gallons of water.

A 20-gallon water heater hung on the wall can easily pull loose with 20 gallons of water in it and all 166 lbs of water and heater come crashing down.

It'd do untold damage to the wall and the floor and anybody in its path.

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Larry:
A tankless water heater doesn't have any water in it, so it is light weight. Only a pipe that crosses over the flame, that is the only water that is being heated, none is being stored.

 

[Larry Lyke]

Sorry.

Somewhere along the trail I lost the tankless bit.

Make that a coiled pipe passing through the flame.

Thanks.

 

[Farm Gal]

:lol: coiled pipe wound around the flame :lol: