# Gotta replace the water heater



## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

I went down to the basement last night and found water on the floor around the water heater. Had a a small trickle of water coming from the bottom of the tank. I shut off the gas and cold intake, then drained the tank.
I have been wanting to move the water heater to the other side of the chimney but the current one is just a few inches too tall for the vent pipe to clear properly and go through the chimney on that side. While measuring everything, I saw there was a hole that was patched for the vent pipe. I have no idea why it did not occur to me that a shorter water heater would fit in that spot. For some reason, I must have been thinking they were all the same height. I'm going to put it in the same place the old one is for now and will move it later when I run new Pex water lines and reroute the gas line. 
I got about 12 years out of this one.
I'm going to pick up the new shorter water heater soon.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

If you want to get fancy you could go on-demand, though the payback is fairly long term, but they have a very small footprint. They do work relatively well though I have heard from several people they thought 'on-demand' meant 'instantaneous'. It does not.


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

Check the prices at your local hardware. I had to replace mine couple weeks ago and bought one at Home Depot. 

The next day went to True Value to get some fittings and they had the same unit $70 cheaper, with 3x the warranty.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

swampbuck said:


> Check the prices at your local hardware. I had to replace mine couple weeks ago and bought one at Home Depot.
> 
> The next day went to True Value to get some fittings and they had the same unit $70 cheaper, with 3x the warranty.


My wife actually said I should check our local Ace hardware since our daughter-in-law work there and get a discount, but they didn't have what I was looking for.

I got a 49" 40 gal., 6 year warranty tank for $424. I didn't want to spend much more because I'm thinking of making a move closer to the other daughter in a few short years (she doesn't know that yet). When that time comes, I will look into the tankless heaters, and a built in home generator to boot.


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## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

petronius said:


> My wife actually said I should check our local Ace hardware since our daughter-in-law work there and get a discount, but they didn't have what I was looking for.
> 
> I got a 49" 40 gal., 6 year warranty tank for $424. I didn't want to spend much more because I'm thinking of making a move closer to the other daughter in a few short years (she doesn't know that yet). When that time comes, I will look into the tankless heaters, and a built in home generator to boot.


When we built our house here I bought a used tankless water heater and it work great. It was to small for full time use but worked for week or weekend so I replaced it with a tank oe. If it goes bad I will go back to the tankless one big enough for our use


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## Cabin Fever (Dec 6, 2009)

Shorter is better because you can set it on blocks if need be.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

Cabin Fever said:


> Shorter is better because you can set it on blocks if need be.


I thought I was all set. I had to get a extra piece of vent pipe because the new water heater is about 8" shorter. I get the water heater in the basement, set it in place and find the extra piece of vent pipe is too short. Then I realize the new heater does not have the 2.5" "feet" that the old one had. Back to the store to get what I need. Bought a 2 foot piece that I cut to size.


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## reddog1 (Jan 24, 2009)

I've changed both of my water heaters. The powervent gas heater at my house and the electric heater at my cottage. I sweat the pipe on the one at my house but I used the sharkbite water heater hoses. Much easier by far


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

petronius said:


> I thought I was all set. I had to get a extra piece of vent pipe because the new water heater is about 8" shorter. I get the water heater in the basement, set it in place and find the extra piece of vent pipe is too short. Then I realize the new heater does not have the 2.5" "feet" that the old one had. Back to the store to get what I need. Bought a 2 foot piece that I cut to size.


 If it didn't have the feet I would of blocked it up with cement patio blocks so if there was moisture on the floor it wouldn't rust out the bottom of the water heater.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

plugger said:


> If it didn't have the feet I would of blocked it up with cement patio blocks so if there was moisture on the floor it wouldn't rust out the bottom of the water heater.


I will probably set the heater in a pan.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

My buddy’s son said that the 33year old Montgomery Ward water heater in the house he bought a few months ago was still going strong. That is until yesterday when it blew.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

d_rek said:


> If you want to get fancy you could go on-demand, though the payback is fairly long term, but they have a very small footprint. They do work relatively well though I have heard from several people they thought 'on-demand' meant 'instantaneous'. It does not.


I'm thinking about putting one in my new house. I have heard you can heat the house with a commercial on demand system. Something I will be researching this winter.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

brushbuster said:


> I'm thinking about putting one in my new house. I have heard you can heat the house with a commercial on demand system. Something I will be researching this winter.


The bad thing about them is you have to put very clean water through them. The dirtier the water, the less life you'll have out of them.


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## JAA (Oct 6, 2004)

petronius said:


> My buddy’s son said that the 33year old Montgomery Ward water heater in the house he bought a few months ago was still going strong. That is until yesterday when it blew.


 Boy they Just don't make them like they used to, The last N gas one in this house was installed by my dad it lasted 24 years before it crapped out, I have a neighbour who's a plumber and said 10-12 years if you're feeling lucky, On these new one's is the average. He also told me, Not to Buy into that warranty claim and that more expensive will last longer. As he has changed out Just as many Top of the Line heaters as he has with Lower priced units, within the same age time frame.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

JAA said:


> Boy they Just don't make them like they used to, The last N gas one in this house was installed by my dad it lasted 24 years before it crapped out, I have a neighbour who's a plumber and said 10-12 years if you're feeling lucky, On these new one's is the average. He also told me, Not to Buy into that warranty claim and that more expensive will last longer. As he has changed out Just as many Top of the Line heaters as he has with Lower priced units, within the same age time frame.


I could have paid twice as much for the heater and gotten the same results.


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## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

FREEPOP said:


> The bad thing about them is you have to put very clean water through them. The dirtier the water, the less life you'll have out of them.


This is true with any type of water heater, our hard water will rot a tank heater in five years even with a softer, after our tank heater only lasted five years before rotting out I replaced with a Bosch tankless never had to do any maintenance in 16 years the cost was about 2x of a 60 gallon tank heater but the size was key I just hung it on the wall easy install. No longer heating 50+ gallons of water 24/7. I would not suggest an electric tankless they require a reactor to power them, LP or NG is the way to go.


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## Charles Lynch (Dec 24, 2017)

I want to replace my 10 years old water heater, advise which one to choose?


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## twowack (Dec 21, 2010)

I changed my water heater last year used the Gator hoses That was easy!


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

Charles Lynch said:


> I want to replace my 10 years old water heater, advise which one to choose?


It seems it doesn't make sense to pay twice as much for a water heater if it doesn't last much longer than a lower priced model. 
I bought this one from Home Depot. I replaced the old tall model with a short one.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-P...ural-Gas-Water-Heater-XG40S06EC34U0/205811152


Take a look at what JAA had to say about the more expensive heaters.



JAA said:


> Boy they Just don't make them like they used to, The last N gas one in this house was installed by my dad it lasted 24 years before it crapped out, I have a neighbour who's a plumber and said 10-12 years if you're feeling lucky, On these new one's is the average. He also told me, Not to Buy into that warranty claim and that more expensive will last longer. As he has changed out Just as many Top of the Line heaters as he has with Lower priced units, within the same age time frame.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

I just installed a 50 gallon Rheem from Home Depot. Those Shark Bite connections are the cats meow.


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