So far we're at 1.35" for this storm, and Friday is supposed to be a nice day, before the next round of storms hits on Saturday.
And that's a good thing, as our 20+ year old water heater, which has been slooowly failing has finally decided to call it quits.
I'm not sure what "wears out" in a gas water heater, but this one is no longer heating the water, even though we've cranked up the thermostat on it to almost max.
I remember way back when I was a kid, that they'd "burn out", usually flooding the basement until somebody could valve off the water to it.
This one isn't leaking, and when our plumber friend was over here earlier this week, he tried draining it, and very little sediment came out, so apparently it isn't loaded up with gunk.
The new 45 gallon commercial grade heater gets delivered Thursday afternoon ($540....OUCH!), and our plumber friend and my wife's oldest son will swap it out. The place he ordered the new heater from will come and collect the old one, so that's a worry we won't have.
But in the meantime, we have barely tepid water to shower with.
Hot water on demand is one of those things you just take for granted, and when it goes away, life gets a little different.......
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Merry Christmas - <i>He Is Born</i> -
I'd like to wish my friends here a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year. We'll be having our Christmas Dinner with family...
I know that you're selling your house, but did you consider the tankless water heaters? I don't have any experience with them, but have heard that they're better. I have a tank water heater in my home.
ReplyDeleteI've looked into them before, and the way the house is laid out, with the laundry in the garage, it just wouldn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteWe'd have to get 240 installed in the garage, and new circuits pulled in for the bathroom and kitchen.
There's no more open slots in our distribution panel (the last two went of the 240V outlet for the new A/C unit), so factor that cost in, too.
In short, for the amount of time we're staying here (~2 years max), it's just cheaper and easier to swap out the old heater with a new one....
So you heat water in the large kettle in the fireplace, then pour it into the watering trough in the bathroom. Repeat until nearly full, then step into the rapidly-cooling water for your weekly bath.
ReplyDeleteThat's the way they did it a hundred years, right? By cracky, if it was good enough for Great-Grandad ...
yuk-yuk!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a fireplace, so we'd have to use the stove.
Luckily it's a gas stove, so our electric bill is still somewhat reasonable.
BTW....one thing I noticed about homes in Colorado is that most of them have electric stoves. With all the natural gas out there, it makes me wonder why they don't have gas stoves....
Wonder if the heating column has a coat of calcified gunk on its water side?
ReplyDeleteMany tankless water heaters are gas fired, both LP and NG.
Electric ones very seldom make sense, the only electrical ones that I have seen that did are the under sink type that are used seldom and for a minimum amount of water.
Before buying one, you must check these things (at a minimum).
How many gallons of hot water per minute do you use.
At what temperature do you use this water
What is the temperature is the incoming water.
These are needed to figure the proper size of the heater that you will need.
This looks something like this, 55 degree water, 5 gpm, , heated to 120 degrees.
If you can find a gas fired on demand water heater that will fit your use, then they usually make sense.
Two more things, cleaning the water side of the heater can be a problem. So you need to check the chemical make up of the water.
How and where the exhaust gases exit your house.
It was 20 years old, bought from a "Big Box" store, and we have pretty hard water here, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was all full of scale and other deposits.
ReplyDeleteThe new one is a 55 gallon commercial or industrial grade one bought from a contractors wholesale place through our professional plumber friends.
There's only two of us living here now, so it should be way more than adequate for our needs.
The water heater is outside the house, in a galvanized sheet metal "shed" made for that purpose, so no worries about venting the exhaust stack.