OT OT can I VENT?? Please

Hmmm...your little saga made me look at water heaters, as we'll need to replace ours in the not too distant future (the tank is really too small to handle a family of five given that the kids will soon be needing daily showers--I don't want to get stuck with waking up obscenely early or getting stuck with a cold shower!). I noticed that they have tankless water heaters now, which sounds lovely (less energy expended, smaller, never-ending hot water as long as you don't exceed the output capacity). Anyone have one of these and have any opinions about them? Clearly they're more expensive, and we'd have to switch from electric to gas to get one with enough output to handle multiple showers simultaneously, but it would be nice to get the benefits.

Best wishes, Ericka

I just saw something about these the other day. I didn't read it in detail, as ours is only 7 years old, but it reminded me of the gas geysers we had in our homes in England when I was young ( and before anyone has the moxie to suggest it, electricity HAD been discovered by then!).

Gillian

It's extended up to North Dakota, too. The whole month of May (except maybe 2 days!) was cool (about 20 degrees below normal) and rainy/drizzly/dreary. Last Thursday I came home to DH & DD in the basement. The sump pump, which is currently running about every 5 minutes, had gone out when no one was home and the water had spread about half way across the basement floor by the time DD discovered it. sigh. Thank heavens for wet/dry vacuums and dehumidifiers! Luckily I don't think there was any serious damage to anything.

Joan

Hmm...wouldn't it be a real pain to deal with the plumbing to get water from one tank to go to some bathrooms and from another tank to go to other bathrooms? I'm not even sure where in the walls those hot water pipes diverge, and our bathroom and the kids' bathroom are two floors away from the utility room (where the water heater is)! Sounds kinda painful. I know you can put in the little tankless water heaters right at the shower, but that sounds like a pain as well.

Best wishes, Ericka

Brenda Lewis wrote in news:bSQne.16497$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com:

Ouch... :-)

I was going to get one. Unfortunately, they're a special order item, and, like Cheryl, my water heater burst, so I needed something "now" not "three weeks from now".

How long do water heaters last, on average, so I can be sure to have my order in before the next catastrophe?

:-P

Best wishes, Ericka

If you're cynical, a day after the warranty ends ;-) I think it depends somewhat on the water heater. Here's one chart:

Best wishes, Ericka

I just want to know what happens to all the socks!

The last Nevada Barr was great! Corset Diaries in my favorite with Improper English running a close second!

Done and I finally got my shower this AM!

Cheryl

Great site - but no oil fired hot water is listed! Bah humbug! BUT, we built in 1989, so we did ok for life of the unit. I've done a little more digging

- oil are the most expansive to install, but seem to have a higher average life time.

Cheryl

Karen C - California had some very interesting things to say about Re: OT OT can I VENT?? Please:

DH's parents replace theirs roughly every 9 years or so, but they live in an area with VERY hard water.

If they don't use a ton of hot water, they might want to consider one of the SETS electric tankless hot water heaters. They have a lifetime parts replacement warranty (including the heating elements), with no exception for hard water. It would be more expensive up front, but replacing every nine years sounds like a pain!

Best wishes, Ericka

Water heaters last whatever the warrenty period is plus 1 month. If you have a five year warreny, they last 61 mounths. With a 10 year warrenty they last 121 months. In Hopkinton our water heater went just on schedule. It is a gas water heater and the new one has a ten year garauntee. In Maine the water heater runs off the oil burner that heats the house. It is about

George

Okay Cheryl you jinxed me!! I came home from dinner at Pizza Hut on Saturday night to find puddles on my floor. Our hot water heater had also started leaking. Over Memorial Day weekend one of the heating elements burned out and DH was trying to decide whether to try and repair it or if we should repleace the heater. He was also trying to decide whether to change from electric to gas and if we should go with a smaller size. So he dilly dallied for a week trying to make up his mind and we ended up with water all over the floor. So bright and early Monday morning he calls the plumber and we end up with a cheap (relatively speaking) 50 gallon electric hot water heater. This happened to be what he had in stock at the time so we took whatever he had just to get something in there. But at least I did not have to take a cold shower again on Tuesday.

Beverly B

Oh no!

I know lots of people that are happy with their electric ones! Hope your DH did all the clean up work!

Cheryl

Ericka,

We have a tankless heater - it's been 2 years plus now. And it works great. We also have a solar water heater that "supports" it. So, our water heating bills (if they were broken out that way) are low. The one thing that makes a lot of difference in actual water used, however, is that we have a recirculation pump (don't know about adding one of these after the fact). So, when I want to take a shower, I turn on the pump, get my clothes, towels etc, and by the time I turn on the shower, the water is warm (even though our shower is about the farthest thing from the heater).

We really like it - and I like the fact that I don't have this water storage "thing" in my garage. Ours sits on the wall.

If you have more questions, please feel free to ask...

Christina