Hot water tank advise

[NGC414]

I go in the basement tonight to discover my hot water tank is leaking bad. Just courious the best way to go about it. It's a nat gas 50 gal 40,000btu unit. Has anyone used lowes or home depot install sevice? Or is this something I should try to tackle?

[The70RT]

Pretty straight forward on installation if you have any skills at all. You shouldn't have to sweat any copper if you get the same height. They do make some flex pipe if you are off a little. You can really save some cash if you do it yourself.

[A383Wing]

not sure about your area, but a permit is required here to install tank

just sayin'

[vancamp]

i just installed mine it finally died after 12 years, it was electric but its not that hard to do

[4cruzin]

I used to install water tanks for a living . . Not very hard.  Make sure you shut the gas off.  Most of the tanks are similar in style . . . Try to get the same height and it should fit close to the one you already have. Where are you located? 

[ChgrSteve67]

I had mine removed and got a tankless hot water heater installed.

My gas bill went down 10% and now I have endless hot water.

[stripedelete]

I had mine removed and got a tankless hot water heater installed.

My gas bill went down 10% and now I have endless hot water.

Really......   What size family do you have.

[moparstuart]

I had mine removed and got a tankless hot water heater installed.

My gas bill went down 10% and now I have endless hot water.

are those things still way up there in price ?

I would love to have one !!

[68RT4ME]

I had mine removed and got a tankless hot water heater installed.

My gas bill went down 10% and now I have endless hot water.

I did the same only mine is Electric. Still, it's a lowers bill and allot of hot water on demand.

[4cruzin]

I installed those too and they work pretty good.  When I had to go and fix a few of them, it was always a diaphragm that was the issue.  Most of them were gas . . 

[ChgrSteve67]

Since I'm not storing hot water and I'm not re-heating water through out the day my bill went down.
I just heat water when I need it.

With the tax credits that were (maybe still are) the whole thing (equipment and installation) ended up costing me about $900

I also had a back pressure problem on my incomming cold water line due to the hot water tank and the tankless system also cured that problem without having to install a Expansion Tank in the system.

[moparstuart]

Since I'm not storing hot water and I'm not re-heating water through out the day my bill went down.
I just heat water when I need it.

With the tax credits that were (maybe still are) the whole thing (equipment and installation) ended up costing me about $900

I also had a back pressure problem on my incomming cold water line due to the hot water tank and the tankless system also cured that problem without having to install a Expansion Tank in the system.

that would be well worth it to me

[twodko]

The tankless water heaters themselves are reasonably priced but the stainless double walled flue pipes are very expensive because of the high heat generated. 4cruzin is this a fair statement?

[The70RT]

The tankless water heaters themselves are reasonably priced but the stainless double walled flue pipes are very expensive because of the high heat generated. 4cruzin is this a fair statement?

Probably would be a pain if the hot water tank vent's into the furnace vent?

[ACUDANUT]

 That's the easy part (venting)...Find a friend who knows how to sodder and do it yourself !!!  I did mine 2 years ago and saved 400 bucks for installation.  These "plumbers" make a killing on these.  Almost 200 buck a hour.

[NHCharger]

 I had a Rinnai tankless hot water heater installed two years ago. As mentioned above they work on demand so you aren't always keeping 30-60 gallons of hot water constantly heated. I paid $1,500.00 for M&L. that included running the black iron gas piping. If you go to the Rinnai web site you can size what size unit you need.

[ACUDANUT]

 Man, that's 3 times the normal cost of a Hot water tank....

[NHCharger]

My problem was I had a 80 gallon super store tank running off a zone from my oil fired boiler. My boiler had to run all summer to heat the hot water. Now I turn the boiler off the end of April and turn it back on at the end of September. I figure it will pay for itself after 5 years.

[4cruzin]

The tankless water heaters themselves are reasonably priced but the stainless double walled flue pipes are very expensive because of the high heat generated. 4cruzin is this a fair statement?

Some of them do require a double wall vent pipe . . Had to install a few in existing chimneys to stay up to code.  That can cost a little.  The heaters these days are so well insulated that it doesn't take much to keep the water hot. 

[bakerhillpins]

Not sure about your situation but I had gas hot water and the house was heated with oil so I converted the DHW to run off my oil boiler. I was getting killed on the cost of gas because I used so little.

Install is easy but as others have said be sure to turn off the gas and also make sure you test all your connections with soapy water too.

My problem was I had a 80 gallon super store tank running off a zone from my oil fired boiler. My boiler had to run all summer to heat the hot water. Now I turn the boiler off the end of April and turn it back on at the end of September. I figure it will pay for itself after 5 years.

Our system has a super insulated small gal tank that we put super heated water in that is then mixed down to lower temps to feed the DHW. Seems to work quite well but we have 5 members of the family.

[ACUDANUT]

  You burn Oil for heat ?...No wonder why oil is so high....

[Charger RT]

3 years ago I had the same issues with my propane hot water. I was paying 50-70 dollars a month for propane. I had a solar unit installed for 1800 with 500 cash back from the state and tax credits from the feds. its already paid off and my refrigerator cost more in electricity then my hot water. A solar unit would cost more up north to install and possible in operating costs.
Tim

[ACUDANUT]

 Why is it that the NE part of our country use heating oil to warm their houses.. Isn't natural gas and propane cheaper. 

[elacruze]

We installed an on-demand natural gas water heater in my Grandmother's house some years back, and had to take it out after only a couple months. The problem is that the runs were too long, and the water heater either overheated or didn't get the water hot enough to be hot at the end. If you have multiple floors or long uninsulated hot runs, think twice about it. Or, use it before your regular heater to keep costs down on the heating and let the tank just maintain the heat.

[A383Wing]

Why is it that the NE part of our country use heating oil to warm their houses.. Isn't natural gas and propane cheaper. 

they are all about the same price for usage per month out here in NW Washington