Hot Water Heater

[Donuthole]

donut- get the soft water and WH at the same time.

That's the plan.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

As I mentioned years ago, don't buy an expensive water softener. A water softener is a really good thing to buy, but the difference between a $500 one and some Culligan one for $2,000 is negligible. It's not a new technology and they do comparable jobs. I've had a cheap Home Depot GE softener for over six years and I've had zero problems with it.

I don't know anything about water heaters. You should spring for a tankless one, or not if you're not staying in the home for long.

[Pelado]

I don't know anything about water heaters. You should spring for a tankless one, or not if you're not staying in the home for long.

Especially if you want the members of your household to take even longer showers than they already do.

[Donuthole]

We've batted around the idea of going to a tankless, but they just haven't figured out a decent efficiency-to-price ratio, especially when gas is your energy source. It's essentially the same reason I won't pay an extra $10-15k for the hybrid version of a car.

[Pelado]

We've batted around the idea of going to a tankless, but they just haven't figured out a decent efficiency-to-price ratio, especially when gas is your energy source. It's essentially the same reason I won't pay an extra $10-15k for the hybrid version of a car.

From Consumer Reports:

Heating water accounts for up to 30 percent of the average home's energy budget. Some makers of gas-fired tankless water heaters claim their products can cut your energy costs up to half over regular storage heaters. So is it time to switch?

Probably not. Gas tankless water heaters, which use high-powered burners to quickly heat water as it runs through a heat exchanger, were 22 percent more energy efficient on average than the gas-fired storage-tank models in our tests. That translates into a savings of around $70 to $80 per year, based on 2008 national energy costs. But because they cost much more than storage water heaters, it can take up to 22 years to break even—longer than the 20-year life of many models. Moreover, our online poll of 1,200 readers revealed wide variations in installation costs, energy savings, and satisfaction.

Instead, we recommend buying a conventional storage water heater with a 9- or 12-year warranty. In previous tests, we found that those models generally had thicker insulation, bigger burners or larger heating elements, and better corrosion-fighting metal rods called anodes.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/a...heaters-ov.htm

[Northwestcoug]

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[Eddie]

Especially if you want the members of your household to take even longer showers than they already do.

Ha! I've got a neighbor with 3 teens who installed a tankless last year. He says that they thought they would save money, but don't because the kids all take super long showers now - so their gas bill is about the same and their water bill has gone up.

[Eddie]

Speaking of plumbing issues - I'd love anyone who knows about this crap to chime in.

I end up replacing the cartridges in our taps (sinks and shower/tub) probably every other year. We have a water softener that went out a few years ago that we haven't had the cash to replace it yet (thanks for the tip to go economical CMBF - maybe we'll get one sooner rather than later.) Right before Christmas some pipes start leaking, so we call the plumber. Shortly after he leaves the pressure relief valve on the water heater started leaking - pretty fast too. Back comes the plumber. He tells us that our water pressure is running at about 120 psi, and that is probably responsible for the cartridges and pressure valve failing, as well as the pipe leak we had. So we end up paying him a little more to put in some sort of pressure control do-hicky to lower our water pressure to closer to 70-80 psi.

Hopefully I can stay out of the cartridge business for a while now. I'm sure a new water softener would help too.

[Donuthole]

donut- get the soft water and WH at the same time. IF you don't get soft water first, then get a WH larger than you anticipate cause that puppy will silt up really fast with untreated hard water. I'm surprised the old one lasted 12 years.

Welp, turns out water softeners can actually shorten the life of a traditional water heater. Just three months after my 6-year warranty expired, our new WH is starting to leak. Apparently I was supposed to be replacing the anode rod every few years. This is news to me. But here we are.

Because of Trump's tariffs, prices on traditional water heaters are ridonkulous, so it makes sense to go tankless at this point. Back when I looked 6 years ago, a tankless was almost 4x more than a traditional. Now it's less than 2x more. And a 15-year warranty vs a 6-year. No brainer.

[Uncle Ted]

Welp, turns out water softeners can actually shorten the life of a traditional water heater. Just three months after my 6-year warranty expired, our new WH is starting to leak. Apparently I was supposed to be replacing the anode rod every few years. This is news to me. But here we are.

Because of Trump's tariffs, prices on traditional water heaters are ridonkulous, so it makes sense to go tankless at this point. Back when I looked 6 years ago, a tankless was almost 4x more than a traditional. Now it's less than 2x more. And a 15-year warranty vs a 6-year. No brainer.

I got a 50 gallon Hybrid electric heat pump water heater at Home Depot for $1200 about 18 months ago and put it inline in front of a conventional tank. The tanks are in our garage so it keeps the garage chill by pumping the hot heat of my garage into the water, which is nice in the summer. The water heater uses less electricity than an incandescent light bulb. I also got a $300 tax credit on the hybrid water heater so the end cost was about $900.