Any tips for a new hot water heater?

[disneysteve]

Our hot water heater is still fine but old and I know it really ought to get replaced. Can anyone give me any tips? I know I can either have our plumber do it, have the utility company do it or buy one at Home Depot and have them install it. Where am I likely to get the best deal?

I was in Home Depot today and looked at them in passing. I think a 50-gallon tank was about $500. A tankless heater was twice that. How do I figure out if spending the extra money for the tankless is worth the upfront cost?

[snafu]

Replacing a hot water tank is fraught with scams so it pays to do some research and arm yourself with facts. 1st does your area require a permit and inspection follow-up? What is the code, cost and who books the appointment? Does city, state of fed give rebates for specific energy efficiencies? Several manufacturers are currently in Class Action lawsuits their products are so awful.

Is there any warranty left on your existing tank? You need to know the dimensions and capacity of existing unit, space constraints and minimum FHR [gallons] and Energy Factor [EF] required for number of bdrms and bthrms to meet code. I'd compare HD,Sears & Lowes as well as two contractors/plumbers that you've used or referred by someone whose opinion your value. If the removal and replacement is straight forward two men can do it in 2 hrs. A favorite scam is to quote a price and change it on installation day. It works really well if neighbor or unsuspecting wife/daughter is acting as your stand-in.

There is a long list of add-ons to tank & install like delivery,stair charge, removal, haul away, dump charge, permit & fee for permit, fee for booking inspection, replace valves, and more than I can't remember.

Personally, I'd ask on-line for bids from licensed plumbers and check with Better Business Bureau to see if they had been reported. If that didn't work I'd call 3 plumbers from the middle of Yellow Page columns seeking those without the added expense of receptionists.

I'd read the report and look at Consumer's 'Best Buy' recommendation since this is a long term product. I suggest writing a basic contract that includes Date, HWT [brand], parts kit, delivery, disconnect, removal, haul away, installation, replace valves and warranty both from tank manufacturer & supplier as well as installation warranty, passing inspection and not leak for at least a year. Price all-in including tax, permit, inspection dump fee. Most important, I'd be on site watching and timing the procedure.

[kork13]

I can't speak for a strong comparison, but I will say that I LOVE having an on-demand (tankless) water heater. Especially because I use very little hot water, it's not worth keeping a 50 gallon drum full of water 24/7...doing so would be a tremendous waste. I just turn it on when I need it, back off when I'm done, the water's hot immediately, and never runs cold. My gas bill (which also includes my gas oven/range) is almost non-existent -- about $30/month....and fossil fuels are VERY expensive here in Japan.

The trick with on-demand systems is efficiency -- how fast can they produce hot water? I honestly don't know how this is gauged... But obviously, there's an upper limit to how much water it can heat while you have 3 people taking simultaneous showers. So if your family tends to use alot of hot water, you should probably lean toward the standard tank heater. But if you're light/moderate with your use, an on-demand should suit you fine.

Price-wise... I'd recommend searching google for comparisons based on average usage -- that's probably the deciding factor as far as price. The less you use it, the greater the benefit an on-demand system will give you. Otherwise, you need to find people who have switched from one to the other, and ask how the costs stacked up next to eachother. And definitely look for any efficiency rebates (local/state/federal taxes, or from manufacturers/installers).

[marvholly]

My experiece w/ tankless heaters is VERY different from Kork's. We had one at work. I had to run the water 5 minutes before it got hot.

IMHO I will NEVER have one. Also, in my area (metro Chicago)gas (tanked heater) is MUCH cheaper than electric (flash, tankless heater).

[bjl584]

Our hot water heater is still fine but old and I know it really ought to get replaced. Can anyone give me any tips? I know I can either have our plumber do it, have the utility company do it or buy one at Home Depot and have them install it. Where am I likely to get the best deal?

I was in Home Depot today and looked at them in passing. I think a 50-gallon tank was about $500. A tankless heater was twice that. How do I figure out if spending the extra money for the tankless is worth the upfront cost?

I thought about doing a tankless, but I live alone, and my water/gas bills were low to begin with. It would have been a long time before the tankless paid for itself. I ended up buying a 40 gallon tank from Lowe's for around $300. I did the install myself. It only took about an hour to do. Two water line hookups, a gas line and a vent pipe. Easy.

[MonkeyMama]

I personally will not be buying a tankless unit. Our hot water heating bill is virtually non-existent with an Energy Star efficient tank heater. It does have an insulation wrap - circa 2001. At around $10/month for hot water, I don't see how we could possibly save enough to make up the extra cost. When it's time, we will just get a newer tank (which should be even more efficient).

[disneysteve]

At around $10/month for hot water

How did you estimate your hot water cost? I get a water bill and I get a gas bill but it doesn't break anything down. I have no way to know how much of the water used is hot water or how much of our gas bill is accounted for by the water heater.

[JoeP]

Our hot water heater is still fine but old and I know it really ought to get replaced. Can anyone give me any tips? I know I can either have our plumber do it, have the utility company do it or buy one at Home Depot and have them install it. Where am I likely to get the best deal?

I was in Home Depot today and looked at them in passing. I think a 50-gallon tank was about $500. A tankless heater was twice that. How do I figure out if spending the extra money for the tankless is worth the upfront cost?

I've been in your situation. I ended up buying another 50 gallon and installing it myself. After that one failed, I ended up buying a highly rated AO Smith 40 gallon that I am very happy with. My suggestions would be to determine if you *really* need 50 gallons. Also, take a look at installing yourself, or having a neighbor help out...it is a good skill to learn and may justify the purchase of tools (which all men want).

[bjl584]

How did you estimate your hot water cost? I get a water bill and I get a gas bill but it doesn't break anything down. I have no way to know how much of the water used is hot water or how much of our gas bill is accounted for by the water heater.

It would be difficult to do so, but you have a better chance of getting a ballpark figure this time of year now that the furnace isn't working, unless you do a lot of cooking with a gas stove/range. In that case, you are back where you started.

[cypher1]

Curious why do you want to replace water heater if it's still working? Is it just running inefficient? How old is it? I just replaced my gas one with a Rheem 50gal w/ 6 yr warranty for 500, including disposal of old. The original tank was degrading and starting to leak after 14 years old (originally 6yr warranty). I replaced mine myself, which probably saved 400-450 in labor. Granted I didn't need a 50 gal for my roommate and I, I stuck with that size since that was in it originally. Unless you want to upgrade, stick with the same size for replacing, great advice from my uncles. I think Home Depot warranties cover just the parts failure on the device, no actual labor (I could be wrong.) While I'm no plumber (but have plenty of family who are), I wasn't too concerned with picking a 9 or 12 warranty for peace of mind.

[maat55]

How did you estimate your hot water cost? I get a water bill and I get a gas bill but it doesn't break anything down. I have no way to know how much of the water used is hot water or how much of our gas bill is accounted for by the water heater.

I'm guessing the only way you can know is by asking someone who has a tankless system, what the difference in their gas bill was after switching over. I'm sure the tankless provider will give you their estimate, but who knows?

IMO, tankless systems should be installed near every area where large amounts of hot water are used. This would mean at least two and maybe three in my house. Our master bath is removed from the kitchen area, while our second bath is fairly close and could likely share a system.

With gas prices so low, tankless seems unnecessary at this time, but if they go up substantially, tankless may make since.

[mom-from-missouri]

We are thinking of getting one of the tankless ones out, for further energy savings. Our electric company sells them at a discount, and installs them as well.

[PMMM]

Do some google searches on the tankless. Most have a pay back that is waayyyyyyy long. The data that I have found does not support buying one versus a tank type. As well some are very suspect in performance. My neighbor just replaced his by a professional contractor. $1000 signed sealed and delivered. I had a contractor do one in my prior house years ago and it was $1000. Go figure.

According to Consumers report because they are so expensive it can take up to 22 years for payback. .

Other data that I have found supports this premise.

[jIM_Ohio]

Our hot water heater is still fine but old and I know it really ought to get replaced. Can anyone give me any tips? I know I can either have our plumber do it, have the utility company do it or buy one at Home Depot and have them install it. Where am I likely to get the best deal?

I was in Home Depot today and looked at them in passing. I think a 50-gallon tank was about $500. A tankless heater was twice that. How do I figure out if spending the extra money for the tankless is worth the upfront cost?

Steve- I replaced mine in 2012 already.

You want to focus on three things

1) do you have a trusted connection in the field? Someone who's wife was in my wedding works at a store which sells them, he told me what to look for in my basement, then told me which products were suitable. For example, gas vs electric, gallon size, features of the heater

2) Do you need it transported and installed? This may narrow options from above

3) How long will you live in house after installing?

The person doing the install took my credit card info down, and asked me who I knew because that was the cheapest hot water install he had ever seen. I might have paid about $400 for it fully installed. I know my inlaws paid close to double that when they had it done.

Make sure the heater has something which constantly stirs water if you want it to last a long time.

[PetMom]

Snafu that was a thorough post.

We are going to need to replace ours. And know someone who did that did not realize you need to make sure you go through the city for license. The person hired did not even mention it and the intaller was recommended by a popular home repair store.

Ours is old. We are waiting for it to just stop working and trying to get every use out of it. We know by the time you get it, get the license, get the electrician/installer to do the work, disposal (good point) it is going to be a lot of money.

Is in garage, so if any leakage happens it will not be in an indoor setting that might damage anything.

Naturally at that point it is time for new hot water heater.