Exo-metal
Well-known member
Damn, now what!!!?!!? Tank or tankless...this blows. I have divert funds normally made for RT endeavors and now this
dcburn mk.ii
Well-known member
If you've got a fuel source nearby, I'd spend the cash and go tankless.
Just replaced my water heater back in March and really wish I would have spent the extra and went tankless myself.
Obviously, its hard to spend that cash when you're looking at a 40 gallon water heater at Home Depot for $400-600 and about an hour or so worth of your time.
Nothing much to install if you're handy...
More work to install the tankless, if you're paying someone else to do the job, its going to cost you.
Honestly, the big reason I didn't go tankless is I would need to vent the unit.
My house was built in 1799 and that sill is roughly 12" thick. It is so hard, drilling thru is nearly impossible.
But not totally impossible, I witnessed HVAC company put a hole thru for my a/c unit outside.
Literally took a couple hours.
Just replaced my water heater back in March and really wish I would have spent the extra and went tankless myself.
Obviously, its hard to spend that cash when you're looking at a 40 gallon water heater at Home Depot for $400-600 and about an hour or so worth of your time.
Nothing much to install if you're handy...
More work to install the tankless, if you're paying someone else to do the job, its going to cost you.
Honestly, the big reason I didn't go tankless is I would need to vent the unit.
My house was built in 1799 and that sill is roughly 12" thick. It is so hard, drilling thru is nearly impossible.
But not totally impossible, I witnessed HVAC company put a hole thru for my a/c unit outside.
Literally took a couple hours.
K
Kordoba
Well-known member
That reminds me of a problem I had with an old gas water heater. The first summer/fall I lived in my current home, I spent many days sealing up the basement. During September/October the water heater worked fine. As I finished the weatherizing in late October, the water heater became "orphaned" and discharged the gas fumes into the basement. Venting the heater was an option, but because it was so old I just replaced it with an electric water heater.
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
I'll 2nd going tankless if you have the money and ability to do so.
All previous places I lived had a tank. My current home is tankless and is much more convenient. Now my wife can do a couple loads of laundry and I don't have to take a cold shower.
My current house was built in 2014 and came with a tankless. Only issue I've ever had was the electric igniter went out which was a very easy fix. It took all of $10 for a new one and 5 minutes of my time to replace.
All previous places I lived had a tank. My current home is tankless and is much more convenient. Now my wife can do a couple loads of laundry and I don't have to take a cold shower.
My current house was built in 2014 and came with a tankless. Only issue I've ever had was the electric igniter went out which was a very easy fix. It took all of $10 for a new one and 5 minutes of my time to replace.
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
So you had a gas water heater with no vent ? Dude.
OP. If you have gas, tankless/ on demand is a good choice depending on how many bathrooms you have. If you’re electric it’s a terrible idea.
JackBootedThug
MURDERATOR
How can you have a non vented gas water heater? Carbon monoxide poisoning…. I don’t even trust ventless heaters. Speaking of which I need to repair my son’s vent line on his unit. It is rusted in one spot. Not sure how that happened. It’s in a basement.
K
Kordoba
Well-known member
It was vented through a PVC pipe that went up the chimney (should've made that clear). When I sealed up the basement, it stopped going up the chimney and went into the basement. HVAC guy said I had to drill a hole in the basement wall. And no, the chimney was not plugged and the vent tube was not plugged.
dcburn mk.ii
Well-known member
Mine that originally let the magic out was electric.
Exactly what I did as well.
dcburn mk.ii
Well-known member
Exactly right Floyd!
I've cut and thread enough pipe to circle the fucking Earth, and had gas nearby.
Plus my years in propane.
The sill is what decided for me.
billsbigego
Well-known member
1799 G'damn dude. You must have ghosts n shit.
dcburn mk.ii
Well-known member
I’ve seen a couple weird shadows at night and some odd things moved, but I also have kids?
House was built by a Revolutionary war vet that was at the surrender of Gen. Cornwallace.
Amsden, IIRC had six daughters, who all married off to farmers in the immediate area. The best thing is those family names are still around the immediate area and still farming. Still using the small cemetery kitty corner from my property.
My property was once over 500 acres of fruit orchards, with raised ponds that I still x-country ski around. Well when we actually have snow.
NY is getting to be resort weather…
billsbigego
Well-known member
Yeah Love snow for snowmobiling, but hate it for everything else. Tried skimobiling at my dads place in Freedom, NH (Osipee region) and it was basically snow dirt.
Exo-metal
Well-known member
I want tankless now. I wish I had a electric threader. I'll have to make it happen some way. I have what I need otherwise. I'm going shopping..shipping...wish me luck!!!
70 Mach 1
Well-known member
i replaced mine 2 yrs ago
$2200 for 2 hours work. $600 heater $1600 labor... goddam thieves
ida did it myself but i suck at sweating pipe.. then i saw them with the procomp i kicked myself
they talked me out of tankless. something about the cards crapping out and expensive to repair
$2200 for 2 hours work. $600 heater $1600 labor... goddam thieves
ida did it myself but i suck at sweating pipe.. then i saw them with the procomp i kicked myself
they talked me out of tankless. something about the cards crapping out and expensive to repair
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
Tankless heaters are more efficient, but they suck some gas. For instance, the service I renewed today was on a 2lb meter and had a large fuel run going to the tankless water heaters. Yeah it was a large house, but the unit(s) suck as much gas as a couple furnaces. Still more efficient I suppose.
TheBiggestJerk
Well-known member
Our brand new Ductless heat pump went out this week too.
V
VonBonfire
Well-known member
When I bought my FL house the gas service hook up man said "you could get a rebate switching to tankless". It had a big standard gas water heater in there when I bought it. I asked him what he would do. He said "I'd run what you got, these are bulletproof". I took his advice. Last time I saw a tankless it got rodents in there that chewed all the wiring and pretty much trashed it. It was a warm place to hole up for the winter. When I went to look what was wrong with it a rat jumped out. I opened it up and there was shit and piss all over in there. So I had to cover the whole thing in hardware cloth. I wanted a gas stove and water heater for this place but the propane/natural gas tank are pricey for the big boy or a pain in the ass if I gotta haul 100lbs tanks to the refill. My wife had an old gas stove blow up on her once so she was kinda anti-gas so I just ran with an electric model this time.
voodooradio1
Well-known member
You don’t need to thread pipe to bring a new fuel source in. Properly sized soft copper is what I use for that. If you are unfamiliar with gas systems, and tankless water heaters, hire a pro and thank me later. When it comes to tankless heaters, Navien is the brand I go to first, and Rinnai if the other isn’t available. Can’t recall the warranty length for Rinnai off the top of my head, but 10 years or more. The Navien has a 15 year warranty on heat exchanger for the average residential install. Rinnai, Navien, and all of the majors will not honor a warranty if installed by an unlicensed person. At my price here in the southeast, the equipment and material run from $1700 -$2000. That is with my pro discount at a local supplier, so would be more for the average guy walking in off of the street. A substantial amount to not warranty. Some of my competitors charge anywhere from 8k-10 for material and labor. I charge 6k-8k, and more if gas has to be upsized. And it usually does, as a tankless is 199,000 btu, and if not sized correctly will flash error codes more often than it functions. It really is the type of thing that if you go into it trying to save money by DYI, you wil need a pro to straighten out when you are done. No one ever comes out ahead spending money on the same project twice. A pro will understand code, and bring everything into code compliance as well, which is a plus if you ever sell. If you go DYI, just get a 50 gallon electric Bradford White high recovery tank. And don’t hook it up with shark bite fittings. There are reliable methods that don’t require threading or soldering. I can steer you in the right direction for that if you decide to install yourself. Feel free to pm me.
voodooradio1
Well-known member
Wanted to add that Tankless is eligible for rebate and tax credit
dcburn mk.ii
Well-known member
100%