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Posted by terry on May 15, 2008, 1:48 am
wrote:
> I appreciate the advice, and looks like im going to settle on a new water
> heater and alarm very soon. =A0I was looking on home depot's site just now=
and
> they have all these tank-less water heaters. =A0Any good or no? =A0They su=
re are
> expensive.
>
> btw, I don't understand all this drain pan stuff. =A0I've never had a leak=
on
> the thing. =A0Not a drop. =A0 I figure, if its going to go bad, its going =
to go
> bad very quickly.... like a volcano ? =A0 I couldn't imagine the drain pan=
> doing much rescuing there.
John: Presuming this is an electric hot water tank situation?
Very lucky. A drain pan with a drain hose to lead the water away is an
excellent choice. Easy to ruin a floor, with 60 to 100 gallons of hot
water all over it for even an hour or two! Cos if it leaks it WILL
keep heating and leaking; until somebody notices (or it alarms) and
shuts it off. That may happen when you are away skiing for a couple of
weeks and have forgotten to shut off the water and the heater!
Where we live many of the suppliers, will not honour or support the
six year factory warranty that comes with many/most of the tanks. They
will only warranty for three years!
Reason is corrosive water here (possibly due to acid rain etc.?) which
blows east from the industrial and heavily populated areas of North
America. Also our ground water and lake water tends to be acidic
anyway.
In practice our hot water tanks have lasted an average of nine years.
We are on our seventh tank since 1960.
A US or Canadian made 40 US gallon size now averages, here, around
$225. We have not priced but a stainless steel tank can, we
understand, cost $1000? Haven't seen any Chinese or other ones yet;
but they are probably out there, along with Far Eastern microwave
ovens and other electronics etc. which work fine and meet Canadian
(Same as or tougher than CSA, electrical safety standards). We know
nothing about the durability of hot water tanks made offshore.
What size is yours? A relatives house with a jacuzzi type tub and two
and half baths has a 60 US gallon hot water tank.
BTW your pressure relief valve also has a drain tube to lead water
away; in case water pressure goes way high for some reason?
Instant water heaters not as popular in North America as in Europe.
Principle idea is that instead of gallons hot water sitting there
losing heat to the house (you do heat the house anyway?) it uses
'much' larger amounts of electrcity for very short periods of time
when hot water flow is required.
Ask around how satisfactory and how much plumbing changes would be
needed. Also heavier wiring to at least the main fuse panel probably
required. Buy a type much used in your area.
Personally don't buy the excessive heat loss as a problem; every month
here is a heating month and since we heat electrically anyway any heat
emanating from the well insulated hot water tank merely offsets the
house electric baseboard heating.
In fact we have gone away, after shutting off the electricity, for a
couple of weeks and returned to find the hot water tank slightly
tepid. From that I guess one could calculate the heat loss and
therefore a typical cost per hour due to it?
=46rom Eastern Canada. Good luck.
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Posted by Joseph Meehan on May 15, 2008, 10:16 am
First I want to repeat Smitty's comment.
They typically don't fail catastrophically. They'll get a little rust
through somewhere and start dripping. The drain pan with water alarm in
the pan, as others suggested, is SOP these days.
That is very good advice.
It is difficult to suggest what the odds are for your water heater.
Depending on where you live, the typical heater may last 5 years or 25
years. Where I live 20 is about average. Not many miles away it is a lot
less. It depends a lot on the water you have. Ask your neighbors for
information on when they have had to replace theirs. If you start seeing
old water heaters being places out for the junk man, and you home was put up
at the same time, then replace it now. If you are close to what other
people have had to replace their then now would also be a good time, even
without that new floor. The anode is just another signal that it is about
time. I suggest considering replacing it now along with Smitty's suggestion
be cause if you want to add a drain pan then you are going to pay a good
part of the cost of a new one anyway, so just do it now.
One more thing. If you turn your water hotter than your neighbors, your
heater is going to die sooner.
> I have an electric water heater...and just had laminated flooring
> installed. The water heater is 15 years old. Most people are saying I
> should get a new one very quick. Is this true ? I never had a problem
> with the thing...still running without a problem. I just fear a big
> leak could possibly occur anyday ?
--
Joseph Meehan
Dia 's Muire duit
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Posted by john on May 15, 2008, 11:02 am
These 'drain pans' only hold a maximum of like a gallon though right ?
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Posted by Tony Hwang on May 15, 2008, 11:08 am
john wrote:
> These 'drain pans' only hold a maximum of like a gallon though right ?
Hi,
Not much. When in doubt just repelace the heater. Some times it starts
with small leak or some times it just dumps water out(flood). My heater
is in the basement near a drain. For me, if it lasted 10 years it's time
to go.
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Posted by Pete C. on May 15, 2008, 11:10 am
john wrote:
>
> These 'drain pans' only hold a maximum of like a gallon though right ?
They aren't intended to hold anything. The pans have an outlet hole
where you connect it to *GASP* a drain line.
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