Jim greengo
Well-known member
A shut off on the hot water side of a water heater is illegal in some places.
Water Heater Options
- Thread starter RZ Guy
- Start date
For those of you that have installed a hybrid water heater in your garage, what's the coldest that your garage gets in the winter? If I put the hybrid water heater in the garage, I get the benefit of the cool, dry air for the garage in the summer. But then my worry is storing hot water in a cold garage in the winter (I live in central IL, winters can get pretty cold). I fear losing any efficiency advantage of the hybrid unit because I am constantly fighting the cold garage to keep 50-80 gallons of water at 120-130 degrees for the winter months.
The other thought is to put the hybrid water heater in the basement and route the intake and exhaust air into garage. Would something like that even be code compliant? I know it's not the same as running your conditioned house air in/out of the garage (clearly against code), but is it similar enough?
The other thought is to put the hybrid water heater in the basement and route the intake and exhaust air into garage. Would something like that even be code compliant? I know it's not the same as running your conditioned house air in/out of the garage (clearly against code), but is it similar enough?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
In many cases, all that will accomplish is wasting money. I just pulled the rod on my 2year old WH and it was in fantastic condition.
Vtor
Well-known member
We made switch to tankless 2 years ago. Replacing a conventional hot water heater and hot water boiler with a Rinnai combi unit.
Hot water delivery is *slower* to start, but it's as hot as you can bear and with unlimited fuel, unlimited hot water supply. With no metric as to water usage before and after, energy usage is down 15% compared to two separate units. Practically eliminated temperature swings as boiler is able to throttle heat output vs outdoor temp.
Cost.. roughly 2.5x conventional hot water heater, esp if you opt for combi or more premium units. We opted for 15yr warranty model. Despite self install, our utility still credited us for installing more energy efficient appliance. Nice chunk of change.
To remedy the slow delivery, I added a circulator that turns on and forces hot water to circulate back through cold water line to speed up delivery. I have it set to run about 90 seconds triggered off a flow switch.
Space savings was a *nice* bonus. Maintenance is about hour worth of effort once a year and $20 worth of vinegar solution.
Hot water delivery is *slower* to start, but it's as hot as you can bear and with unlimited fuel, unlimited hot water supply. With no metric as to water usage before and after, energy usage is down 15% compared to two separate units. Practically eliminated temperature swings as boiler is able to throttle heat output vs outdoor temp.
Cost.. roughly 2.5x conventional hot water heater, esp if you opt for combi or more premium units. We opted for 15yr warranty model. Despite self install, our utility still credited us for installing more energy efficient appliance. Nice chunk of change.
To remedy the slow delivery, I added a circulator that turns on and forces hot water to circulate back through cold water line to speed up delivery. I have it set to run about 90 seconds triggered off a flow switch.
Space savings was a *nice* bonus. Maintenance is about hour worth of effort once a year and $20 worth of vinegar solution.
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beemerphile
Well-known member
When you are old and arthritic those long hot showers are therapy after a hard day's work. If you come for my tankless Rinnai heater, bring lots of backup.
If your water heater is in the garage, then the heat pump is a great option. My power company offered a $750 rebate to install one, and I had it a solid decade with no issues.
You can keep the old water heater and use it as a pre-warm tank so the water comes up to room temp before entering the new water heater.
My water heater had a non-metal tank and it never corroded. The key to longevity is to not turn on the heating elements and use the heat pump mode exclusively. It was 50 gallon tank and was great for my use.
However, the biggest benefit other than lower cost to run was that it removed all the humidity from my garage. Highly recommended for this feature alone.
(The water valve to reduce flow to the girls shower sounds brilliant, IMHO)
The heat pump water heater was around $1000 when I bought it, not sure if you picked an expensive version or if prices have more than doubled. YMMV.
You can keep the old water heater and use it as a pre-warm tank so the water comes up to room temp before entering the new water heater.
My water heater had a non-metal tank and it never corroded. The key to longevity is to not turn on the heating elements and use the heat pump mode exclusively. It was 50 gallon tank and was great for my use.
However, the biggest benefit other than lower cost to run was that it removed all the humidity from my garage. Highly recommended for this feature alone.
(The water valve to reduce flow to the girls shower sounds brilliant, IMHO)
The heat pump water heater was around $1000 when I bought it, not sure if you picked an expensive version or if prices have more than doubled. YMMV.
jahn
Well-known member
We are finishing our basement for my wife's office. Our Hot Water Tank is located there and by the date code is 2002.
It's not leaking and working fine for now, but being 20+ years old how much time do I really have? Should I be pro-active?
I'm in Michigan with well water and a water softener. If I do change it out, would a tankless be a choice? What's your experience with the tankless?
It's not leaking and working fine for now, but being 20+ years old how much time do I really have? Should I be pro-active?
I'm in Michigan with well water and a water softener. If I do change it out, would a tankless be a choice? What's your experience with the tankless?
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
It has anywhere from 1 hour to 20 years left in it. Helpful, eh? How's the anode rod look? I bet there isn't anything left.
In a finished space, I think I'd proactively replace.
If you have natural gas, or lots of cheap electrical service, tankless can be great. I had one on well water and used an iron filter, in addition to a softener, just to protect the heater. Adding a holding tank can help a ton and it allowed me to schedule when the heater would run. Gas usage was very low
jahn
Well-known member
Yes, that 1 hour or 20 years has me thinking after investing in redoing the basement and making it the bosses office. I don't need or want to hear the " we got water down here ruining my stuff", hence me asking the Tank/Tankless question.
Anode, is good - less than a year old (an electronic one). Yes we use natural gas for the existing tank system. We do use a Iron Additive Salt since we did have some iron in our water, but would add the filter, thanks.
What size holding tank did you use, did it really help, it seem to defeat the purpose of the tankless system?
Thanks: Tankless for Dummies is what I need
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Mine was about 50gal. It was existing when we bought the house, but I liked that I could set the timer to only make hot water in the mornings and evenings. Outside of the heating season, I'd run so little gas that I'd be near the billing minimums and that included cooking use. No idea if that setup saved money over the alternative, but it was so cheap to run that I didn't care