O/T water heater

[Roy in georgia]

a friend of mine needs an electric water heater changed and asked if I knew how much it would cost in labor he is going to get an 80 gal to replace the 40 gal he has now that is leaking he will pick it up tomorrow but neither one of us are electricians and don't want to mess it up he just wants to make sure he don't get ripped it is easy to get to in a basement that has a garage door we will probably put it in the same room as the old one when he gets home

 

[Larry59]

Make sure all electricty is off in house.
Check .. the old water heaters sometimes have
water still in them and is heavey to handle. Two wheeler is good to have.
Make sure the one you get will fit upright in space and around. You may still be limited to space. This happen to me and cause me lots of problems. Had to go back to size I had.
Also seeing it will be bigger. You will need some plumbing changes to fit the now water change hook ups.
Hope this helps some.

 

[paul]

Did he check with his electric co - if an REA esp, they offer lifetime warrenty & instal for like 1/5 the price of a good brand of heater - they put it on offpeak power which doesn't hurt any.

Probably too late to check on that, but.....

--->Paul

 

[doogdoog]

Aloha,
Be sure to fill the tank and purge it before you turn on the electricty!

Mahalo,
doogdoog

 

[El Toro]

You can call the local plumbers in your area and may be able to get a quote over the phone. Here in MD they charge $100.00 for the first hour and so much for each 1/4 hour. My neighbor messed up
his shower faucet in his master bath by cutting one of the seats with a saw blade and cut too far
then couldn't stop the leak. I told him he ruined the faucet it would need to be replaced and to call a plumber. The plumbers bill was almost $300.00 plus he had to buy a new faucet for another $200.00. The code here in MD is you need to install an expansion tank on the cold water line at the tank on a new hot water heater.
My water heater has been in 16 years and the tank is fiberglass. If it ever needs to changed Sears will give me a new water heater since it had a lifetime warranty. It was called the Survivor and isn't sold anymore. The original cost was around $800.00, but I paid just under $400.00 from one of Sears Surplus stores. I have that sales receipt filed away in case I ever need it. Its gas fired too. Make sure you shutoff the breaker and use a volt meter to make sure there's no voltage present. That's 240vac on that water heater. Hal

 

[Leland]

hard to screw up really ,3 wires and 2 pipes a red green and probley black .the red and black are hots green ground .

 

[Walt Davies]

I just payed $282 to have my new water heater installed they did a real nice job with all new flexible steel pipe and a strap for earth quakes.
It was worth every penny. But shop around one company charges $1000 for the same work.

Walt

 

[dave guest]

Used to change them in 70's for $50. What is that today? $250 maybe.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I install them all the time for $ 150 or less depending on the time spent.

Best to make sure that if you are wanting to replace the 40 gallon with a 80 gallon that the actual consumption needs are there; otherwise, you are wasting your money and future energy costs, only to realize that a 40/50 gallon heater is more efficient than a 80 given the actual needs... Not to mention the startup costs are greater and most heaters manufactured today and generally sold to consumers are warrantied for 6 years, unless otherwise noted/ >>> costly.

Good tip; purge the air by using the T&P valve or hot faucet tap before you turn on the power (i.e. make sure the heater is filled before ) or you will fry the elements to start with.

If you have to pay more than a maximum of $200 for installation you are being ripped off, IMHO... If you have any questions email me ...Good luck

 

[Anonymous-0]

Tankless.

 

[T_Bone]

Hi Roy,

I'm with ITD as the tankless is the only way to go. The typical tank type has to keep the water hot to meet expected demand use. This requires alot of wasted energy while the water is waiting to be used.

A tankless heater heats the water as you use it. It doesn't matter if the demand is 5gal or 800gal as the heater shuts off, turns on when you turn the facuet/valve on/off.

This method of heating water prefroms well if you take multi-showers/baths then wash multi-loads of cloths without waiting for the water to reheat. You just don't run out of HW.

The heater as a flow control so if you have a dripping facuet the heater will not come on. I think the flow control is about .5gpm before the heating unit fires to heat the water.

Since heating water is the most costly with using electricity, then a tankless unit will save alot of money.

T_Bone