Water heaters

[markiver54]

...
Managed to clean up the breezeway while limping around. No more big box...Yay!!

Way better!

Thank you Mags.

[Sir Henry]

Looks good!

[John E Davies]

I’m interested in your results too. Around here more and more homes are being built without basements (cheaper) and the furnace and water heaters are put in the garages. Of course this requires the garage to be insulated and sheet rocked which is a good thing. Something I wish I had done when the house was built. Not sure if folks with the garage located systems are heating the garage or not. But with out winter temps I’m thinking it would be needed.

Local Spokane CITY building code allows appliances in the garage without full insulation or heat there. Which IMHO is insane. My house was built in 2014, no basement, the HVAC stuff is very much in the way in the garage. The only area where 3/4” sheet rock is required as a fire barrier is on that common wall that is shared with the living space and on the ceiling (shared attic space). My garage is fully sheet rocked, but not heated, but I had to pay extra for that. I see lots of houses with their garage doors wide open for hours on bitter cold days, that is a very bad habit, I try to limit the door openings to brief dashes in and out with a vehicle. That way the temp rarely gets below 40 degrees.

One other concern is back venting from the gas water heater, with any added shop fan, I have to be careful in summer to not draw exhaust gases back down the flue. An electric WH doesn’t have that deadly risk. I was going to replace it with a hybrid gas/ electric WH, but one tech quickly talked me out of that mistake. He said many customers install them and then have them yanked out after a few years due to their constant out of warranty maintenance problems.

I don’t know the County code for Deer Park, but my feeling is that it is a little more lax than the city one…

John Davies
Spokane city, WA

[Vaquero]

Well....ya been using it for a couple weeks now.
Whatcha think??

RP

[markiver54]

Well....ya been using it for a couple weeks now.
Whatcha think??

RP

Funny you should ask. Was getting ready to post a follow up.

I am truly enjoying the fact that my breezeway is now clear for the most part. That was my main goal. ( to get rid of that big box ).
As for the tankless; it's taking some time to get used to it. It takes a bit longer for the water to run hot. Not a big deal though Only maybe 20 seconds or so. A little faster in the bathroom because it is closer to the unit. Once the water is hot though, there is no chance of running out. Heck, as the plumber put it, " you could fill a swimming pool with hot water ".

It WAS a very expensive install, but well worth it to me. I think it probably increased the value of the house some as well. I don't think I will live long enough to see a return on investment, but that was not my goal anyway. The ONLY drawback is that if I lose power, I have no hot water as there is no standing water in a tank to use. Course that wouldn't last long anyway. All in all, I am very pleased with the unit.

[Mags]

... The ONLY drawback is that if I lose power, I have no hot water as there is no standing water in a tank to use. ...

It's gas fueled heater. Why wouldn't you still have hot water?

[markiver54]

... The ONLY drawback is that if I lose power, I have no hot water as there is no standing water in a tank to use. ...

It's gas fueled heater. Why wouldn't you still have hot water?

It requires electricity for the internal gas igniter. No continuous pilot. Matter of fact, I had to have an outlet installed in the closet where the unit is located.
Good question though.

[Mags]

... The ONLY drawback is that if I lose power, I have no hot water as there is no standing water in a tank to use. ...

It's gas fueled heater. Why wouldn't you still have hot water?

It requires electricity for the internal gas igniter. No continuous pilot. Matter of fact, I had to have an outlet installed in the closet where the unit is located.
Good question though.

Wonder if there is a battery backup option? Not a water heater, but the propane gas fireplace at my mother-in laws has a battery box with 8 AA batteries in it that will run the igniter if the power goes out.

[markiver54]

It's gas fueled heater. Why wouldn't you still have hot water?

It requires electricity for the internal gas igniter. No continuous pilot. Matter of fact, I had to have an outlet installed in the closet where the unit is located.
Good question though.

Wonder if there is a battery backup option? Not a water heater, but the propane gas fireplace at my mother-in laws has a battery box with 8 AA batteries in it that will run the igniter if the power goes out.

Hmm...maybe I'll research that. It WOULD be nice.

[JEBar]

back in early Feb 2015 we had a Rinnai tankless water heater installed so it has been in service for just under 10 years .... it has performed flawlessly since day one .... well, yesterday it failed without any warning .... it literally just stopped working .... today is Saturday and our plumber will be here Monday morning (he and his crew are at their annual salt water fishing weekend at the Carolina coast) .... hopefully, it can be repaired and his examination will show its still worth repairing .... if not, we will have it replaced .... the pictures below show the original install