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Re: Recommendation for highly reliable natural gas water heater?...
You kinda just skipped over my point…
The point being, cheaper, with less failure points and less damage to the glass lining.
As far as more to buy parts for…… 99% of people never touch their anode.
ChrisJ
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
Hi @ethicalpaul , Have you done what can be done to make your place efficient before sizing the solar system? Are you looking at backup batteries so you can coast through power outages? And about Teslas, I've learned some older cars have free charging for life. I understand the average gas bill in the US is about $5000 yearly, so free "fuel" could be nice. Still, if you get full credit for power you put into the grid, you would be better off charging at a Tesla supercharger. 🤠
Yours, Larry
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
Good luck to it! We installed a 10KW ground mount system (nothing like being a farm — you have acreage to play with!) about a year ago, and it's working fine. Much the same deal with the power company that you will have.
For the year we have generated very slightly more energy that we have used.
We figure the payback on investment will be around 10 years, although with recent rate increases it may be shorter.
It does use microinverters, and we've had a couple fail — infant mortality — but they were easy to replace.
Next step is going to be seeing about a big battery bank — but at the moment at least it doesn't pay.
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
How many panels are you having installed? How many kw? Do you have an electric car?
We have 17 panels, 5.78 kw and use only half of what we generate since we haven't decided on which electric car to get. Won't get a Tesla.
Re: Weird bathtub trap
According to NJ plumbing code, that looks like a partition trap. Kind of. But not really.
ChrisJ
Re: Recommendation for highly reliable natural gas water heater?...
I went with HTP 11 years ago. I had had an AO Smith Sureshot Direct Vent (DV) since 2000 and it cracked in 2014 despite replacing the anode rod regularly and flushing once or twice a year.
I needed DV because we had eliminated the chimney. In 2014 the tank DV options from AOSmith and BW would have been a lot of extra work due to the the strict requirements for the height of the vent penetration.
After figuring that out the day after failure, I bought the cheapest electric water heater I could find at the big box and set it up temporarily powered via the nearby dryer receptacle.
I ruled out tankless because of 1) the complexity of integrating my recirc system 2) the need to upsize the gas line & meter or regulator based on calculation 3) fill time required for a spa tub.
THE HTP Phoenix 76-50 caught my eye because it was stainless, easily modified to work with recirc, was 76,000 BTU, Just under my load limit for existing piping, and the draft inducer - condensing venting requirements were flexible enough to use the existing penetration.
What I really appreciate with this is that, with almost twice the burner capacity of my old 50-gallon DV, it can run an endless shower and recover very quickly in all our usage circumstances. It is challenged by my wife filling the spa tub at full bore mid-winter, but she is aware of her options and it is her choice to fill fast and have slightly cooler water.
The only maintenance I've had to do besides flushing is rehabbing the condensate rock box which clogged after 10 years.
They sold this unit under the Westinghouse brand for a while in the big boxes, too, but I think they have scaled back. Have not checked lately.
Very happy with it!
Ahoy
Re: Lochinvar WBN080 lockout
if E01 is what I found online is correct. The manuals I looked up do not reference codes just symptoms. In one are it said it was water pressure, in another was ignition. Not helpful! Below would be based on if it is in fact water pressure.
If you keep getting the E01 error, what does your water pressure gauge read. Min of 12 needed normally. It could have a plugged sensing port. When servicing we would normally remove pressure sensor and flush out tube and make sure on press switch that it had a clear inlet hole.
Re: Lochinvar WBN080 lockout
Pin fitment or the the pressure the female part of the connector exerts on the male pin needs to be adequate. Also poor crimps or crimps that the wire has oxidized or corroded inside of the crimp are also suspects. A vendor like Digikey.com or Mouser.com may have the connectors and pins, matching it up correctly may prove time consuming, there are many connectors and often subtle differences.
Do any of the connectors show signs of discoloration due to heating (loose connection) ? In the event of a poor connection the boiler may shut down quickly so connector body heating may not be evident.
109A_5
Re: Lochinvar WBN080 lockout
With the WBN080 wiring documents I did not see a pressure sensor.
109A_5
Re: Lochinvar WBN080 lockout
I would call Lochinvar tech support tomorrow morning and ask them what the E01 code is for sure as It is not in manual. Odd.