Water heater question

Brian_58

Size is my biggest issue. I do not have a basement so if I could use this it would go under the staircase out of the way.... I don't care what it looks like. And if it breaks I'd much rather replace this tiny thing than a GIANT hot water heater :)

The necessary power is a great point, I hadn't looked into it. I only have 2 bathrooms and only 2 people living in the house so it doesn't need to be huge (I have a 40 gallon tank now and its fine). Any recommendations on what size or amp I need?

Brian_58

Wondering if anyone can give me feedback on electric on-demand hot water? I have my own thoughts but I'm looking for some life experiences! Thanks! here's what I'm looking at: http://www.gulfcoastenergysaver.com/

don_185

Nice concept.

but, looks cheesy.I would wonder how well it would perform with hard water.The cost of replacement elements and control board verse the bimetal stat and element on a standard waterheater.

Then looking at the price you could also have another one on hand and, join the crowd in becoming a throw away society.

Push and pull......

Larry Weingarten

Their biggest unit...

... draws 54 amps. How many gpm is that going to give you? There are other units out there that need over 200 amps to give enough hot water. Now with a solar pre-heater AND a GFX shower heat exchanger... ;~)

Yours, Larry

ALH_4

Solar?

Ideally, you could replace your 40gallon tank with a 40 gallon indirect water heater connected to a solar collector to pre-heat water for the electric instantaneous. Obviously it is more investment up front, but it might save significantly on your electricity for water heating particularly if your electric rates are high, depending on the piping difficulty, roof orientation, and insolation in your area.

It may be something to plan for in the future, even if you install the electric instantaneous now.

Brian_58

..... I do not have hot water or steam heat, or a boiler.

jp_2

existing tank?

whats wrong with the existing tank?

take a shower, then turn off the cold water, fill a bucket for a minute with the hot faucet untouched from showering, measure the water in the bucket. this is your gallons per minutes usage of pure 'hot' water.

do the same for washing hands or small hot water usage.

remember everytime you turn on a hot faucet, that unit will start drawing 40-50 amps.

if you find your hot water usage is right around .5 gallons a minute, that unit will not turn on. I read the web site quickly, i could be off on my numbers, but the idea is correct.

Glenn Sossin_2

Energy = Hot Water Out

You can't get something for nothing. 1KW is = to 3413 btu's of heat energy - thats not alot. Thats why you need so many Kwh to make any kind of decent water flow. Chances are, you don't have an extra 30, 40, 50 amps of capacity sitting around in your electrical panel.

I've included as an attachment, charts that show different KW inputs and the respective amperage draw and recovery rates. This should give you a real good picture of what you can expect to get based on the electric energy you can provide.

You could also keep your existing heater and add 2nd storage tank somewhere else to help you get over the peak load requirements.

You might want to consider a wall mounted gas water heater from someone like Noritz, Takagi, or Rinai, availabel as natural or LP. These units will typically have btu inputs ranging from 140,000 up to 230,00 or more. They would be able to realistically provide you with 4-6 gpm of useable hot water with little difficulty. Keep in mind as posted above there are minimum flow rates with these types of products usually between .5 and .75 gpm.

If still on the electric kick, I would consider just replacing the existing unit (assumming there's something wrong with it) with a larger tank model. This would probably be the easiest, least expensive course of action.

Good luck.

Howie_5

Flooded Sealed Hot water heater

well the recent Nor'easter flooded my basement really good and the new AO Smith hot water tank got to sit in about 5" of water. The label on the tank says if any part gets wet the whole unit is shot. Well being the stubborn fool that I am I noticed that the exterior starter/pilot unit didn't get wet so I thought I'd give it a try. I got the pilot lite started but if I bring the temperature up higher than low it blows itself out.. So I'm trying the slow approach. It's ben sitting on low for an hour or so... what should I do? keep inching (milimetering) it up or shut it down? ... Is it really shot? With watery basements here in NJ quite common one would think that they would install it well off the ground. or at lesat ask if it was a wet basement .. then again, as monty python said: no one ever expected teh spanish inquisition... or a spring time Nor'easter... Anyway, anyone with experience with these units...??? Thanks

Uni R_3

Minimum incoming water temperature...

Brian, what's the temperature of your water supply when it's the coldest?

Brian_58

Getting onto a few tangents, such as why I want a new hot water heater and what's wrong with a tank..... well the tank is now standing where a staircase is going to be built. With 800sf on the first floor (and no basement) there is no room for a huge tank. I want to put it under the staircase; I could go nat. gas but then I need to vent it and it is far more expensive and takes up more room.

As far as incoming temp I would have to check, I will say its not very cold. Checking my exact usage is difficult because my shower has a single handle, not 1 hot and 1 cold, but thank you for the chart, that will be helpful.

Guess I was hoping more for "these are good or work well in this situation ________" or "i've seen these used this way _________ and it was useless".

jp_2

answer to last question

things just aint't that easy

BillW@honeywell

Please read the \"flooded controls\" post I just put up...

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RELIGHT FLOODED CONTROLS!

Charles G.

WATER HEATER

You referred to this as a new sealed A.O.Smith water heater. What is the Model #? Newer A.O.S. units have a flame arrestor built into the bottom of the floor pan. If it gets wet the surface becomes clogged, shutting off the air supply to the combustion chamber. The pilot outage is the manufacturer's way of protecting you from yourself. READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL then decide if life and property is worth the price of a water heater...

SC_2

EGG SMELL NEW HOT WATER TANK

IF A PERSON REPLACES A LOCHVAR HOT WATER TANK WHICH NEVER GAVE THE EGG SMELL WITH A NEW TANK AND WITHIN SHORT TIME THE HOT WATER STINKS YES THE WATER WAS TESTED GOOD THE TANK WAS FLUSHED AND ELEMENTS CHECKED WHAT ARE HOME OWNERS TO TO DO ?

S R Denny

WH ?

Brian
I'd opt for a tankless gas fire unit on an outside wall with a side wall vent. If that won't work, try this site for high quality German made tankless electric water heaters.
http://www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com/

Unknown

What happened?

?

Glenn Sossin_2

Smell

SC, it appears you should have started a new thread, however ....

The smell is likely the result of a bacteria. You need to shock your water system, similar to what you do with a swimming pool.

The brand of the heater is not relevant.
Look at the attachment, this should help you.