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NFT: Hot Water Heater

xwreckingxcrewx : 7/11/2017 4:59 pm
Found a pool of water on my basement floor about 5 minutes before heading for vacation. Was gone for 10 days. Have been back for about a week with no issues (got water cleaned up). Now, we are out of hot water.

Any ideas? I called a HVAC person- I wasn't here- he told my wife we need a new hot water heater- we can't get a 80 gallon like we had, need to get a 50 gallon...unless we move our hot water to electric....

Sounds like my wife handled this and told him to get a new hot water heater BUT, I can't speak to here for a few hours and I don't want to just get this done without any research, knowledge, etc.

A) Is it logical that I need a new hot water heater- and if so, how much $ will I be looking at?

Any Recommendations as to makes/models/set -up?

Thanks for any help.
Do you need 80 gallons?  
section125 : 7/11/2017 5:04 pm : link
Do you have 5 kids?

I'd do anything I could to stay away from electric if I had gas (or is it oil?)
How old is your HWH?  
ZogZerg : 7/11/2017 5:06 pm : link
Yes, you could need a new one
50 gallons should be fine  
ZogZerg : 7/11/2017 5:06 pm : link
Unless you have a large HH
Why would you heat  
LS : 7/11/2017 5:20 pm : link
hot water?
gas fired - exhaust chimney  
blueberry : 7/11/2017 5:22 pm : link
new regs make you increase the chimney flue in diameter - so an 80 gallon (huge) would include that expense too
Go...  
Stan in LA : 7/11/2017 5:46 pm : link
Tankless!
Link - ( New Window )
I think it's electric  
xwreckingxcrewx : 7/11/2017 6:09 pm : link
From 2009...it was a rheem....we are a household of five, 3 kids 7, 10, 12
We have a family of 4 and merely 40 gallons  
Moondawg : 7/11/2017 9:00 pm : link
hasn't been a problem yet (the girls aren't teenagers, yet, though. . . )
You can tell if you're on electric  
B in ALB : 7/11/2017 9:11 pm : link
Or gas by the hookups on top of the current water heater.

If you've had it since 2009 with a household of five and you've got leakage, it's time to replace. They last about 9-10 years unless you're thankless. If you go with a 40 gallon, which should be plenty these days, it will run you about $975 installed.
Thanks for your comments  
xwreckingxcrewx : 7/11/2017 9:14 pm : link
I think I'm going electric like I've had:

Can anybody recommend a good make/model?
Go with a State Pro Line  
B in ALB : 7/11/2017 9:23 pm : link
Commercial Grade.
HWH  
bitterblue : 7/11/2017 11:53 pm : link
Bradford White.
Tankless  
afann : 7/12/2017 6:27 am : link
I was thinking of a tankless water heater. I read that if you run the dishwasher and take a shower at the same time it will affect the hot water flow. Ant truth to this? Anyone have a tankless system? If so, what do you suggest.
RE: Go...  
The 12th Man : 7/12/2017 11:37 am : link
In comment 13525722 Stan in LA said:
Quote:
Tankless! Link - ( New Window )


I completely agree, love our tankless best thing we ever bought for the house.
RE: Tankless  
The 12th Man : 7/12/2017 11:44 am : link
In comment 13525958 afann said:
Quote:
I was thinking of a tankless water heater. I read that if you run the dishwasher and take a shower at the same time it will affect the hot water flow. Ant truth to this? Anyone have a tankless system? If so, what do you suggest.


Just not true, have 4 kids 3 of them teenagers. We have had dishwasher, washing machine and 2 different showers running at the same time no issues.
RE: Tankless  
Scyber : 7/12/2017 4:14 pm : link
In comment 13525958 afann said:
Quote:
I was thinking of a tankless water heater. I read that if you run the dishwasher and take a shower at the same time it will affect the hot water flow. Ant truth to this? Anyone have a tankless system? If so, what do you suggest.


It all depends on the sizing. Get one that is too small and yes that could happen.

Tank based water heaters were restricted by the size of the tank. That is you could use X Gallons of water until you ran out of hot water. But you could use that all in 1 minute if you wanted.

Tank-less waters heaters are restricted by the flow. That is how much hot water could be output at once. Depending on the sizing you can run X showers/dishwashers/etc all at once. And you can run those for as long as you want. But once you turn on something else, the flow will be impacted.

The tip I have always heard about tank-less is that you should go one size up from what is recommended. Smaller sizes seem like a better deal, but you wind up regretting it if it was not sized correctly.
check with your utility companies  
giants#1 : 7/12/2017 4:35 pm : link
they often have rebates, particularly if you get an energy star qualified unit.
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