You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Is there a good youtube vid out there for this? Mine's like 3 years old and I've never done this.

It's really pretty simple. Cut an old garden hose to about the length you need to get from your drain valve on the water tank to the floor drain. Hook it up. Shut off the cold water feed. Open pressure relief valve and drain valve let drain. Close drain valve when empty fill while leaving pressure relief valve open. Repeat.
Fill tank again an enjoy your mostly scale free hot water tank.
Almost forgot, make sure you turn the water heater off first. Relight when done flushing.

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I paid $800... in 2013.



$1000 for the tank these days.



https://www.homedepot.ca/product/rhe...ter/1000792347

I may have been a little off by saying a few years ago.
I just looked up my purchase, paid $480 for a 30gal hot water heater in 2021. Guessing you got ripped off.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by Titan2

Yes. Lots. LMGTFY...

I feel very proud of myself for figuring out that acronym without Googling it.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

Guessing close to $1800 installed? They are pricey nowadays.

$3900 after a discount!

[Mccree]

Originally Posted by keratosis

I may have been a little off by saying a few years ago.
I just looked up my purchase, paid $480 for a 30gal hot water heater in 2021. Guessing you got ripped off.

30 gals is quite small. Most homes have 60-80 ones

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by Mccree

30 gals is quite small. Most homes have 60-80 ones

2 adults, it's plenty big.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I think mine was like 16-17 years old when I proactively replaced it. 3 guys were yelling while trying to carry that thing upstairs. Apparently there might have been so much sediment, it might as well have been filled with concrete.

I've been wondering if I should regularly flush mine to avoid sediment build up.

I'm in your boat. 14 years on the same hot water tank without flushing it. I'm a "ain't broke don't fix it" kind of guy though. I feel like I'm playing with house money at this time and don't want to rock the boat. What if one of those pieces of sediment is what's holding the whole thing together? I'd rather keep that stuff in there plugging holes.

[Fuzz]

Oh ya if it's that old don't touch it. Don't do what I did, which was wait 6 months, finally put the plumbers number on your desk to call the next day, then have it disintegrate the next morning. Doesn't give you many options on shopping around.

[curves2000]

Don't buy hot water tanks at big box stores. They are designed like crap to be sold there despite their branding. Usually the best brand is Bradford White. Only sold to plumbing professionals and are high quality, although not to the same degree as before with all the new fancy stuff. This means you need professional installation for a professional product.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by curves2000

Don't buy hot water tanks at big box stores. They are designed like crap to be sold there despite their branding. Usually the best brand is Bradford White. Only sold to plumbing professionals and are high quality, although not to the same degree as before with all the new fancy stuff. This means you need professional installation for a professional product.

Pretty sure you can buy BW as a consumer, so why woudl you require a professional install?


Benner sells them:


https://www.bennerplumbing.com/produ...water-heaters/

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Oh ya if it's that old don't touch it. Don't do what I did, which was wait 6 months, finally put the plumbers number on your desk to call the next day, then have it disintegrate the next morning. Doesn't give you many options on shopping around.

My insurance company forced me to proactively replace mine. It was 13 years old and they said if I didn’t replace it by x date then I didn’t have coverage if it leaked. They’ve obviously done the math.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by keratosis

It's really pretty simple. Cut an old garden hose to about the length you need to get from your drain valve on the water tank to the floor drain. Hook it up. Shut off the cold water feed. Open pressure relief valve and drain valve let drain. Close drain valve when empty fill while leaving pressure relief valve open. Repeat.
Fill tank again an enjoy your mostly scale free hot water tank.
Almost forgot, make sure you turn the water heater off first. Relight when done flushing.

This should probably be mentioned first, unless you want to re-create the Mt. Doom scene from Rings of Power when you turn the water back on.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Pretty sure you can buy BW as a consumer, so why woudl you require a professional install?


Benner sells them:


https://www.bennerplumbing.com/produ...water-heaters/

Yes and no. That is a plumbing supply store that sells pro-grade stuff which is a world of a difference than Home Depot grade crap. You can't buy Bradford White at big box stores, they won't build the lower grade stuff required for big box stores.

A lot of times a lot of plumbing stores won't sell certain things like hot water heaters, furnaces or boilers to random Joe's off the street. If they do sell them, they won't warranty items usually unless it's professional installation. Usually it's the plumbers that do a lot of the warranty related things which is why the mark up the product 30-50% to compensate for it.

Limit's liability for some dude who doesn't know what he is doing installing something gas related, trying to undercut a plumber and pro-installation.

[ripTDR]

It annoys me that as a steamfitter and now a millwright my strata won't let me do a install in my own place(townhouse). Need a B gas ticket. Still gonna do it one goulish dark night though

[Wormius]

Genuine question - what's the big difference between the big box store Rheem water heater and a Bradford White one? These are all pretty simple machines, no? They burn gas to heat water in a big tank. Only problems occur when the anode rod has been eaten away and doesn't protect the inside of the tank anymore from corrosion.

[keratosis]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Genuine question - what's the big difference between the big box store Rheem water heater and a Bradford White one? These are all pretty simple machines, no? They burn gas to heat water in a big tank. Only problems occur when the anode rod has been eaten away and doesn't protect the inside of the tank anymore from corrosion.

You are supposed to check the anode rod every year or so and they can be replaced. I do it once a year when I flush the tank..

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Genuine question - what's the big difference between the big box store Rheem water heater and a Bradford White one? These are all pretty simple machines, no? They burn gas to heat water in a big tank. Only problems occur when the anode rod has been eaten away and doesn't protect the inside of the tank anymore from corrosion.

A lot of stuff at big box retailers is designed for volume and for a low price. Appliances, lawnmowers, snowblowers, hot water tanks, a lot of tools. Different specs, different quality parts and more.

Rheem I believe is built in Mexico but BW are built in USA and only sold to plumbing stores for installation by plumbers. My experience with multiple tanks has always been superior but I am sure there are significant difference in parts, lining, quality and more.

[Shazam]

curves2000 is correct.

There was an obscure website that actually listed local prices for the pro items (a plumber in a FB group linked it once). Prices were about the same (e.g. 50 gallon home ~ 50 gallon pro).

[Doctorfever]

Originally Posted by keratosis

$1800 installed? If you are the least bit mechanically inclined, you and a buddy with a pickup could probably do it in an afternoon. Did mine a few years ago it was only around $450 plus some black pipe fittings.
Come to think of it, the reason I did it myself was I was quoted $800ish including disposal of the old one.

Ya, I replaced mine myself as well. Probably 3 or 4 years ago and it was not that expensive.

Unfortunately I was in a situation that I couldn’t replace the one at a rental house, and was quoted $1800 (roughly). Was able to get a better deal through work contacts, but they are not as inexpensive as they were even 4 years ago.

I just crack the valve on the drain every couple months or so and hope that keeps sediment flushed.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by keratosis

I may have been a little off by saying a few years ago.
I just looked up my purchase, paid $480 for a 30gal hot water heater in 2021. Guessing you got ripped off.

I had it installed. 50 gallon. And the old one taken away. #### that ####.