New water heater rules coming; expect more expensive units, tighter fits

Omaha World Herald ^ | Feb. 22, 2015 | Cole Epley

[Mean Daddy]

If it’s been a while since you took stock of the age and vitality of your water heater, now would be a good time to do so.

Mechanical rooms and homeowners’ appliance budgets are about to get more cramped after April 16, when the latest round of federal standards stipulating increased energy efficiency of residential water heaters takes effect.

The standards stem from a 1987 Department of Energy law called the National Appliance Energy Conservation Act.

Water heater manufacturers are responding with energy-saving additions like advanced electronics, more insulation and heat pumps, which means new units promise to get taller, wider and more complicated than their less-efficient predecessors.

[null and void]

I sure hope you don’t take coffee breaks with him - YAWN!!

No need. I sit next to him. He's a funny, articulate, bright and interesting guy.

Do you discriminate against everyone with a brain?

[Thank You Rush]

“”Do you discriminate against everyone with a brain? “”

That’s a pretty broad statement, don’t you think? Why the defense mechanism? I merely meant that coffee break time would be time to relax, forget the work for a few minutes and enjoy yourself. Jeez!!!!

[null and void]

Then I very badly misread your intent. My bad, my apologies.

[MaxMax]

Get a Sine-Wave backup for it. They're cheap and you only want it to stabilize the
power fluxuations powering into the unit. Any board repair will cost over $250.
The cheaper ones with a Simulated Sine Wave are good enough for under $60.

[MaxMax]

It's not the appliance, it's the soap.. The EPA has regulated the phosphate
out of the soaps and they are almost worthless now. The DW water needs to be 140degrees
in order to activate the Detergent so you must use your "Heated Water/Wash" option
on your control with each load. That will ensure the soap does it's best job.

Front loaders are tougher to keep clean. Use a bleach wash at least twice a month
to keep it fresh, also don't do a load and allow it to sit overnight. It will mildew
and begin to stink.

Or you could go to the hardware store and grab some TSP then learn how
much to use from advice online. Use for Washer and DW. I use one TBSP per.

[jpsb]

yes it is fairly easy to install a propane tankless water heater. I installed the electric one too, but I had an electrician check my work/numbers. A 60 amp breaker is a big breaker.

[Be Free]

Not mine (Takagi TK-2) - it has a built in anti-freeze program, where it will fire up the burner for a few moments if the temperature drops to freezing. Mine’s mounted in a garage utility room, so it would have to get pretty cold before this would even come on.

Can’t speak to other brands, or the electric type ones.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Well, yeah, that's part of the problem, especially the DW, where all the plastic and silicone utensils transfer a soapy taste to food because they don't rinse completely.

The washing machine uses what seems like a half gallon of water for a load, with no way to change it without adding an extra rinse cycle that adds another 30 mins. I also run loads half the size of my old, obsolete top loader. You have to add little scent pellets to the wash to make clothes smell clean. Clothes don't get clean in that little water.

[BobL]

“Why would you want to heat hot water?”

Actually Hot Water Heaters are used a lot throughout the country...particularly for homes that don’t have forced air heating.

Not sure what this has to do with Water Heaters in general or this article in particular, though.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Thanks, good to know. With the amount of stuff in our water the tankless might not work for us if that is an issue.

[BobL]

“What an insult to our intelligence. Even if the water tank was one of the super size ones the McMansions use, it is likely to be no bigger than 120 gallons of water. That would only produce 2-3 inches of water in a large basement like that that would have been present in the Soprano home.”

HYSTERICAL. My kid fell for it too. I asked him if a 120 gallon water heater bursts open, how much water will end up on the basement floor.

He said 120 gallons! LOL! As if God himself will descend and immediately shut off the 3/4” input supply line to that water heater upon it bursting.

[Myrddin]

My water heater is in the basement. Dead center from all outer walls. The vent goes to the roof in a 30 ft vertical run. The lower bound of cost for the larger vent was $1,000 materials and labor. I suspect the cost would have been much higher. There are other concerns with flash heaters in places where ice cold air can come down the vent. We routinely have Winter lows around -15F and less frequently to -21F. The heat exchanger can freeze and burst during an "off" period.

I considered an electric flash heater, but my house power service is pretty well maxed out right now. Perhaps next time. The electrical work would be minor compared to the improved venting required.

[ansel12]

You should see the potentially deadly water heater installations that I have seen over the years.

[steve86]

We're buying a house with my mother (98) and the water heater there is central in the basement also. The seller -- an electrician tradesman at Hanford -- replaced the heater and improved everything to the extent he could, though. Also insists on doing some additional electrical work (panel outside to supply the sheds) at no cost to us.

Back here I just leave a 150 watt bulb on under the tankless water heater and piping during cold periods along with heat tape under the house and have had no problems. The venting on that unit is straight up about 5 feet and installation was about a 45 minute job. At the other end of the house I installed a 120v inline heater for supplementary heat to that shower during extraordinarily cold periods. Admittedly, the main propane tankless heater sees a drop in output temp while the water supply is very cold; it can't sit there and heat the water indefinitely to the thermostat setting like a tank element can.

[Myrddin]

Some of the locals on ranch property have propane tanks for heating. The vapor pressure of propane drops with the ambient outdoor temperature. At -20F, they can't vaporize enough of the liquid propane in their tanks to do anything useful. Some resort to building a small fire under the tank to build some pressure.

My 2nd house in Pocatello is a 1947 vintage. It has the original coal chute and chimney from the boiler. The radiators have been removed and a 95% efficient natural gas, forced air heater provides heat. The water is heated with an electric heater with a 40 gallon tank. My son has to change the heating elements every 6 to 12 months. Very hard artesian water. I have a water softener at the main house.

[steve86]

Relatively mild temperatures and moderately soft water here (for those who draw from the river). Easy life. I’ve run into the vaporization issues while camping with propane-butane mixes. Usually, though, propane itself is thought to be good for stoves down to -40F. It probably helps to have a fat tank with more liquid surface area rather than a long, skinny tank.

[SunkenCiv]

I grew up on well water here, and it’s hard like Nobel-winner math, or certain surnames. But I prefer it to all other water. OTOH, there is nothing wrong with a Brita or whole-house filter, or reverse osmosis, either. :’)

[sheana]

We replaced our water heater about 10 yrs ago but if it ever needs replacing again we’ll go tankless.

[ErnBatavia]

Hope you don’t have a large family that takes showers....the “endless supply” of hot water is a myth in our experience.

[sheana]

I recently bought a new dishwasher because ours from the 80’s (lol) went out. It was a great dishwasher with a chopper in it so I never had to rinse dishes. So I went looking for another with a chopper in it. Boy are they hard to find. No one is making them anymore. They all are using a filtration system and everyone I know that has this new filtration system says they don’t work.
Anyway, I found a Maytag on close out with a chopper in it. The guy told me buy it cause you may not find another. So I did. It works great and is very quiet but the total wash/rinse cycle is at least twice as long as my old one. How in the heck is that saving energy?