Thread: Is there a plumber in the house?...Anyone?

Okay. I have an A O Smith "energy saver" 50 gallon, 240V, single phase, residential electric water heater which has just sprung a leak. I am looking for a water heater that can save on energy costs while giving the same or better performance than my "lame duck" water heater. I will be calling Johnstone first thing in the morning and see what they say but I thought I would like to pick the brains of my friends first. Price is also a consideration.

By the way, the model# is EEST 40 917. Google keeps telling me I am wrong but my water heater insists that its the right number

Sorry to hear about your water heater Mark. OTOH, every dark cloud has a silver lining. A perfect opportunity to try the cold water shave.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Sorry to hear about your water heater Mark. OTOH, every dark cloud has a silver lining. A perfect opportunity to try the cold water shave.

Been at that for some time now. When I lived in AZ I shaved with cold water in the summer but when I moved back to San Diego I forgot all about using cold water, that is until I read your thread a few months back and have been using cold water ever since.

I'm no plumber, but I can do a good imitation of the the plumber's cleavage, or so I am told.

If I were you I would take advantage of the beautiful socal weather and take a look at solar hot water. You know, do your bit for global warming

James.

I know this bald guy named Joe who might be able to help:

Mark,
Are you still under warranty on your A.O. Smith? I had a gas one spring a leak 2 years ago and it was replaced under warranty. Just had to pay the labor.

I am curious about the tankless systems though.

I'm not a plumber, I do HVAC, including water heaters and I'm in Canada so I'm probably useless here. They have tankless types now that only heat the water as it's needed. If sized properly they can supply enough hot water to run a couple things at once. Like mine can do 2 showers and the dishwasher together without having a a shortage of hot water. Check for rebates, I'm not sure about the states but here there are a few available when upgrading to energy saving appliances. Also, you may want to see if yours is under warranty like was said. On it should be a name of the installer, maybe on a sticker. Get the serial number and call them, they should help. If it's less than 5yrs old it should be covered but either way if you upgrade it will save you money in they long run(as long as you stay in the same house for a while).

i'm no plumber (though i do all my own plumbing with no problems, nothing crazy though) at our health clinic we put in one of the on demand units and it works great. it was made by these guys Eemax - Residential - Home Owners

if you do have to replace it i would recommend the on demand ones for sure.

Like all of the above, I'm not a plumber. I've done the plumbing in my old house and have been servicing my water heater for years. I cannot recommend a new brand of water heater but I can offer a couple things. First, it seems that most water heater failures are do to lack of basic maintenance. Your car wouldn't last long if you never changed the oil, so why do people think they never need to do maintenance on their water heater. You can dramatically extend the life of your water heater if you a)drain some water out of it occasionally and b) monitor the condition of your anode rod and replace it when needed.

Water heater degradation shifts into high gear once the anode rod disappears. Water heater warranties are based on the expected life of your anode rod.

For energy conservation, use a water heater blanket around your tank and heat traps above both the inlet and outlet pipes.

If you want to know more about water heater maintenance, this is a great website.

If you live in an area with hard water the life of the heater is dramatically reduced. In my area if you get 10 years from a top of the line heater and you do maint. you are very lucky. I've read about the on demand types ina Consumer reports artical. They said the initial expense takes many years to recoup by any savings during use. Also by the way back in the 1950s we had an oil fired furnace and it had an internal on demand device in it for hot water. Unlimited hot water. I guess the old becomes new.

I just replaced my heater a few months ago I had a Whirlpool which is a piece of junk. I replaced it with a Bradford-White which is a much better unit.