Time to replace water heater

[KD0AXS]

Just looking for some recommendations on water heaters.

Our current water heater (AO Smith, 50 gallon, propane, power vent) has been acting up, and I've determined the problem is that it's rusty and the pieces of rust fall on the burner. This interferes with the flame and makes it shut down. Cleaning the pieces of rust off the burner helps, but eventually it happens again. I'm not aware of any way to fix this, so it's going to need to be replaced.

We definitely need at least a 50 gallon, and I'm considering a little larger one. It's just my wife and I here now, but we have a 2 person Jacuzzi in the master bath and we don't really get enough hot water for it. Adding to the family is a definite possibility in the next couple years too. Plus, when we're done finishing the basement there will be 4 bedrooms and 3 baths so a larger water heater might be a plus if we ever decide to sell.

I'm also considering a tankless water heater if it might be a better option, but I don't really know much about them. It would obviously require some re-routing of plumbing, but that's nothing I can't handle.


I stuck my phone inside the bottom of our current water heater and took a couple pics, here's what it looks like.



There have been a lot more pieces of rust laying in the bottom than this, I've cleaned it out with a shop vac a couple times.

 

[JTK]

Looks to be a fairly old water heater anyway if it doesn't have a sealed burner. The sealed ones have been standard for a good 8-10yrs.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I put in a GE Geospring Hybrid a few years ago-it was a few months after they first came out. I've been completely satisfied with it.

Even in full eco-mode it generates enough hot water for our needs. We frequently have people stay over, and we also have a jacuzzi in the master bath. We've never run short of hot water in full eco-mode, even with a house full of guests. The energy payback on the initial investment was about 5 years over our AO Smith propane water heater.

The Minnesota Office of Energy did a study on the return on investment of tankless water heaters in 2010. The payback for the average gas fired tankless water heater was around 20 years, which is why I didn't go tankless.

We're getting ready to leave for a week, and the water heater has a vacation mode. I'll set it tomorrow morning for 6 days, and it won't run until the day we return.

 

[mattwithcats]

Tankless is the way to go, unlimited hot water...

Need a 3/4 gas line to fuel it (I believe), and a 120 volt plug...

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Looks to be a fairly old water heater anyway if it doesn't have a sealed burner. The sealed ones have been standard for a good 8-10yrs.


Build date is November of 2003. Construction on the house was completed in 2004 so it's been in service for ~11 years, although it did sit vacant and winterized for about a year and a half before we bought it in 2012. (Foreclosure)

 

[Plumber]

Condensation causes the rust usually.

Before you go tankless, check the water quality.

 

[Leo99]

My HWH was acting up so I did a little research. A lot of complaints about the tankless not maintaining a constant temp. These are ones the Home Depot sells so maybe the plumbing houses sell better models.

I speced out a 75 Gal HWH for my house. It's very nice to never run out but they are about $1000 to buy anew. It's 13 years old so it's on a limited life.

 

[BHopkins]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I put in a GE Geospring Hybrid a few years ago-it was a few months after they first came out. I've been completely satisfied with it.

Even in full eco-mode it generates enough hot water for our needs. We frequently have people stay over, and we also have a jacuzzi in the master bath. We've never run short of hot water in full eco-mode, even with a house full of guests. The energy payback on the initial investment was about 5 years over our AO Smith propane water heater.

The Minnesota Office of Energy did a study on the return on investment of tankless water heaters in 2010. The payback for the average gas fired tankless water heater was around 20 years, which is why I didn't go tankless.

We're getting ready to leave for a week, and the water heater has a vacation mode. I'll set it tomorrow morning for 6 days, and it won't run until the day we return.


When tankless water heaters were first introduced, they were marketed as being great energy savers, since they eliminated the need to store and maintain hot water. But in real world applications, it has been found that there is very little energy savings.

The only advantages to tankless water heaters are "endless" hot water and smaller footprint in the utility room. And really, the "endless" hot water supply really isn't that big of a deal, unless you are either very wasteful, or have a very large family.

I have 5 children, and when they were young and we had a full house, we rarely ran out of hot water with a 50 gal water heater. It was just a matter of common sense. Laundry wasn't ran in the evening when the kids were all taking showers and getting ready for bed. So to me, "endless" hot water is not worth the extreme price premium that is involved in purchasing and installing a tankless water heater.

 

[CT8]

Do you have well water being on propane?since I installed my last water 11 years ago I wanted a tankless water and was shopping for one and a local supplier carried Tanaka so I was ready to go . Saturday afternoon the water heater quit working and the supplier was closed until Monday so I went to the local box store and bought a replacement regular tank water heater and with in an hour I had a new water heater installed. Maybe next time I'll time it right for a tankless water heater,.

 

[sleddriver]

The "new, updated" mandates on water heaters recently went into effect. Hopefully, this one isn't in an attic.

 

[oilmutt]

It is my understanding you have to have some way to drain the GE Geospring HWH. IS that so? Thanks for the infro.

 

[Lapham3]

Reminds me..It just happened that both my wife and I and my parents built new homes in 1977. Both had the exact same Rheem water heaters. Ours lasted 12 years before it sprung a leak and was replaced. My parent's is still going just fine=hard to figure things sometimes!

 

[kmcavin]

Originally Posted By: oilmutt
It is my understanding you have to have some way to drain the GE Geospring HWH. IS that so? Thanks for the infro.


The Geospring water heaters (and ones like it) will have a condensation drain tube and that water will need to go somewhere. They pull heat from the surrounding air to heat the water which, like an A/C unit, will produce some water from the air. Geospring states that there must be a drain nearby (no higher than 36" off the floor) or use a condensate pump with a minimum of 1 gallon/day capacity. Normally you'd want a drain nearby anyway, for flushing purposes or if the relief valve should activate.

 

[Spector]

Depends on your set up. I had a service call on my 8 year old gas heater yesterday and because they no longer make the type I have (venting issues) it appears that the cost to go tankless versus a new similar replacement is less than $500 but my set up requires little piping re configuration etc.

Life is about 20 years on a tankless but they suggest 6-8 month flush which you can do yourself if you have hard water. One downside, if power goes out with a tankless no hot water, with a regular gas you still have hot water.

Also depends how long one will be in house, lots of pros and cons and individual situations

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
The "new, updated" mandates on water heaters recently went into effect. Hopefully, this one isn't in an attic.


From what I've seen reading online, the new mandates took place in April of this year. Totally confused about it though. I keep reading about tank models being electronic ignition, with forced (fan) ventilation, etc. If you look at Lowes, Home Depot, etc, they're not. They look just like water heaters from 2yrs ago, but 1.5 to 3x the cost.

 

[Blaze]

We went tankless electric about 10 yrs ago (remodel). We had an immediate $20.00/month DROP in power. They are power hogs but keep in mind they only run when the hot water side is turned on,, so yep go on vacation and not worry. Ours took two 50 amp breakers, 3/4" pipe. Easy installation for us since it was done while the walls were torn out. Zero problems with ours made by Stiebel Eltron...and yes! we can shower and use the dishwasher without it turning cold.

 

[oilpsi2high]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Tankless is the way to go, unlimited hot water...

Need a 3/4 gas line to fuel it (I believe), and a 120 volt plug...


Waste of money. The new tanks are very efficient, to the point where I can have four showers going at once and not run out of hot water.

They also have a vacation mode and other features geared toward efficiency.