Home Improvement Tip: Replacing a Water Heater

Published 18 April 06 04:30 PM | Jason Looney 

Yesterday, after enduring weeks of erratically lukewarm water, I submitted a ServiceMagic request for estimates on replacing our 40 gallon water heater.  We’ve been having trouble with the stupid thing for a while now, and since it recently reached its average lifespan (10 years), we figured it was time for a replacement.

But, life is too short to just replace things.  One should always take opportunities like these to upgrade.  I did a bit of research and found that tankless water heaters are gaining in popularity here in America.  They carry promises of endless hot water and increased efficiency since they heat the water as it’s being pulled through the pipes, as opposed to heating a giant tank of water that may or may not be needed anytime soon.

The plumbers who came by the house today all had varying opinions on the various approaches to heating water.  One guy said the tankless units don’t work very well and that I should be fine with a simple 40 gallon tank.  Another couldn’t stop singing the praises of the tankless setups, even offering the phone numbers of local, recently-satisfied customers.  Still another maintained that a 50 gallon “high output” tank would give us all the hot water we could ever want. 

The prices I was quoted ranged from $800 for a cheap tank to $2700 for one of the “continuous flow” systems.  Which leads me to my tip for the day…

Tip: Always double-check the temperature dial on your water heater before calling in teams of plumbers.  Otherwise, the first plumber who shows up will turn the dial from it’s current setting, “Warm”, to another setting, such as “Hot” or “A”, and there will be much awkwardness in the room.  The awkwardness is followed by a string of white lies to the other plumbers who stop by that day, all of whom are unwittingly wasting their time in the home of a moron.

Anyway, I hope you find this tip helpful.  For some reason, none of my Internet research revealed this nugget of wisdom. 

(The upside to all this, of course, is that I just saved $2700.)

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# Ed S. said on April 19, 2006 6:19 AM:
Hey Jason, you now must fully understand the answer to the Microsoft hotel hot water question.  However, they would toss you out the door for calling it a "Hot Water Heater", it's simply a water heater.
# Jason Looney said on April 19, 2006 8:07 AM:
Interesting you say that -- I was thinking about that last night.  I've heard "hot water heater" for so long that I've never thought about the redundancy.  

Editing the post now...
# Jason Looney said on April 22, 2006 3:28 PM:
[Pulled down from the post:] I originally used the phrase "hot water heater" for this post, which is part redundant and part nonsensical.  If the water were hot, it wouldn't need a heater.  I suppose the phrase comes from the conflation of "water heater" and "hot water tank." In any case, I feel certain that I have now removed all doubt:  

I.  Am.  Moron.
# sandy said on May 7, 2006 6:00 PM:
God, you're so funny! I almost died laughing when i read your coffin and Sarah's birthday cake posts earlier.
# Travis said on November 10, 2006 6:21 PM:

We need more Looney-ness!

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