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December 16, 2005
Natural Gas Water Heater
I'm looking to buy a natural gas water heater for a 3 family, four story brownstone with 4 bathrooms. Any thoughts on what capacity I need? I've heard conflicting information. One plumber told me an efficient 40 gallon heater would be enough, while another told me I shoul buy an 80 gallon tank. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Comments
You can never have enough hot water, especially in a multi-family situation. Also go for a heavier-duty commercial version. The A.O. Smith brand is pretty popular around here. Think of the heavy-duty scenario in the morning .. all showers and/or baths running, all sinks running, all diswashers washing. 80 gallons will go like -that-
Posted by: DaveW at December 16, 2005 2:49 PM
One thing that was recommended to us when we were looking at a multi-family was getting two smaller water heaters and joining them with a union. This way, you're more protected against failure: our engineer said that it was pretty much guaranteed that the water heater would fail the day before you're leaving on vacation. If you have tenants and no backup, your only option is to get Vigilante Plumbing to come out and do it in the middle of the night for umpteen jillion dollars. He implied that the cost of two smaller heaters wasn't too much larger than the cost of a single larger one, but I haven't priced it myself.
Posted by: Tim at December 16, 2005 9:52 PM
Tim's idea isn't bad, that's what we have in a 7-unit, 1 business tenant building. Two smaller gas-fired units. Both commercial-rated. Works just fine.
Posted by: DaveW at December 18, 2005 5:59 PM
Our inspector recommended getting a second water heater for the 2-family we're buying not so much as a backup but in order to get the tenants to pay for their own hot water. If you're staying in the place more than a couple of years, he said it was very much worth the investment.
Posted by: carrie at December 18, 2005 11:17 PM
Can you give me an idea of what typical usage might be? Does the building use reduced-flow shower heads? Are there large bathing tubs or whirlpools?
How many people are likely to occupy the building?
Are they mostly working people, i.e.
Will there be a large demand between 7-8am by people showering before work?
The two-heater configuration costs a bit more initially to set up properly but after that, replacement costs are the same.
By properly I mean the piping must be installed in a "parallel" or "reverse return" arrangement or you simply will not reap the benefits (see: efficiency, equipment longevity) of that design.
Do this right and you'll thank yourself for many, many years to come.
The way to NOT do it right? Pipe the water heaters in a "series" arrangement.
That is, the water goes in and out of the first tank and then in and out of the other, then out to the fixtures.
That is the least desirable way to do the job.
Feel free to contact me as you see fit.
John A. Cataneo, Jr. Licensed Master Plumber
Posted by: Master Plvmber at December 21, 2005 10:37 AM
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