Replacement hot water heaters - who/what to use?
I have a 50 gallon 14 year old A.O. Smith hot water heater in my recently purchased 2-family. When a plumber was here to do some work, he suggested it wasn’t enough for the four people living in the house now, as well as that it was living on borrowed time, due to its age….
I have a 50 gallon 14 year old A.O. Smith hot water heater in my recently purchased 2-family. When a plumber was here to do some work, he suggested it wasn’t enough for the four people living in the house now, as well as that it was living on borrowed time, due to its age.
The plumber suggested several options for replacing it – none of which are cheap:
new 50 gallon,
new high recovery 50 gallon,
new 75 gallon,
two new 40 gallon tanks, to be installed in series.
These solutions range in price from $950-$2100(!)
I asked hm how his materials compared to the tanks I see at Home Depot, and he said his are better quality. I also notice Sears has HW heaters for considerably less- installed.
What do folks here suggest? HIgh end plumber, Home Depot, or Sears? I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish – at the same time – it’s a lot of $$$!
So many of the posts are similar, basically advice on best equipment for restored brownstones.
I am going to paste my response to another post, but the suggestion remains the same. Unfortunately, there were other alternatives to what your plumber suggested. Once you clue him in, he will likely become a convert, and after he does your job, every install will be this way.
The sizing on an oil-fired hot watwer heater is diffeent because of its fast recovery. I went with a 75 gallon only because of a hot tub that needs a lot of hot water to fill. Normally a 50 gallon is more than adequate.
Here is the paste:
I own a few houses with oil heat, and I wouldn’t switch. Gas is finicky, especially it doesn’t like to be flooded. but I would recommend a new oil-fired high efficiency boiler, but something without Weil McClain’s rubber gasket system. New boilers rarely fail, but you want older style pressed together sections, not rubber gaskets.
Get yourself a separate oil-fired hot water heater. Some plumbers will say “Huh?”, but they are available and are excellent and efficient for making hot water.
If you compare the recovery rates (how fast the heater can heat water)with a gas or electric unit, you will be blown away. An oil-fired hot water heater can basically make hot water as fast as you can use it, as long as the shower head is modern.
The down side is two burners to have under contract, but the good thing is shutting the new “heat” boiler down in the spring, and leaving the hot water heater on year rouond. You will absolutely save money.
I used John Sallustio, licensed plumber and oil delivery to install our last ones. (718) 858-9080. He warrantied the burners (no service contracts required for three years).
Good Luck,
Bruce
Hi – OP here.
Thanks for the replies.
the 50 gallon tank is definitely not enough for all the occupants – at peak times we run out of hot water.
So – I’m thinking of either the 50 hi-rec or the 75 gallon.
And still trying to decide on Sears or the high priced spread.
How quickly the the hi-rec recover?
Thanks.
I think $950 for a new hot water heater including installation sounds fair to me. I dont think you’ll get much cheaper than that.
Decision about size: why would the plumber suggest “that it wasn’t enough?” You should know from your experience if you run out of hot water.
How many baths? How many people? Low flow heads on 2 showers use 3.0-3.5 gpm, giving 2 simultaneous 15+ min showers. Hi recovery is good for multi-family since the tank heats up faster. But check if your gas pipe has enough capacity as hi rec can be 65kbtu and if you have to change the gas pipe, costs will be way up.
Two tanks is way overkill unless you have a sauna.
Check warranty, it’s practically the only thing that’s different among w/hs (ie efficiency for a given type will be the same, etc.)
Offhand, I’d say 50 gal hi-rec 10-year tank should be enough. Sears and Maytag have good records. I like Bradford-White, but they’re xpensive