Hi BH, It's not a really difficult project if you are so inclined. It amounts to turning water and power to water heater OFF. The unit you get will determine the space needed for the installation. If the pipes to the water heater are the same size as provided with your unit, you're in luck...most have adapters included but if you are going to go from metal to PVC or reverse, you'll need some type of compression fittings or the "Shark-Bite" couplings available at Lowe's and Home Depot. Hook
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a regular garden hose to the drain spigot at the bottom of your tank and run the hose outside keeping low to the ground and flip the "pressure release valve" outwards (perpendicular) to tank to get a faster drain. The PRV sort of looks like a toggle switch and should be the only other thing sticking out of the side of the existing water heater other than pipes or the spigot at the bottom. Turn the drain spigot as you would a regular hose bib on the unit as much as possible let drain fully...may take a while...locate the HOT and COLD lines to the water heater and cut pipes from water heater as close to tank and past any joints as possible and remove. Your new unit will go between those 2 pipes...IN is from the cold water line OUT is for the heated water to exit to the house. The unit should have 3 220V wires to disconnect and re-affix to new waterless unit, follow instructions carefully white to white, black to black and green to green. Making sure all connections are secure with the fittings provided or obtained at home center. Turn water and power back on...now that's just a condensed explanation, not intended to actually "Talk you through it" Again, you should be versed in some plumbing and electrical issues. If you have natural gas or propane, I would consult a licensed and insured plumber with gas certification. I hope this explains the process a little and you find it useful...feel free to ask more should you need to...there's always SOMEBODY Talking on HomeTalk! Best of luck to you...JL
Ah, JL great hi level explanation and I realize its a little more than I would take on as an DIY project. Sounds like a professional will have to do. I'm just glad you didn't mention it needed to be on its on circuit or something. So it sounds like it should retro fit without any major changes.
BH, as someone who tries to DIY pretty much everything EXCEPT electric and plumbing, I definitely recommend shopping this out. You don't want to make a mistake with this project, as it could be really dangerous or leave you without hot water, which is no fun.
I am not sure what it takes, but we just finished a huge renovation project on our home & my husband had a tankless water heater put in about 2 years ago. We are so happy with it. We wouldn't go back to the old kind. Hope this helps in your decision.
you also may want to ck the ' service life ' of these units,,, have had several plumber friends tell me there are some apparent issues causing them to delay installing 1 in their own homes
Before you decide to change from a tank to a tankless make sure a tankless will be the best solution for you. Many of our clients have brought up these issues with regards to tankless water heaters:
1. Their teenagers don't ever get our of the shower because the never run out of hot water.
2. If you are using less than .6 gal/ min they may not come on because most of them have a
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min flow requirement before they heat up.
3. Some older homes are in neighborhoods with iffy gas pressure and if the gas pressure coming in to the house is not good enough then you can be in the middle of a shower and get fluctuation water temperatures.
We prefer solar hot water since the sun is a free energy source.
There is one rebate for a very efficient electric water heater for $525 (rebate not cost). I
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had this installed in my own remodeled home and have been very pleased. You may find the tradition but very efficient a great way to go if solar water heater not viable for your budget.
I had an 80 gal gas water heater and the kids would empty it before the fifth person get in the shower so a tankless water heater was installed in my home 6 yrs ago ....a Rinnai brand....the installation was a whole day with 2 certified plumbers. I would not attempt to install it yourself if you are not familiar with it. It does call for a special vent pipe as you cannot use your existing one. It cannot be vented through the roof. You may need to program it through a laptop if you can get the software. Hope this helps.
There is also the chance you will need to increase the number of amps to the unit. A normal electric water heater can run on a 30 amp breaker, but some of the tankless need 60 - 120 or more amps so could require installing new breakers and/or running additional or new wire from circuit box to the new tankless heater. So if you choose to go this route, you will also need to make sure your current box has room for the additional and that the electric company will allow you to pull that additional without upgrading the whole box....
The rebates for Solar make it very affordable now. There is a 30% federal tax credit, 35% state tax credit, $1500 rebate from the city of Atlanta and a $250 rebate from GA Power. With all of these rebates it is cheaper than a tankless water heater. Check out this video on how it works: http://youtu.be/QKL2RL1-LpU
I have a tankless water heater in my home and LOVE it, but I don't recommend one to every one of my clients. I usually like to discuss the matter thoroughly with each homeowner so that they can make the right decision for themselves based on the many variable they need to consider before deciding if the tankless option is right for them. If they do want to move forward with the tankless after comparing the cost/benefit of tanked versus tankless, I strongly recommend that they have the work done by a licensed and experienced plumber.
Thanks
1. Their teenagers don't ever get our of the shower because the never run out of hot water.
2. If you are using less than .6 gal/ min they may not come on because most of them have a ...»
3. Some older homes are in neighborhoods with iffy gas pressure and if the gas pressure coming in to the house is not good enough then you can be in the middle of a shower and get fluctuation water temperatures.
We prefer solar hot water since the sun is a free energy source.
There is one rebate for a very efficient electric water heater for $525 (rebate not cost). I ...»