K one of my two 50 gal 34GPH gas hot water tanks has started to leak
Asking the collective group mind what direction they have or would go ?
So what does the $3500 option give you over the $450. Also make sure you get the Gas tankless because the electric are not as efficient (at least that was the case 5 years ago when I looked at them)
Average hot water heater (50 gal) uses 781 in electricity tankless is about 200. so in 7 years you break even.
Since you have gas…
I’d opt for installing your own tankless unit and never look back. I did this 11 years ago last month(single tank to single tankless). It isn’t rocket science or brain surgery. The only “modification” I had to make was increasing the size of the gas supply line to the water heater. That required a a few fittings from HFD or Lowes.
So I’m a fan of the DIY water heater work.
Things to watch out for especially with Gas. Make sure your supply can handle what your upgrading too.
@TLAR sounded like he got lucky and it was inexpensive to upgrade his supply setup in his house. I’ve had friends that tried to upgrade their gas range to a high BTU setup and were forced to over haul their entire gas setup for the house in order to remain within code. This ended up being very expensive. So hopefully your system is setup in a way that you have separate runs rather than a long spider web setup which would require a full over haul.
If going with tankless on demand hot water, make sure you get a unit that can fully support your water usage.
I helped another friend upgrade his bathroom to a Over Sized rain shower head. After the first week, he noticed that his hot water in the 30 gallon water heater ran out in about 5 minutes of use. So he had a electric on demand water heater installed as he had limited space. This was expensive and ended up being really crappy. The electric on demand water just couldn’t with stand the needed heating and thus my buddy forever deals with having moderately warm showers, never able to really crank the temperature up.
Don’t talk to the city about changing your own water heater.
I made this mistake, I reached out to the city of Lewisville asking for code requirements for water heaters, wondering if there was any special requirements in the city, as the old water heater was no longer to code and in replacing I wanted to be in code. I found out that there were no major requirements, I just couldn’t mount the new water heater the same way. So I went about upgrading my water heater to then guy a surprise inspection from the city code enforcement. I ended up having to get a plumber to sign off on the install and had to pay a penalty to pull a permit for the work. Bureaucracy for the win.
I would suggest 2 water heaters above 1 large one. That gives you redundancy and spread load.
Tank-less can be perfect as long as it fits your use.
why let him inside your home?
What brand and model did you go with ?
calculations for our house keep coming back with 2 <9 GPM units, and I need to drill holes in the brick wall to direct vent the two units.
Cannot use the existing stacks
Yes staying with gas, Tankless just does not seem to make financial sense for our house
Rinnai - Home Depot carried them.
supply line changed from 1/2" to 3/4" (no biggie) if you can turn off your water at the curb (I strongly suggest doing so at the meter vs an old contractor installed valve on the main near your house), then you can turn off your gas line.
This is also a good time to invest in a gas shut off valve to the water heater for any future service work.
If I had to bore through the brick - I’d have opted for their exterior mounted unit and just cut holes large enough for the water pipes and the electrical feed and thermostat wire.
Because I had permitted plumbing work happening in my down stares bathroom. He used my call and the fact that I didn’t have a permit for the water heat, but had one for the plumbing upgrade to give me a hard time. Again Bureaucracy for the win.
Thanks for the explanation.
The city douche /inspector failed the plumber that replaced my water main (house to meter) for a hose faucet near his connection because it didn’t have one of the useless vacuum breakers on it. It had nothing to do with the main line and it is never used…but ok…
My main broke on the city side of the plumbing. The inspector misunderstood who was responsible and cited me for not allowing inspection of the work before covering it over. I turned the citation over to the city. 3 days later, the city was digging up the main for inspection and cussing the guy the entire time. They ended up breaking the main and had to replace it again. Nothing funnier than watching the city employees bitch about the city employees.
Depends how you look at it. Gas is cheaper than electricity so it gives you the appearance that it’s more efficient. But it’s not. Any electric heaters will be damn near 100% efficient. That’s because the heat is transferred directly to the media heated. With gas, you may be only 80% efficient. The other 20% goes out the vent. When you start talking the higher efficiency heaters and boilers, they then have their downfalls. That usually is the condensate eats at the drain lines, yes even copper.
I think he meant to say “gas has the capacity”. Most residential electric heaters lack the capacity to heat the water quickly enough to make it “comfortable” at full-house flow rates, while gas generally is, or can easily be upgraded to be, fully capable of heating to “comfortable” and beyond at full-house flow rates.
Efficiency, as noted, has little to do with it.
For what it’s worth, I chose to spend out the gazoo and try the gas on-demand by a professional installer. I got a unit rated for about twice the capacity of my faucets, because the next smaller unit from the supplier I chose was slightly SMALLER in capacity/flow rate than all of my faucets and I wanted to err on the side of “HELL YEAH WE CAN RUN’M ALL AT ONCE!!”. Bragging rights, really, after 4 years of “gee, I hope we can run 2 showers back-to-back tonight.”
I’ll bet it isn’t fiscally responsible, but it IS nice…
I, personally, would be on board with Tom’s advise. I nearly want down that path, but chose to go pro instead.
Andrew, the problem I have with those that call themselves “pros” or “masters” often perform sub par work and for what they are typically paid per service hour, I’d rather buy good “pro” tools and do it myself. Then not only is it done correctly and better than the minimum code, it is done cleanly and neatly.
I draw the line with some things tho - especially after my 3 part fracture and MRSA ordeal with my trip to the great sand box. No more roofing for me. Low E roof windows yes, (only on a single story and hire someone to do the sheetrocking), no backbreaking trenching etc.
I want to build or source a 72" deep soaking tub for a bathroom project. To maker it or to buy…tough one. NO crappy glass fibre ones either. Cast iron or light weight concrete. Schluter may be part of the answer for me. Perhaps a Roman sunken bath - but that would require a bump out and a permit and a problem since my house (like most) is a slab - the worst type of foundation known to Texas homes…digging down would be the “easy part” but getting through the dolts at the city would be a nightmare.
Any thoughts or ideas?
I use Schluter products all the time. I’ve built a Roman tub using Schluter’s 2” foam board and a linear drain. Frame it out to your dimensions, create a slight slope to a linear drain at the foot and a comfortable slope at the back, then you can lay the tile flat on the bottom. I used a granite top for the deck and mosaic tile for the bottom with stacked stone on the skirt.
Though I’ve had a thought about making a wood tub too. Could use the CNC to cut concentric rings for your shape and glue up. Then get an angle grinder and carving disc to create your shapes inside and outside the tub.
Well… I’ll just say it was a journey to having ours done. It was not a path I trod down lightly. And I think the installers did a fine job. I would recommend the company in a heartbeat for anyone wanting their work done right; not necessarily cheap, though. I’ll say the same thing for the other work I’ve chosen to have done, too. It is always a journey.
Re: the tub. No idea. I have an outdoor spa, that I’ll redo someday for better comfort (honestly, I’ll probably die first; it’s not that high on the priority list) but we absolutely love it. The tub inside is going bye bye because we’ll never use it. I WOULD like to put a door to the Master Suit out to the hot tub, but won’t because my house isn’t laid out well for that to work.
Re: Schluter. Can’t do it. I’ve looked and looked, and the logic of Schluter escapes me. Won’t touch their stuff with a 10’ pole. But people who know a whole lot more than me seem to love it. I love the strip drains, and intend to include one when the tub is removed in the Master Bath, but not Schluter (or at least not “Schluter System”).
No idea on skirting or strongarming the city thing. If you have to involve anyone else, it’ll be required. If you do it yourself, you’ll have questions on the sell if that day comes. If an inspector notices…
DIY. You’re the only one you can trust. 
Get with @TBJK Tim and TIG up some heavy gauge stainless …then you can call it a “Therapy spa”. If Tim welds it, it’s staying welded … he could probably work in a steam sauna with a heat exchanger for a slow cooker pit BBQ. He’s tricky like that.
A permit is a revenue producer for the city. The permit doesn’t promise or guarantee anything.
Many inspectors don’t do their jobs - for example:
I hired an outstanding plumber to repair a failed pvc waste pipe under my house. Did you know that the way the “city inspects the final repair” is by driving by the address and only makes sure the pile of removed soil in no longer present in front of the house?
No joke. I crawled under the house to check the work. The inspector never got out of his marked city truck. Bravo !! Dann I’m glad the plumber opted for the petmit!!
The plumber said this ia not unusual.
I should also fault the “city” for the pipe separation - had a qualified inspector doing his or her job properly when the house was being built, this could have been avoided.
My experience here was quite different. The inspector was very thorough. He seemed confused about WHY he was even at the site, but was reasonably tenacious about getting the thing inspected for proper installation. If you want to know the truth, I think he was curious about the thing.
But yeah. In general, city inspectors could not possibly do the job expected of them, yet you MUST CYA with the certificates. Classic case of politicians making legislation which cannot possibly be enforced properly and then cutting budgets, in part, by cutting personnel, yet expecting the same, unrealistic already, job load to be accomplished by fewer people… I don’t blame the inspectors. I blame us for having unrealistic expectations of our city government and electing politicians with bigger mouths than brains.