The joys of home ownership.
So...when looking for a new hot water heater (powered by natural gas) what should I be looking for? I'll go downstairs and look up the specs on what I have, but is there anything in particular I should be considering for a new unit?
Check the venting configuration. What you have determines what type of hot water heaters are available.
ReplyDeleteIf you live by yourself you might consider a tankless heater. These units save energy by not keeping a high volume of heated water on-hand. The tradeoff is that there's only so much water they can heat per unit time. For a single shower or a washerload it's fine, but they tend not to work for the "family of four" configuration when everyone needs to shower one after another in the morning. Tankless are easier to maintain and less prone to failures so often much cheaper.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I'm so sorry. :/
ReplyDeleteTankless tends to be more expen$ive but needs less maintenance. If you happen to have the tank kind that is vented to the outside via its own piping, it'll cost you 2-3x normal -- as we discovered a few years back.
ReplyDeleteDepending on your heating system you might be able to go with an indirect system so e boiler heats e water and the tank is just a holding tank. I would recommend taking advice from a HVAC plumber in that tech you should go with.
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