On Apr 3, 12:04�pm, mm wrote:
On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:22:12 -0400, mm
wrote:
Water heater failed. The last time I replaced it myself, but I had a
tremendous problem getting the old one out of the basement.
blah blah. *
Interesting things I learned last night on the web. *I got Sears last
time, because the distance between the pipes was the same as the
original and I thought that would make it much easier to install. *I
didn't want the zigzag pipes I once saw. *But now I realize I should
have shortened or lengthened the horizontal pipe at the ceiling and
there would have been no zigzag. *Or course I had never sweated pipe
before, let alone next to wood, so maybe I made the right choice.
This post is just to express surprise at the price structure.
I looked at the Sears webpage last night
So this time Sears doesn't have 52 but they have 55, which is 130
pounds. *And they have 66 gallons, which for some reason is 175
pounds. *20% more capacity, but 33% heavier. *Usually it is the other
way around, * That making something which is empty inside, it only
takes a little more weight to make the capacity much more.
Another interesting thing is that it only costs 10 dollars to go from
a 9 year guarantee to a 12 year guarantee, and that includes 3 inches
of insulation instead of just 2 1/2, with an R-value of 24 instead of
20. *It uses foam insulation which is light, and the better one only
weighs 3 more pounds.
And the better one costs only 20 dollars more for the 55 gallon, and
10 dollars more for the 66 gallon.
But the price difference from 55 to 66 gallons is 310 to 430, or 330
to 440. * Now we're talking about a 33% increase in price for a 17
percent increase in volume. *That's a greater discrepancy than the
weight to volume discrepancy.
But otoh, if you ignore capacity and compare price to weight, 330 to
440 dollars is almost exactly the same as 130 to 175 pounds. *So maybe
that accounts for price, if they are charging by the pound, but why is
the weight difference so great?
And the tank is the same height, and only 1.5 inches more in diameter,
so what about it weighs so much more?
IIRC, people here recommended a big tank.
P.S. Last time I bought 52 gallons. *The house was built with 80
gallons. For 3 bedrooms. Isn't that incredibly unusual, especially in
a low priced home? * It is so big Sears, doesn't stock it, and I think
Lowes and HD have nothing on display that is bigger than 40 gallons.
Surely one person shouldn't need even 66 gallons, but it apparently
costs no more to run it, according to the Sears specs, and because I
take baths, I've actually run out of hot water with 52 gallons.
(although I could have solved that by making the water hotter.)
Sears doesn't even sell an 80 gallon tank now, and AOSmith, who made
the 80 gallon tank, doesn't seem to sell retail, but I'm curious and I
found on the web the number for a local plumbing supply, that I will
call.
BIGGER IS ALWAYS BETTER! Heck it costs a bit more but never run out
has nice advantages
If Gas look for 75,000 BTU standard tanks are 35,000 BTU or less. I
went from a 40 gallon 34,000 BTU to a 50 gallon 75,000 BTU tank and
doubled my first hour capacity.
Home depot and lowes generally have larger tanks either in stock or at
the warehouse for next day delivery.
Cutting a tank apart to remove from area, well just try it sometime:
( itchy fiberglass, sharp tin outer covering, messy dirty water,
awkard job. been there done that never again
stuff doesnt unscrew
after all those years, then its a hazard from garbage guys to pick up
lots of razor sharp edges.....
I buy the longest warranty biggest tank.
small tank has larger thermal stress when going from hot to empty.
large tank tends to float along...... easier on tank in my opinion.
the more expensive tanks have foam insulation, and often brass rather
than plastic drain valves. sometimes you get what you pay for