dgk wrote:
I've been floating around the past few days on this subject. It looks
easy but the gas has me a bit worried. It seems that all I need to do
is a bit of pipe work and the thing should be ok. The vent looks
tough. The current on really doesn't slope up much if at all, and I've
read it should go up an inch every four feet.

The new heaters all seem to be a bit taller than the old one, so it
will be even worse without major work venting it higher through the
wall. I guess I need to find a water heater that is the same height or
a bit lower. That seems to be tough so far.

And gas does scare me just a wee bit.

The only difficult part is the weight of the sucker. Hint: The old one is
easier to move if you drain it first (40 gallons of water x 8# per gallon =
240 pounds) (Hint #2: A pint's a pound the world around)

Gas connection is dirt simple with a flexible metal hose and either the
appropriate Teflon tape (grey) or pipe dope.

As for venting, if the new heater is taller than the old, saw off some of
the existing vent pipe. If the existing vent doesn't line up very well with
the new heater, exhaust pipe "union" or "twistable" connectors are
available.

In the best of all worlds, the vent pipe should be double-walled.

Hint: If you leave the old heater on the curb, the urban faeries will
dissapear it overnight.

Hint 2: I don't know if they're standard, but the electronic ignition for
the pilot is nice.