On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:23:57 -0800 (PST), wrote:
There will be less water coming out than you experienced with your old
tank because of the vacuum of having all the valves in the house shut,

shut off the gas a long time before ...
you can use up most of the hot water in the tank

Hi trader,

I learned this one in spades!

We had used up some of the hot water (Bill took a really really long shower
with the gas turned off) before the fiasco of the snapped valve:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2273262545/

We had warm, not hot, water all over the garage as the tank shot it out two
feet. Luckily I was around as the tank had just been righted after tipping
over as we tried to get it off the stand, full of water. It was horrid.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2273262531/

The only good thing was you had already admonished us to have tepid water
in the tank and that's what saved us from getting scalded as Bill stuck his
finger in the hole (it was just the right size) to stop the leak and I
bucketed the water outside.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2273262535/

We would have been burned had we not taken that good advice from this
newsgroup! Others should heed the warning too.

Thanks,
Donna