On Apr 7, 5:45*pm, "Percival P. Cassidy" wrote:
On 04/07/08 01:24 pm Thomas G. Marshall wrote:





Ok, our 40 gal gas water heater is failing. *About 10 years old, which I
hear is ok.

But every time I talk to someone about their 40 gal water heater, they all
complain that they run out of hot water (comparable size homes and kids)..

Bur our builder (and all builder's we spoke to when looking to build)
*insist* that 40 gallons is enough.

But we were always worried about running the wash or dishwasher before
showering, or two long showers would result in the 2nd losing water.
Complete with those water saving disks etc.

1. Is 80 gallons overkill? *Perhaps I'm reacting viscerally.

2. Am I going to notice a large gas usage increase?

3. Are there rules in place limiting the water tank sizes?

4. Are there any particular brands to look for or stay away from?

I'm sorry for the barrage of questions.

ISTR that the standard capacity in Australia was 60 gallons, with 80
gallons as a common upgrade -- and remember that these are "Real
gallons," each consisting of eight 20-ounce pints. The one already in
the house we bought in the US Midwest, however, is 50 (mini-)gallons.

I don't know how the various brands rate here in the USA, but Rheem was
common in Australia. When we built our house in Australia, however, we
used a local (I mean really local, not marketed outside that State,
AFAIK) brand that had a 25-yr warranty. One day I was wandering through
a shopping mall and got accosted by the salesdroid at a Rheem booth who
asked me how old my water heater was; when I told him "12 years," he
said, "Oh, so you'll be needing a new one soon"; when I told him the
brand I had, he said, "Oh, then you won't be needing a new one for a
long time yet." IOW, widely advertised brands aren't always the best.

Perce- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -



Before concluding that 40gallons is the problem, I'd check the shower
heads and flow rates. You may find that reducing the shower flow a
bit means you will have enough hot water from a 40 and save energy
too. Also, it's possible the existing one has some serious
problems. If it's full of sediment, has a broken dip tube, etc, it
may not be performing anywhere near what a new one is capable of.

Check the first hour rating on the ones you are considering. That'a
a good indicator of how much water they can supply in typical high
demand hour.

If you do decide to go larger, I'd think a 50 with a good first hour
rating would probably be enough for most families of 4.

As others have pointed out, you can also consider tankless. Main
issues there are unit and installation cost, which can be higher
depending on existing gas lines. The TL needs a much larger gas
supply.