I am in Canada, so prices will be different and most commonly they will be
higher than US prices even when taking in account the difference in exchange
between the two currencies.

I got prices from two large plumbing supply houses. One was $2420.00 CDN and
the other was about $90.00 CDN more. All prices are plus sales taxes
totaling 13%.

I want to get rid of the rental atmospheric vented unit with a pilot light
that I have now. At 14 years old it must be ready to start leaking because
as a retired gas company employee, I know they purchased them real cheap. I
have had a high efficiency gas furnace for the past 25 years and it really
sips the gas. I hope to reduce the gas consumption and monthly rental
payments, as I hate giving a chunk of my pension money back to the gas
company. After it was bought out, it is not the same caring company any
more.

"ng_reader" wrote in message
...

"EXT" wrote in message
anews.com...
If you want the best, go for a stainless steel commercial water heater, a
couple of manufacturers make them, but be prepared for a shock when you
hear the price. The Vertex 100, model GDHE-50 is also sold as a
commercial water heater as model BTX-100 with a few changes, shorter
warranty and the ability to heat water hotter.


You know what? I have city water and this current hot water heater has
been fine for 25 years. I think stainless would be overkill. I just want a
lot of hot water. And maybe some "future-proofing". Care to tell us how
much the unit you are getting is costing?

I am planning on ordering a GDHE-50 tomorrow, as they have just been
released in Canada. I have found that most contractors don't know
anything about them and/or only want to install what they have on hand,
so I am ordering it direct from a plumbing supply house and arranging for
a licensed gas fitter to connect the gas. I can handle the copper
plumbing and the PVC vent. Note for any Canadians installing PVC vents
for water heaters or furnaces, you cannot use regular ABS, PVC or CPVC
pipe. It must be certified to ULC S636 standards. This vent pipe is
available in some Home Depots in the Toronto area.


"ng_reader" wrote in message
...
I will be doing some work in the laundry/heater room shortly, including
installing a new natural gas hot water heater.

At one time I had no problem doing my own plumbing "sweats", but, for
now I think I will call a real plumber. I have some additional work
that needs done, and a *real* plumber would be oh so helpful.

I am in Willow Grove PA in case someone who is reading this wants to
volunteer! (give me to spring to move some stuff out of that room prior
to)

The question I have is when upgrading my 40 gallon unit, I came across
this $2000 96% efficient hot water heater by AO Smith called the Vertex
100. Sure it's pricey, but it looks like it could almost take the place
of my baseboard heater unit by some of the advertising I have seen on
it.

A couple of questions, specifically.

Are the "guts" of this unit significantly different than a standard hot
water heater (we're talking gas here, not electric)? I think so, but, I
don't know.

The chimney on the unit today is a 3" stack going into an 8-10" chimney
also serving the purpose of venting the baseboard hot water heater, or,
err, heater. One guy I called, locally, told me that Vertex would have
to vent to an outside wall. Period. Huh?

And lastly, I made the part up about it replacing my heater-heater, but
it does say that it can run some radiant heating systems as well as
provide all the hot water I need. Anyone care to state real world
results?

And, getting back to the original question; hot water heaters come in
"residential" and "commercial" but I am having a dickens of a time
trying to figure out --- besides warranty and price --- what makes them
different.

Thanks again...