On Jan 14, 11:09*pm, The Henchman wrote:
Just had a new furnace installed and now looking at replacing the
water heater so I can eliminate the need for a chimney.

Current water heater is 50 US gal flue/chimney vent type. *It's only 9
years old. *It's rented at $14 a month. No idea what the efficiency
factor is.

Possible replacement is a 40 US gal power vent, rental, for $22
dollars a month or a 50 US gal for $23 a month. Efficiency factor I'm
told is .67

Government of Canada may pay me $190 to seal up my chimney as it a big
source of drafting but will not pay me to convert to power vent
heater. *The only other reason to replace the water heater is to pick
a more suitable place where it does not have to rely on chimney
location. Water heater is presently in an annoying position.

Because my small town has very hard water, I'm keen to rent only and
not buy. *Current family size is 2 adults plus baby with one
dishwasher load a day so a 40 US gallon might just suit our needs
until babies become teenagers

So if the rental cost is increased 8 bucks a month for me, what sort
of efficiency gains can I expect from a power vented water heater. *Is
there any way to calculate if I can make back some of that 8 bucks a
month if we don't change hot water usage habits? *Or is the only gain
getting $190 back for sealing up an unused chimney?

Rental terms are 7 years so that is an 8 dollar a month increase over
84 months.

Assuming you have a gas, something to consider is that your existing
HW heater does not rely on electricity. This is a big plus in case you
have a power outage. If you get a power vent, now you are dependant on
the electric.

I have been hit with power outages a few occasions, most noteably when
Hurricane Irene hit and left my block with no power for 5 days.But at
least we had hot water.