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#1
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Hot Water Heater High Pitched Sound
In my laundry room, I've been hearing an *extremely faint* high pitched
sound. It is so high pitched and faint, I almost couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally, I determined it was coming from my 8 year old gas hot water heater. I then noticed that when I touched/bumped/jiggled the, "relief valve," pipe coming out of the side of the hot water heater, the high-pitched sound changed a bit. So...... perhaps the high-pitched sound is just a tiny bit of air coming out of the relief valve pipe? Anything to worry about???? |
#2
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In article ,
Westcoast Sheri wrote: In my laundry room, I've been hearing an *extremely faint* high pitched sound. It is so high pitched and faint, I almost couldn't tell where it was coming from. Finally, I determined it was coming from my 8 year old gas hot water heater. I then noticed that when I touched/bumped/jiggled the, "relief valve," pipe coming out of the side of the hot water heater, the high-pitched sound changed a bit. So...... perhaps the high-pitched sound is just a tiny bit of air coming out of the relief valve pipe? Anything to worry about???? Yes, this could be something to worry about. The relief valve opens if there is too much pressure or too much temperature in the water heater. If the valve doesn't function properly, you could have the water heater break, which could be dangerous and certainly would make a huge costly mess. Many people do not routinely exercise their relief valve. As a result, it can become sticky and fail to operate properly. You could have one of three things... 1) the valve has failed, and is letting out pressure even though the pressure and temperature is normal. 2) the valve is operating normally, and you are on the edge of having too much pressure. 3) the valve has failed, and is struggling to relieve a dangerously high internal pressure level. There are a number of reasons for abnormal pressure. It could be water "backflow" into the water heater. It could be too high of input water pressure. It could also be a heating element that is stuck on that is getting the water too hot. The latter should show up on your gas bill. You do need to get this looked at. If you are not qualified, get someone who is. If this thing blows, it could send scalding hot water all over your house or cause water damage throughout your house. BTW, water heaters typically last about 7 years. Yours is due for replacement. You can get a new one installed for less than $200. That might be cheaper than a service call for a plumber to look at this one, and a new one might be more efficient and save you money in the long run. If you do change it, look at electric storage water heaters. Many utilities will help pay for them, and then put you on off peak metering to get the ultra-cheap electric rates. -john- -- ================================================== ==================== John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ================================================== ==================== |
#3
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In article , Westcoast Sheri
wrote: Finally, I determined it was coming from my 8 year old gas hot water heater. Hot water heater? If the water's already hot, why do you need to heat it? Odd... |
#4
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On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 20:59:23 -0600, "John A. Weeks III"
wrote: BTW, water heaters typically last about 7 years. Yours is due for replacement. You can get a new one installed for less than $200. Really? Where do you live that you can get a brand new water heater installed at this unbelievably low price? A decent water heater, like an AOSmith or Bradford White, is going to cost close to $200 alone, if not more, plus the labor to install a gas model would be $80 minimum. I paid my plumber $518 to install a 6-yr-warrantied B-W 40-gallon natural gas water heater with all parts and labor. $200 in my area (WNY), only if I installed a cheapie myself. |
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