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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Water Heater Recommendations?
I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! -- WILLIAM21 |
#2
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Water Heater Recommendations?
"WILLIAM21" wrote in message
.. . I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! Hard water deposits. Most have fiberglass tank so you can do an acid wash and get 10 more years. The trick is getting it in there without it boiling back in your face because of the reaction from all the Calcium. If yours has a cleanout, you can scoop it out. I take a bucket load of gravel sized chunks out of mine every 5 years. |
#3
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Water Heater Recommendations?
In article , "JB" wrote:
"WILLIAM21" wrote in message . .. I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! Hard water deposits. Most have fiberglass tank so you can do an acid wash and get 10 more years. The trick is getting it in there without it boiling back in your face because of the reaction from all the Calcium. If yours has a cleanout, you can scoop it out. I take a bucket load of gravel sized chunks out of mine every 5 years. Every time I used to try that the valve would ALWAYS leak. I doubt if I ever had a fiberglass model. I think much of the inefficiency is with a standard chimney style gas vent. A pilotless system is a little better. You need a closed loop system for the air venting just like on an efficient gas furnace to get real savings, just like on an on-demand unit. In my case I went from electric to gas. I saw no decrease in electricity use for a single person. Electricity might have been cheaper in my case. Heat is always escaping up the chimney and interior air with the old style units. Insulating the tank does little, especially in the winter time when the tank is in an interir room. I alwasy try to lower the gas valve setting so the flame is smaller. This can also eliminate making noises, but slightly reduce warm up time. greg |
#4
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Water Heater Recommendations?
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#5
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Water Heater Recommendations?
"WILLIAM21" wrote in message .. . I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! -- WILLIAM21 Not wishing to be an arse, but sci.electronics.repair ? Whilst I'm sure that there are people on here with good opinions, and an interest in your post, I would have thought that you might get a better set of replies to your questions, by picking a more appropriate group ? Arfa |
#6
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Water Heater Recommendations?
On Fri, 15 May 2009 01:52:14 +0100, Arfa Daily wrote:
"WILLIAM21" wrote: I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. WILLIAM21 Not wishing to be an arse, but sci.electronics.repair ? You're not an arse. The kl0wns at XX...XXXbanter.com are asses -- by willy-nilly portal'ing their damn forums onto usenet: From: WILLIAM21 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'm killfiling all original posts from them along with the dreck that emanates from google groups. Jonesy -- Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux 38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2 * Killfiling google & XXXXbanter.com: jonz.net/ng.htm |
#7
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Water Heater Recommendations?
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#8
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Water Heater Recommendations?
In article , "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"WILLIAM21" wrote in message . .. I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! -- WILLIAM21 Not wishing to be an arse, but sci.electronics.repair ? Whilst I'm sure that there are people on here with good opinions, and an interest in your post, I would have thought that you might get a better set of replies to your questions, by picking a more appropriate group ? Plummers are smarter than electronic techs. |
#9
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Water Heater Recommendations?
GregS wrote:
In article , "Arfa Daily" wrote: "WILLIAM21" wrote in message .. . I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! -- WILLIAM21 Not wishing to be an arse, but sci.electronics.repair ? Whilst I'm sure that there are people on here with good opinions, and an interest in your post, I would have thought that you might get a better set of replies to your questions, by picking a more appropriate group ? Plummers are smarter than electronic techs. Then take your electronics questions to a plumbing newsgroup... -- W . | ,. w , "Some people are alive only because \|/ \|/ it is illegal to kill them." Perna condita delenda est ---^----^--------------------------------------------------------------- |
#10
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Water Heater Recommendations?
"GregS" wrote in message ... In article , "Arfa Daily" wrote: "WILLIAM21" wrote in message ... I am looking for recommendations for a 40 or 50 gallon natural gas water heater. Ours is at least 16 years old, and has recently started making noises like there are marbles rolling around inside. Also, we have noticed a gradual, yet significant, reduction in the amount of hot water we get. I've investigated going tankless, but it really won't work in our situation. We live in a rowhouse and would have a very hard time finding any place we could vent the unit according to code. Additionally, I just don't want to fork over the cash upfront at this time. I've found there are a ton of water heaters out there, and it can be hard to compare them. Are any of them relatively more efficient than others? Are there brands to stay away from? I'm hesitant to go with a powered vent unit, simply for fear the fan would die and I've never notice. Any advice greatly appreciated! -- WILLIAM21 Not wishing to be an arse, but sci.electronics.repair ? Whilst I'm sure that there are people on here with good opinions, and an interest in your post, I would have thought that you might get a better set of replies to your questions, by picking a more appropriate group ? Plummers are smarter than electronic techs. Smarter for going into plumbing - that's for sure. All the ones I know earn a lot more than anyone in the electronics service business ... Arfa |
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