So, for one reason or another, your water heater went out. You know that you can buy a water heater for cheap, but then you call around and get some water heater installation quotes, and decide that it may be better to go ahead and try to install the water heater by yourself. This can save you a lot of money instead of hiring a plumber. On the other hand, it can cost you a lot of money if you do not install it correctly, especially if your water heater is located up in an attic, or if you are in a condo that is above the first floor. Either way, you must know what you are doing when attempting water heater installation or you could flood your entire home and ruin everything.

Replacing a Water Heater

There’s more than one type of water heater. There are gas powered, solar powered, electric, tank and tankless water heaters. This article is going to cover the installation of electric tank water heaters only. Future articles may be written on the other types that are out there.

You are going to need the required tools for replacing your water heater. You are also going to need the required parts too. Some of the tools you are going to need are some channel locks or heavy duty crescent wrench, volt meter, screw driver,  and possibly a hand truck to remove the old water heater. Some of the parts you are going to need for water heater installation are new hoses, diaelectric nipples (or regular nipples), Teflon tape, water heater drain pan,  compression fittings (depending on copper pipe size) – shark bite fittings (not recommended) – or couplings along with solder and a torch, pvc or cpvc to connect emergency water drain.

Turn Off the Power

Verify that the power is off to the water heater with your volt meter. There should be a metal plate on top of the tank water heater secured by a screw or two – if you don’t know how to use a volt meter to verify the power is off, you should not be installing a water heater, you need to call someone that knows what they are doing.

Drain the Water Heater

The way that I always drain them is by using a garden hose, which should connect to the spicket valve at the bottom of the water heater. As long as the garden hose is going down hill from the water heater….it should drain completely with no problems. Depending on how many gallons the tank holds, this could take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Once you have the water heater draining, you can unhook the hoses, and remove the old nipples as this will act like a vent and speed up the process of draining the water heater.

Remove the Old Water Heater

Ensure you know which water lines are which before doing this. Meaning label the cold water coming in – the hot water leaving – and the relief valve line (optional). Nothing sucks more than hooking up the water lines backwards and wondering why you are getting no hot water. (yes I’ve done it before ;( )

This is usually a two person job. Remember, the only reason you drain the old water heater in the first place is to make it a lot lighter and easier to remove. Once you got the old water heater removed you can either store it somewhere, put it out by the road, or put it in your truck and scrap the metal for it at a metal scrap yard, where you can get anywhere from $15-$50 for old water heaters. (Depending on where you live and current metal pricing of course)

Installing the New Water Heater

Place the new water heater where the old one was. It is highly recommended that if you are on a second floor or above, or an attic, that you have a drain pan under the water heater, and the drain pan has a pvc or cpvc line that is going outside as an emergency drain in case the water heater leaks one day.

Ensure that the water heater is level when you are putting it in the pan. In most cases it should be. Connect the water heater hoses to the nipples on the water heater. If you purchased the water heater from a home improvement store such as home depot the heat loss nipples should be pre-installed with Teflon tape.

Whether you are using compression fittings, shark bites, or soldering in couplings to connect the water lines, ensure there are no leaks before walking away. Once you have the water lines hooked back up, turn on the water into the water heater. Open a couple of hot water valves throughout the house such as the kitchen faucet and bath tub faucet. When water starts to come out of the spouts you know that the tank is full. Shut the faucets off. Now the tank water heater is going to be pressurized. Ensure that there is no leaking from any of the water line connections. Remember even the slightest leak can become detrimental to your home when talking about damages.

Turn on The Power to the Water Heater

Hook up the electric to the water heater either while the tank is filling up with water or after. Ensure that there is no wire exposed and you are using proper conduit as described in Electricians Code or State Laws. Only turn the power to the electric water heater on once the tank is full of water. If you turn the power on when the tank is empty, the water heater elements will heat up, over amp, and either trip the breaker or just burn out. This is extremely important.

Water heater installation is usually not that hard. You have to have some mechanical aptitude though and be good with hands on handyman stuff. Prices for water heater installation vary greatly depending on where you live, but I used to charge about $300 and that’s outbidding most of the reputable plumbers in the area.

Comments and Questions welcome and Encouraged.

A water heater works by heating the water up for you. They are fairly easy to install and are definitely needed if you would like to have hot water. There are many different types that you can choose from. Some of them are energy efficient, while others may be energy hogs. In the paragraphs below, you are going to learn more on choosing a water heater. Take note that just because we list the tankless one first does not necessarily mean that the tankless one is the best, so pay no attention to the order they are listed.

First on our list is the tankless heater. This is also known as the instantaneous or demand heater. As the name implies, the tankless one does not have a storage tank.

These can either be electric of gas. They are classified as either a “point of use” or a “whole house” heater. Today, many have replaced the traditional ones with this type. We must say that they do have a higher price stamped on them, but in the long run, you will be saving money because they cost less to run.

Second on our list is the solar powered type. Typically, this is going to involve some collectors mounted on top of the roof, a separate tank, connecting pipe and controller. You will be using the solar system to preheat your water before you run it. During the summer, you will get all the hot water you need. This can definitely cut the energy it takes in half and save you money.

Third on our list, we have the desuperheaters. The desuperheater is an attachment that hooks to the air conditioner that will take the waste heat and use it to heat the h2o. During the summer, in climates that are naturally hot, the desuperheater can give you enough energy.

Now that you have learned about three different types, we would like to give you some tips to consider when you are choosing one of these. Consumers usually purchase these based only on the size of the lank. However, the first-hour rating is also something you should be looking at. In fact, this label is more important than the actual size of the tank. The FHR measures how much warm h2o it will be delivering when it is being used. When the tank is larger, this does not mean that it is going to have a higher FHR.

For additional safety, when choosing one of these for gas, you should find one that has a seal combustion. Remember, even with water heaters, safety is important.

When you install it, if possible, store it in an area that has an air conditioner. You may also want to find one with a warranty. The warranties being offered will vary. In the end, you need to make sure you are getting the one that fits your families needs. You need to do your research before choosing a water heater and make sure you get the best.

Ever wondered how water heaters work? By knowing this and what type of water heater it is that you have, you may be able to troubleshoot a couple of issues that you may be having, and fix it yourself, instead of calling out a plumber to just tell you that you have used up all the hot water in the tank, and just need to wait about 30 minutes until the water is heated again.

Standard Tank Water Heaters (Electric)

These are the cheapest water heaters, and really the most common, but they will be slowly phased out as technology gets more efficient and other types of water heaters are branded better and made more affordable for the consumer.

Usually storage water heaters do just what the name suggests, they store water in a tank. The tank will usually consist of two heating elements, one near the top of the tank while the other one near the bottom of the tank. There is a thermostat for each heating element. Only one element will be on at a time, when the top portion of the water reaches desired temperature, the element shuts off and the bottom heating element will kick in.

When hot water is being used, the elements are constantly trying to keep up with the heating, and if you have someone taking a 30 minute shower, with the washer and dishwasher running, and only have a 30 gallon storage tank, you can expect to run out of hot water pretty quickly, and will have to wait awhile to let the water heat up again.

Inline Water Heaters – Tankless

Smaller than tank water heaters, and work a lot better, as they only come on when hot water is requested, which will save you money compared to the storage tank water heaters, which are also drawing amps. When hot water is requested, the elements in the on demand water heaters light up immediately to heat up the water. They come in both gas and electric, and all sorts of different sizes depending on how much hot water your household will need.

Gas Water Heaters

Cheaper than electric, gas water heaters are pretty efficient. There is a furnace at the bottom of the water heater, and when lit, the flame will burn to heat up the water. Can easily be adjusted by the thermostat that is at the bottom of the storage tank. Less trouble than the electric kind, and cheaper than electricity, so if your home already has a gas connection, or gas tank, then this may be a good option for you to look into.

Solar Water Heaters

By far the most energy efficient of all the types of water heaters mentioned in this article, but sad to say, also one of the most expensive to set up. Solar powered water heaters can be of the storage type or the tank less type. They get their power from the solar collectors, that are usually positioned on the roof, and then the hot water is transferred into the tank by a type of heat transfer liquid. This is the best option for those that are trying to make their home ‘green’ and do their part in helping the planet.

Thinking about upgrading your cheap water heater to a super energy efficient, earth friendly, solar water heater for your home, or even your place of business? First off you in the right place to learn a little about solar water heaters, which also can be referred to as SWH’s. There are many types and models, but the basics that you will need to begin heating your water from the power of the sun are a solar thermal collectors, a storage tank, and a heat transfer fluid, optional would be a pump, or something to circulate the heated water into the storage tank.

You would actually be surprised on how many homes these days are using solar power to heat their water, as I see them on top of roofs all the time. Those that have the big black blanket looking thing on the roof, yep, those are the solar thermal collectors for a solar water heater. Now let’s get into the most important part, the solar water heater prices, which can be a bit pricey, starting at around $4,000, and up, depending on how much water is in demand for your home.

You have to also understand that many solar water heaters that are out there also have either electricity or gas tied into them as well. Being that you are not going to collect much energy from the sun on a rainy day, so you always have that for a back up.

If you are a DIYer there are literally hundreds of Diy solar water heater kits that are available out there. But you will need some pretty basic to advanced plumbing and electrical skills in order to install it into your home or business, I don’t care which product you get and how easy they claim that they are to make, they are anything but easy to make.

Even though the initial investment may set you back financially for awhile, you will start to get your money back over the long run, as you will be slashing 30% or more off of your water heating bill every month, and seeing that most solar water heating systems will last typically 20 years or longer, you will see a good return of investment.

There will be a day that the only types of heaters used will all be powered by solar power, though I see this happening in our next generation, it is never to early to start going green and saving money, along with our natural resources.

Apart from hot water for your home, there are also solar powered pool heaters that are available. Just remember when looking for bargains on water heaters powered by sun, make sure you get the right one for your geographic location. For cold weather, you will need a different type of heat transfer fluid then if you lived in Florida. Your local water heater rep will be sure to work with you to ensure that you get the right kind of solar water heater for your home.

Are you thinking about buying a new water heater, but not really sure what direction to go? There are lots of brands of water heaters that are available out there, and I must tell you as a professional plumber, Rheem is probably the most reliable out of competition. For sure though, Rheem does not sell the cheapest water heaters, but you can be assured that you are getting a product that is well crafted, with safety features and energy saving tanks that will lower your electric or gas bill, as they take great pride into the products that they promote.

Just as anything that is mechanical, is designed to fail at one point or another, but Rheem has continued to out perform competitors with failed parts for many years. This basically means, that you have a better chance that a Rheem water heater is going to keep heating up water, without having to make any major repairs, compared to the competition.

They make all sorts of water heaters, from the tankless, the standard, both electric and gas, and even the Rheem solar water heater, which in my opinion is the best investment that one could make.

The tank Rheem water heaters are the cheapest water heaters out of the bunch, but they are the most nasty when it comes to the electric bill. The reason for this is that they are just a storage tank of hot water. If you know anything about physics, then you know that warm always goes to cold, no matter what. Though new Rheem water heater tanks are built heavily insulated, the heating elements inside of them constantly need to heat up to maintain the water temperature inside of the tank. Plus with tank type water heaters, you can run out of hot water if too much is called for, then you will just have to simply wait for the heating elements to warm up the water before you can get the hot water again.

The on demand Rheem water heaters on the other hand, do not run out of water, as they only heat up the water when it is called for. This doesn’t mean though you are able to run the dishwasher, washing machine, along with 2 showers going, and you won’t have enough hot water, as this is judged by the size of the heating element. The heating elements inside of tankless water heaters flash heat the water as it passes through.

Rheem also makes solar powered water heaters. which use the power from the sunlight to heat the water, meaning you don’t have to use your electricity or gas as a means of fuel. Though these are not the most popular types of water heaters available these days, I have a good feeling that they will be come 10 years down the road.

As Rheem continues to meet and exceed expectations in the products that they make, they also make their water heaters easy to maintenance and repair compared to other brands that are out there, I know this from professional experience and would be happy to vouge for them in that department.

They also offer 10 year extended warranties that include parts and labor. So I hope that this makes your decision a little bit easier, and remember, a cheap water heater, may not wind up being cheap after all once you dump loads of money on repairs into it.

For those that think that they have a high utility bill, a lot of this can be avoided by doing some routine checks, by the time you are done reading this, you will have a much better idea on how you can save money on your water bill. First off you want to make sure that you do not have any leaks, particularly hot water leaks. The most common place that hot water leaks occur are kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, or bathtub faucets.

Even a small drip of water, especially if it is coming from the hot water side, can add up after a month, and could be something like $30 dollars down the drain, literally. The easiest way to check to see if you have any hot water leaking by, is to see if you have a water meter that is attached to your how water heater, make notice of where the needle is at, and do not use any water for the next 2 hours.

Return to the meter 2 hours later and see if the needle has moved at all, if the needle has not moved, then you are pretty safe in terms of having a water leak in your home, if the needle has moved though, you may want to take a deeper look into seeing where the water has came from.

You can do the same thing to the main water meter that is calculating the water usage for your home. I know that you have also heard this tip, but I am going to reiterate just in case you have not. If you use a dishwasher, make sure it is full before you do the dishes. Same goes with the washing machine, and if possible, wash and rinse your clothes in cold water, I know that it is hard to get whites clean with just cold water, so you may need to make an exception if you are washing whites, something like wash with hot water and rinse with cold water.

Speaking of dishes, you can also save money on your water bill by doing dishes by hand, instead of using the dishwasher. This will save money on both your water bill, and electricity bill, especially if you have your dishwasher set to ‘heated dry’, when they can dry just as good in a drip tray, and that costs nothing at all.

Energy efficient water heaters will also do wonders on saving money on your water bill, and electric bill. Make sure that all of the water heater pipes are insulated, this way they will not lose as much heat, and you might save yourself a couple of minutes of running cold water, as the water will be heated up faster when you call for it, thus saving you a couple gallons of water a month.

Also another big water waster are the flapper valves that are inside of the tanks of toilets. These things tend to get stuck sometimes from old age and wear, or just a loose chain. If you toilet is leaking by water, then you are wasting several gallons a month, if not every day, if your toilet is silent without the noise of running water, then you are probably in the clear.

Has your old standard type water heater hit the bucket? Is it beyond repair? Maybe you have heard the newest buzz, well not the newest, but the buzz about tankless water heaters and why so many people are going tankless compared to the standard type water heaters. Let’s look at some positives for choosing to find a tankless water heater for sale over the traditional type for your home.

When you go tankless, you will save a lot of space. No need to jam it into the closet right next to the air handler where there is absolutely no room at all, they can be mounted right on the wall, and only come out from the wall about a foot or two, depending on what type you have. Tankless water heaters are hot water on demand, what this means is that there is no recovery period, as the water basically gets flash heated as it crosses the heating elements. In a standard type water heater, once the hot water is used up, the cold water entering it must be heated back up, and then when the hot water is not in use, it loses heat, and must be heated back up again to maintain temperature, which uses a lot of electricity to keep those heating elements burning. This is not the case with tankless waterheaters, as they only light up the heating elements when you turn the valve and are calling for hot water, thus in many cases a lot more energy efficient and more modern in homes these days.

Some may say that tankless water heaters can last up to 20 years, depending on the manufacturer, though I have seen standard ones last this long also, so when it comes to which ones last longer, it’s really hard to say. But you can at least expect your tankless water heater to last 10 years, especially if you get a 10 year warranty on it.

Now let’s discuss some of the drawbacks about buying tankless water heaters for sale. For one they are going to be twice as expensive as the standard type, if not more, I know, ouch. Though you will be saving money on electricity, it is up to you to decide how much you would be saving, and how often your household is going to be using hot water.

Another drawback is, even though they are on demand hot water heaters, they can only heat up so much water at a time. There are two things that you can take into consideration, which will help you determine how much hot water you are going to get from one heater. One is the size of the heating element, the larger the heating element is the more hot water that you will be able to supply throughout the home.

Another is the temperature of the water that is entering. This is major especially for those that are living in cold regions where the water inside of the plumbing pipes gets near frozen. For those that live in a warmer climate such as Florida, this does not take that much power to get the water up past 100 degrees or so.

Other than that, those are really the only drawbacks that you should consider if you are looking for a tankless water heater for sale.

I am going to be going over some basic troubleshooting about standard cheap water heaters, this way we can decide whether you actually need to replace your water heater or just need a new heating element, or maybe a new thermometer. First off, there are only a few reasons that you would need to actually replace a water heater, one of those reasons might be that you just want to upgrade, because your old one might not be as energy efficient as the older one, the water heaters that were made 10 years ago will run your power bill up a lot more than the ones they make currently.

The second reason, or a good sign of your water heater is about to go bad and needs to be replaced, is if it is leaking water, there is usually no way to fix this in most cases, and it is a common problem for older water heaters. Now if you have water leaking from one of the hoses, than that’s a whole different story. Many times the hoses will wear down and start to leak, especially if there are no nipples connecting the hoses to the water heater itself. If this is the case then you must replace the leaky hose and nipple, if there is one.

Replacing A Water Heater Hose

Before you go replacing hoses though you must make sure that the cold water inlet to the water heater is shut off, you make sure that it is fully shut by opening a hot water valve somewhere in the hose, there should be no water coming out of the faucet.

This will fully determine that the water is shut off, it is also a good idea to secure the breaker that is powering the water heater also, you should have a voltage tester to make sure that you have the right breaker turned off, even though lots of homes have all of the breakers labeled, it is not certain that the electrician labeled them all correctly.

You will need a good pair of channel locks to get the hoses loose. Make sure that you have a towel in handy because there will be some excess water that is going to pour out from the old hoses. When installing the new hose, you may or may not want to use some Teflon tape, my rule of thumb is that if there is a rubber gasket in the hose it is not necessary, but if you are installing a nipple to the water heater then I would use some Teflon tape to secure it to the top of the water heater, and I would leave the Teflon tape off where the hose is connected to the nipple.

Water Heater Not Heating

Now let’s say that your water heater is not heating properly, or maybe not heating at all, the first thing that you should check is to see if the breaker is on, or if it is tripped. If the breaker is tripped, reset it, if it trips again that means that you have a faulty ground somewhere in the electrical system, meaning that a piece of bare wire is touching on some metal.

There are a few ways to find this, but if this is the case I would highly recommend hiring an electrician to get the job done. If your breaker is on, and wasn’t tripped, you can test the breaker to make sure that it is good, most water heaters use 240 volts to power the heating elements and the thermometers. You will again need a voltage meter to check if it is getting the right amount of voltage, this should be done by professional electricians though, if you do not know what you are doing then you could get an electrical shock that could cause a very serious injury or even death.

Testing Water Heater Elements

If you have some electrical experience, and have worked with multi-meters before, I will tell you how to check your water heater elements and thermostat, and you don’t even need to have the power on. In fact, to check the elements and or thermometers for proper operation, the very first thing you do is secure the breaker to the water heater.

Open up the service panel on both the top and bottom if applicable. Locate the heating element, remove one of the wires that are going into the element, just one. Set your multi-meters to ohms, put one of the probes on the open screw and leave it there, with the other probes check the other screws that are on the element, if there is a good connection than your multi-meter will read .1, this means that the element is good, if your multi-meter is reading something like .001, than this means the element is bad and needs to be replaced. You  will check the thermometer for proper operation the exact same way.

Replacing a Water Heater Element

If you find that your heating element is bad, then you will have to replace it, this is easier than it sounds. Turn off the breaker to the water heater, if you checked the element for proper operation than this step should be done already. Make sure that you secure the water coming into the water heater. Next make sure that you have the right kind of replacement water heater element.

Now most people will suggest, and tell you that you have to drain the water heater completely in order to replace the heating element, you can do this if you choose but I never have, I just have a couple of towels in front of the heater to catch the little bit of water that’s going to come out in the middle of the switch.

You will need a lug wrench to loosen up the old element, but before you do that disconnect the wires from the heating element, then loosen the heating element quickly with the wrench. Water is going to be pouring out slowly while you are doing this so make the switch as quick as possible, insert the new heating element and tighten down on it with your wrench, re-hook the wires, put the access panels back on.

Now turn the water back on to the water heater, make sure that you have a hot water valve open in the house somewhere, when the water starts coming out of the faucet you know that the water heater is full, once the water heater is full you can turn the breaker back on.  Wait about 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your water heater, until you once again have some hot water. Now I hope this has given you some insight on how to trouble shoot a cheap water heater, until the next lesson.

Here I will be going over some of the basic types of water heater accessories that you might find on any water heater. You can find water heater accessories for sale just about anywhere, but we will get into that a little bit later.

The element is the heating part of a heater, what it does, it gets real hot and heats the water up until the temperature of the water reaches the pre-set temperature on the thermostat. When you are changing an element, or changing a water heater completely, remember that the element must be submerged in water before the power is turned on to the element. Failure to have the element in water will cause it to bust, it will over heat itself an explode, making the element faulty.

When installing a water heater hose, extreme caution must be taken, if it is not done properly, then major flooding can occur. Never work on a water heater, especially when it has to due with the hoses unless the water is secured, and the power is secured. When putting in a new hose, be sure to get out all of the kinks, if there are any, most of the time the pressure from the water will straighten out the kinks, but other times it won’t, if you have a big kink in the line it will slow the rate of the water coming out, just like if you had a kink in a garden hose.

Another water heater accessory that many people will overlook are water heater blankets. It is basically a blanket that is wrapped around the water heater which will help the water heater be more efficient as not as much heat is going to get lost. Though these can be a great accessory for any water heater, they are not always needed as many of the new types of water heaters already come greatly insulated and energy efficient.

When buying an electic water heater you should make sure that you really need one. Unless the water heater is leaking water from the bottom or is just very very old then I wouldn’t replace it.

Installing a water heater can be a little pricey if done professionally, but there are many resources that you can find on the internet to do it yourself if you want to cut back on your budget. Electric water heaters are normally powered by 210-240 volts, and they usually consist of a couple heating elements to keep the water hot.

When looking for one you need to consider how much water you are really going to need, the average house or apartment can usually get by with just a 30 gallon water heater, but the larger houses or even a small shop might need a bigger holding capacity.

Since electric water heaters are really the most common types that are out there, and they are usually the easiest to install, they use more energy than most gas water heaters do. Meaning that you are going to be paying more out of the pocket as the time goes by.

If you are someone that rents out a home then they would be perfect for you as you will more than likely not be paying the electric bill. But for me, the best water heater out there are the solar ones, but they are also the most difficult to install, and on top of that they are also the most expensive type of water heater also.