Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
- Start date
ToeMissile
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
- 3,469
- 2,271
Stupid fuckin' earthquake about a month ago happened 2 days after I finished repairing cracks and repainting in 4 rooms. At least the neighbors chimney didn't fall through my window.
Khane
Got something right about marriage
- 20,889
- 14,716
I've got a leaking water heater bros. It's a very slow leak and it's not the first time this has happened. Here is my question. I have a service plan that got bungled by the gas company so I had to re-instate it and they won't come out to do it until 5 days after payment. Can anything catastrophic happen if I just let it go until then?
opiate82
Bronze Squire
- 3,078
- 5
Well, maybe. In my experience a slow leak is just a precursor to a gusher. Once they start to leak you only have a few days till catastrophe. Then again, the water in my area is notoriously hard on water heaters which may lead to their quick demise once leaking.
If you want to wait for the service plan to kick in, I would turn off your water to your heater when you aren't around just to ensure if it does blow the worst that happens is the water in the tank floods your "whatever" and it doesn't keep running and running till you get home from work/wherever to notice it.
- 50,774
- 245,502
They sell water heaters that are rated 10 years? Who the hell buys such a thing?
We have wicked hard water here, and for a few years before I moved in, the previous owners didn't have a water softner. My water heater is ticking and banging when heating, has been for the entire time I've been here. I think it's the heating elements covered with hard water deposits, but who knows. I plan to put in tankless water heat very soon.
Side note - I came into the family room, and was in despair. One of my kids had just had a bath, and I had drained it, and the smell in the room was like sewage. I looked all over the damned place for a leak, an empty trap, or something, and then my lactose intolerant wife admitted she had a milkshake today.
Source located.
We have wicked hard water here, and for a few years before I moved in, the previous owners didn't have a water softner. My water heater is ticking and banging when heating, has been for the entire time I've been here. I think it's the heating elements covered with hard water deposits, but who knows. I plan to put in tankless water heat very soon.
Side note - I came into the family room, and was in despair. One of my kids had just had a bath, and I had drained it, and the smell in the room was like sewage. I looked all over the damned place for a leak, an empty trap, or something, and then my lactose intolerant wife admitted she had a milkshake today.
Source located.
chaos
Buzzfeed Editor
- 17,324
- 4,841
fuckin loooooool
I am considering a tankless water heater but I hear different things about them, some people say they are the best thing ever and some people say they suck. And I'm not sure if I have room for one in the space my water heater is in. And I still have pb pipe in my house and I try to do as little plumbing as possible because right now everything is precariously balanced and I don't want to risk fucking it up.
I am considering a tankless water heater but I hear different things about them, some people say they are the best thing ever and some people say they suck. And I'm not sure if I have room for one in the space my water heater is in. And I still have pb pipe in my house and I try to do as little plumbing as possible because right now everything is precariously balanced and I don't want to risk fucking it up.
- 50,774
- 245,502
Most can be converted to work with a 1/2 inch line, but it's preferable to have a 3/4 inch line directly to the water heater - which is easy enough in my case. My heater set up is only about 10 feet from where the gas enters the house. Slightly more work is that it requires a larger exhaust, and I'm going to vent it directly out the side of the house, not up the chimney. Not a huge deal, just one more pain in the ass.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,645
- 16,699
Anyone ever use duct-less central heating/ac units? My brother in law is trying to sell us on one and will install for cost, but I've never used one so not sure how efficient and effective they are.
I have a uber water softener at home that is both carbon and salt based. Sweet sweet soft water throughout my house.
- 17,187
- 8,196
No one thought this was funny?
More seriously, my home came with a water softener. My wife and I didn't like how "slimy" it made the water and shut it off. How much faster am I killing my heater?
- 50,774
- 245,502
If your water is hard, it's not good for the heater. Obviously no one knows how much faster. But you can adjust water softeners. Dial it way back, and turn that shit on again. Softer water is nicer water for so many things.
opiate82
Bronze Squire
- 3,078
- 5
Overly soft water can also be bad for water heaters as they don't build up a protective scale that prevents corrosion. If you have a water softener it is recommend you turn it off for a few days once a year to allow the scale to build up. If you have naturally soft water to begin with, well you are screwed.
lurker
Vyemm Raider
- 1,750
- 4,250
I think it's really hard to say. Here in AZ our water is very hard but I don't have a water softener and both my electric water heaters are over 15 years old. My friend with soft water goes through one every 6 years. His is gas.
Selix
Lord Nagafen Raider
- 2,149
- 4
I've did some reading awhile back on these things in case I wanted to add one to our tank system in the future to help us have hot water for longer. The hot water runs out pretty fast with 2 people taking a shower I don't want to even consider what it's going to be like when the girls are old enough to take daily morning showers.
1. Gas water heaters are better then electric water heaters in general. Exceptions being point of use water heating which means putting a small tankless WH near the object to use it. So directly to a single shower line for example.
2. Tankless water heaters perform better in warmer climates where the water coming in does not need to be heated up as much.
3. They can be used in parallel with each other or with a tank and tankless system. Do you research on the model you buy before you set this up as not all models are the same on this issue.
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 8,560
- 3,574
We have a gas tankless water heater in our house and I like it. Was put in before we bought it. Water heats up incredibly fast except for our kitchen sink which is the furthest away but I'm sure this has everything to do with the pipe and distance more than anything else.
True about warmer climates I imagine, because on some of the coldest winter days this year that thing sounded like an old shitty car trying to get going when we would use it in the winter. Otherwise it's pretty quiet.
True about warmer climates I imagine, because on some of the coldest winter days this year that thing sounded like an old shitty car trying to get going when we would use it in the winter. Otherwise it's pretty quiet.
Eomer
Trakanon Raider
- 5,472
- 272
Thanks for noticing bro!
Electric tanks should generally last a lot longer than gas ones. The reason why gas tanks fail is that scale builds up on the fire tubes within the water heater, and that basically insulates them. So not only does your tank run less efficiently, but that "insulation" makes the expansion/contraction of the tank firing on and off worse. That expansion/contraction eventually causes a failure/rupture. None of that is an issue with electric tanks, where the failure will simply be the element burning out.lurker_sl said:
So a water softener should help extend the life of your tank by slowing scale buildup. But I really doubt that there's a direct cost benefit.