Klein tools

[scott2000]

A little simple plumbing, adding a T and rt angle allows dropping the active anode (that I already have sitting in a box) in through the top hot water outlet port. This could rescue my current hot water heater whose sacrificial anode is surely already toast.
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That's interesting that you say that. AO Smith instructions have an alternative port to use for a new anode if not able to get the old anode out. I can't recall exactly what it said....

 

[JohnRoberts]

That's interesting that you say that. AO Smith instructions have an alternative port to use for a new anode if not able to get the old anode out. I can't recall exactly what it said....

That makes a lot of sense. It would cost them less than $1 but hurt their long term profit.

JR

 

[JohnRoberts]

As often happens with these adventures I am still learning. The hot water heater (whirlpool) owners manual suggests that they may have a "heat trap" built into the hot and cold water ports.

This suggests that I might need to add an eternal heat trap*****. These can be as simple as loop in the hot water tubing that blocks the hot/cool water exchange. They also make these with ball check valves or flaps. I do not know what or if is inside my hot water heater but I will talk with my plumber to see if this internal heat trap nipple can be removed.

JR

***** heat traps are clever devices that block convection from allowing denser cooled hot water from flowing back into the output. This wastes a lot of energy as this cooled water gets reheated but keeps cycling back in a cooling/heating loop.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I am quickly losing enthusiasm for trying to remove the stock heat trap from my water heater. I have just realized that it is already 8 years old (with a 6 year warranty). I have seen some web advice about having to use screw extractors to remove stuck heat trap nipples.

Lately I have been seeing some low cost tankless electric hot water heaters for 1/2 the cost of a modest old school tank water heater. Since my house was built with in-wall electric resistance heaters I suspect I have adequate mains power to drive a tankless heater, by repurposing those unused in-wall heater lines, now that I am heating my house with 3.5T of heat pump.

Tankless should waste even less energy, helping me save the planet.

JR

 

[Brian Roth]

I am quickly losing enthusiasm for trying to remove the stock heat trap from my water heater. I have just realized that it is already 8 years old (with a 6 year warranty). I have seen some web advice about having to use screw extractors to remove stuck heat trap nipples.

Lately I have been seeing some low cost tankless electric hot water heaters for 1/2 the cost of a modest old school tank water heater. Since my house was built with in-wall electric resistance heaters I suspect I have adequate mains power to drive a tankless heater, by repurposing those unused in-wall heater lines, now that I am heating my house with 3.5T of heat pump.

Tankless should waste even less energy, helping me save the planet.

JR

Be sure your water supply is relatively free of minerals. 10-15 years ago a friend/client who has a house and then built a studio "out in the boonies". Well water. He installed tankless heaters in both buildings. Within six months both water heaters became so "internally scaled" (according to his plumber) they were useless.

Bri

 

[JohnRoberts]

After seriously over thinking this I have decided to return to patiently waiting for my current hot water heater to fail. I have established that my current heater is roughly 8 years old with a 6 year warranty.

I checked out the tankless heater company whose price was roughly half of established brands. It turns out that they are a manufacturer of tankless water heaters for RVs and are trying to buy into the residential market with low price.

I expect that I should have enough service ampacity since my house was built with four in-wall resistance heaters (no longer used since I installed two heat pumps) but mating that power to a heater could involve a major overhaul of my service drop. I am still waiting for a return phone call from my local electrician when I tried to hire him when I replaced my wall oven years ago. He never got back in touch with me so I installed it myself.

It will be far cheaper to just replace this heater with another standard tank water heater. And even cheaper to wait until it fails. When I drained some water out of it the other day there was no rust apparent in the drained water.

AFAIK my town water is not unusually mineral laden.

JR

 

[scott2000]

Tankless should waste even less energy,

I heard they're maybe not as beneficial here unless using gas but idk. Would guess anything is better than an inefficient heater.

This suggests that I might need to add an eternal heat trap*****. These can be as simple as loop in the hot water tubing that blocks the hot/cool water exchange. They also make these with ball check valves or flaps.

I guess there are also things people add to actually mix the cold and hot to increase hot water capacity...forget how it works .. something like cranking up heat...mixing tank maybe...??
when I get home I'll look ..

hot water heater is a huge hitter on usage in my house .. I've taken cold showers for many years but have watched meter when my wife is in there...crazy movement...
Don't worry, I've watched her too ...much more..lol

 

[JohnRoberts]

I heard they're maybe not as beneficial here unless using gas but idk. Would guess anything is better than an inefficient heater.

The typical tens of gallons hot water tank constantly leaks heat. Mine is well covered with insulation. Heating the water is relatively efficient, keeping it hot is the work. Heat traps cut off one major heat drain due to convection within the plumbing.

I guess there are also things people add to actually mix the cold and hot to increase hot water capacity...forget how it works .. something like cranking up heat...mixing tank maybe...??
when I get home I'll look ..

mixing valves are used to prevent too hot water from scalding users. I have my hot water cranked up to something like 140' to suppress odors.

hot water heater is a huge hitter on usage in my house .. I've taken cold showers for many years but have watched meter when my wife is in there...crazy movement...
Don't worry, I watch her too ...

In theory just heating the water as you use it should waste less heat sitting around hot.

JR