Water Heaters - Want to replace standard flue vent water heater with direct vent--please help!!
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madsfuqua
11-01-09, 10:01 AM
Hello everyone! I have no experience dealing with water heater replacement, so any advice you can offer would be much appreciated!
My husband and I are buying a house. The house in question comes with a standard 40 or 50 gallon tall flue vent water heater and a very badly damaged chimney. We plan to roof in the chimney and get a direct vent water heater, as we feel this is more cost-effective in the long run (versus extensively repairing and maintaining a chimney for the sole purpose of venting a water heater--the furnace is a 90% with PVC vent out the side wall from the basement). My questions at the moment are:
Is it possible to replace a tall tank heater with a short tank heater without having to re-plumb or redo any gas and water lines if the capacity in gallons is the same?
Roughly how expensive would it be to have a direct vent heater installed (in Ohio)? We know some home improvement stores sell the heaters themselves, but have no idea how much it costs to have the actual vent installed.
Do any adjustments have to be made to the plumbing when going from a 40-gallon tank to a 50-gallon tank? (We are still deciding which size is best, and trying to figure out which size we can actually find to purchase!)
Thanks for the help everyone!!
Edited to state explicitly that this is a natural gas water heater!
My husband and I are buying a house. The house in question comes with a standard 40 or 50 gallon tall flue vent water heater and a very badly damaged chimney. We plan to roof in the chimney and get a direct vent water heater, as we feel this is more cost-effective in the long run (versus extensively repairing and maintaining a chimney for the sole purpose of venting a water heater--the furnace is a 90% with PVC vent out the side wall from the basement). My questions at the moment are:
Is it possible to replace a tall tank heater with a short tank heater without having to re-plumb or redo any gas and water lines if the capacity in gallons is the same?
Roughly how expensive would it be to have a direct vent heater installed (in Ohio)? We know some home improvement stores sell the heaters themselves, but have no idea how much it costs to have the actual vent installed.
Do any adjustments have to be made to the plumbing when going from a 40-gallon tank to a 50-gallon tank? (We are still deciding which size is best, and trying to figure out which size we can actually find to purchase!)
Thanks for the help everyone!!
Edited to state explicitly that this is a natural gas water heater!
Concretemasonry
11-01-09, 12:09 PM
From the gas and water supply plus the hot water output, you will probably need plumbing changes because of the different dimensions of the tank. If you go to a short heater, it will probably be shorter and wider.
You cannot combine water heater venting with a high efficiency furnace system, so the venting/intake would be separate.
The installation instruction for the heater will give you the general requirements, but you will have to decided what to do with your home and the local codes.
I got rid of a an older 65% furnace and went with a 80% furnace instead of a 95% because of the installation costs, installation problems, initial costs were so much higher that I could not justify the savings unless I live to be well over 100. It turned out to be a good choice after a couple of years experience, since my heating costs are not that high, even in frigid Minnesota.
When looking at the economics, remember that portion of your bill is for minimums and connections that you already have for the furnace, so just applying a percentage to the total bill is misleading, especially in the months where you are not using the furnace.
In the summer, my gas bill is about $16.00 per month and half is for usage and half for water heating, so any energy savings I would have with a high efficiency water heater would only apply to the $8.00 per month portion, which would be minimal and not offset extra heater cost. installation, etc.
The direct concept is wonderful for replacing a conventional fireplace with a gas direct vent concept because the intake and venting is withing the existing chimney flue and eliminates the need for a fresh air intake. My new insert goes in a week or two.
Dick
You cannot combine water heater venting with a high efficiency furnace system, so the venting/intake would be separate.
The installation instruction for the heater will give you the general requirements, but you will have to decided what to do with your home and the local codes.
I got rid of a an older 65% furnace and went with a 80% furnace instead of a 95% because of the installation costs, installation problems, initial costs were so much higher that I could not justify the savings unless I live to be well over 100. It turned out to be a good choice after a couple of years experience, since my heating costs are not that high, even in frigid Minnesota.
When looking at the economics, remember that portion of your bill is for minimums and connections that you already have for the furnace, so just applying a percentage to the total bill is misleading, especially in the months where you are not using the furnace.
In the summer, my gas bill is about $16.00 per month and half is for usage and half for water heating, so any energy savings I would have with a high efficiency water heater would only apply to the $8.00 per month portion, which would be minimal and not offset extra heater cost. installation, etc.
The direct concept is wonderful for replacing a conventional fireplace with a gas direct vent concept because the intake and venting is withing the existing chimney flue and eliminates the need for a fresh air intake. My new insert goes in a week or two.
Dick
madsfuqua
11-03-09, 05:44 PM
Thanks for the response!
We are going to try to go with a tank that is the same capacity and has nearly identical dimensions to the one currently installed at the house, since we don't want to have to deal with major plumbing changes right now!
We know that it isn't possible to use the same vent for the furnace and the water heater, so that won't be a problem for us. Now we just need to find a good tank and figure out installation. This is a very intimidating process for people with no experience, and I really appreciate your response. Thanks again!
We are going to try to go with a tank that is the same capacity and has nearly identical dimensions to the one currently installed at the house, since we don't want to have to deal with major plumbing changes right now!
We know that it isn't possible to use the same vent for the furnace and the water heater, so that won't be a problem for us. Now we just need to find a good tank and figure out installation. This is a very intimidating process for people with no experience, and I really appreciate your response. Thanks again!