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strider3700 · 07-28-12, 01:07 PM

My old water heater had been very rusty looking at the top for awhile now. Somewhere in the past a previous owner used galvanized nipples to connect the tank to the copper plumbing. there was some corrosion between the copper and the nipple. There was a lot of corrosion between the nipple and the tank. Yesterday I noticed a small drop of water had formed on the cold water connection between the tank and nipple so that project got moved from soon to now.

Normally I wouldn't bother documenting an electric hotwater install but this isn't just a cut the old one out and throw the new one in with some flexible sharkbite connectors.

First off Jan 1st they changed the rules in BC forcing higher energy efficiency from hotwater tanks. Being the only place in north america that did it manufacturers responded by saying that's nice we're not making a new model just for you. So what's happened is the old top entry tanks don't meet the new requirement. The bottom fed tanks being more efficient do meet that requirement. So I have switch to a bottom fed tank which is a bit more plumbing.

Since I have to switch the plumbing a bit I decided to go with a 60 gallon tank instead of the old 40. We never run the 40 to empty but long term I want solar hotwater and will be using 2 conventional tanks as storage. Bigger is better in that case.

And finally since I'm doing all of this work I figured lets relocate the tank about 5' away into a closet first to get it out of the walkway. Seriously whoever decided this was the place to put it was taking the lazy way out. Just awful. Also in there I can super insulate it far easier as well as it can be strapped to the wall in the event of earthquake. The old one is pushed tight against the furnace so strapping to that is a bad idea.

While I'm doing the install I will be installing a tempering valve also in prep of solar, and I'll be adding a heat trap loop to the hot water line. As it currently stands I can feel the pipe is noticably hot 5' from the tank where it vanishes into the roof. Also now that we have some space I can wrap the tank with a good insulating blanket to start with. The old one had 1/4" between it and the furnace so it was always bleeding heat slowly out.

The tank I went with is nothing special Bottom Entry 60 G (284 L) Electric Heater, 4500 W | Canadian Tire The anode can be easily replaced and the lack of insulation is the only other real difference from the 12 years.

07-28-12, 01:07 PM	#1
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	New water heater install My old water heater had been very rusty looking at the top for awhile now. Somewhere in the past a previous owner used galvanized nipples to connect the tank to the copper plumbing. there was some corrosion between the copper and the nipple. There was a lot of corrosion between the nipple and the tank. Yesterday I noticed a small drop of water had formed on the cold water connection between the tank and nipple so that project got moved from soon to now. Normally I wouldn't bother documenting an electric hotwater install but this isn't just a cut the old one out and throw the new one in with some flexible sharkbite connectors. First off Jan 1st they changed the rules in BC forcing higher energy efficiency from hotwater tanks. Being the only place in north america that did it manufacturers responded by saying that's nice we're not making a new model just for you. So what's happened is the old top entry tanks don't meet the new requirement. The bottom fed tanks being more efficient do meet that requirement. So I have switch to a bottom fed tank which is a bit more plumbing. Since I have to switch the plumbing a bit I decided to go with a 60 gallon tank instead of the old 40. We never run the 40 to empty but long term I want solar hotwater and will be using 2 conventional tanks as storage. Bigger is better in that case. And finally since I'm doing all of this work I figured lets relocate the tank about 5' away into a closet first to get it out of the walkway. Seriously whoever decided this was the place to put it was taking the lazy way out. Just awful. Also in there I can super insulate it far easier as well as it can be strapped to the wall in the event of earthquake. The old one is pushed tight against the furnace so strapping to that is a bad idea. While I'm doing the install I will be installing a tempering valve also in prep of solar, and I'll be adding a heat trap loop to the hot water line. As it currently stands I can feel the pipe is noticably hot 5' from the tank where it vanishes into the roof. Also now that we have some space I can wrap the tank with a good insulating blanket to start with. The old one had 1/4" between it and the furnace so it was always bleeding heat slowly out. The tank I went with is nothing special Bottom Entry 60 G (284 L) Electric Heater, 4500 W \| Canadian Tire The anode can be easily replaced and the lack of insulation is the only other real difference from the 12 years.