I have to get a new hot water tank, looking for advice NF

[Big Cliff]

A couple years ago my rental water heater sprung a leak. I called up Reliance and the guys were here in an hour and two hours later I had a new one installed and working. The only thing I didn't like was they had to put in a steel chimney liner (about $600.00) that they said was required by law but that was just tacked on to my rental bill. No immediate cash outlay.

Unless you had an oil fired hot water heater I think you just got sold a liner you didn't need! My gas fired one uses plastic pipe and just vents through the wall. I just heard that Reliance was sued for 2.2 million because of water heater problems causing damage and lost (they have appealed it)

[aplumma]

There are two styles of gas heaters. One is the high efficiency which uses a power vent (a blower motor) on the top that takes surrounding air and mixes it with the exhaust from the burner to cool it down so it can be run thru PVC. The old style or non high efficiency unit has a steel vent because it can reach temperatures that would melt plastic pipes. The liner is needed if the flue is in poor shape and decaying from acids that occur as flue gasses cool.It is not a big deal to do it is just running B vent pipe thru and up to the top of the roof. You are using the flue as a chase for the pipe.

 

 

Art

[Big Cliff]

I stand corrected LOL.

 

I didn't think anyone installed anything but high efficiency units anymore. When we bought this place it had an oil furnace in it. Then they told me I had to get a new oil tank because mine was too old, (about $700.00 to remove the old one and install a new one) then they told me I had to install a SS liner in my chimney and that was going to be about $700.00. The next day I ordered a propane furnace and that was the end of that nonsense!

[aplumma]

I hear you I am not a fan of oil fired water heaters. I have avoided them like the plaque. The big issue is the smell of the diesel fuel and the soot. It gets all over the place and it never can be removed completely from the house. The HE water heaters are usually around twice the cost of the old style heaters but will pay for themselves fairly quickly. The only advantage the non HE has is it does not pump the surrounding air out of the room it is installed in and in most cases it is air that has already been heated by a furnace. The more often the heater runs the greater loss of heated air occurs. The newest generation of Air heaters have raised the efficiency of the heaters by drawing cold air from outside for the combustion chamber thus not sending heated air out the flue. The water heater has not been able to be designed in this manner that is cost effective.

 

 

 

Art

[cram]

I had to put in a liner when moving the furnace to high efficiency (which vented out the side wall) and left an orphaned water heater venting up the chimney on it's own. Needed to shrink the size of the chimney vent.