Description
Gas water heaters or Electric water heaters, we have what you need.
There are three drawbacks to a tank water heater. One is that it can run out of hot water. Two is that it is always heating up the water in the tank even if nobody is using hot water in the house. And three is that it takes up a lot of space. Gas heaters are governed by a “Low Nox” law (Nitrous Oxide gas emissions). This is simply an efficiency standard for the green house gas emissions from the heaters. As long as you have a knowledgeable plumber, you shouldn’t have to worry about all this technical information.
You may have a 30gal, 40gal, 50gal, 60gal, 75gal or 100 gallon water heater. The size of your water heater depends on the size of your home and family.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters have been around for about seven years now. The prices were high at the beginning then came down and now have stayed steady for the last couple of years. Most kinks have been handled and now they are really a good option. There are two drawbacks to tankless water heaters. One is the cold water sandwich. The cold water sandwich occurs when the heater turns on and off and then back on. These heaters produce hot water on demand. When the demand has ended the heater turns off the burners. When a new demand comes the heater takes a second to turn the burners back on, simultaneously letting a small amount of water through the system without heating it. This section of cold water will travel through the pipe and finally come out of the faucet as a cold water sandwich. There are options to fixing this problem. The first option is to add a small electric heater that will maintain about five gallons of hot water at all times. This extra heater is a must when you have a circulating system in place. This little heater can maintain the circulating loop heat without affecting the tankless water heater. A second option is to add a larger pipe size at the beginning of the hot water for about three feet to act like a buffer tank. I’m not saying that is a perfect solution, but something is better than nothing. Call and talk to a professional plumber here at Angel Plumbers for more answers. The second drawback is that they don’t really work well with circulating systems. They do work but the solution does take away from the selling point benefit of “on-demand” hot water feature.
Commercial Water Heaters
Angel Plumbers does work with commercial heaters or, more appropriately, boilers and hydronic systems. If you have a boiler on your building, the system is also equipped with a storage tank. The most common boiler manufacturers around this area are Raypak and Laars. Angel Plumbers can trouble shoot, repair, and install both of these and can make recommendations for both system setups. Call Angel Plumbers today and get the answers you are looking for.
Expansion Tanks
Expansion tanks prolong the life of your heater. According to water heater manufacturers it is always recommended that you use an expansion tank. There is a thing called thermal expansion. Thermal expansion is the expansion of water when it is heated. When water heats and then cools, you have expansion that happens inside the water lines followed by contraction. Throughout the day this happens many times as you use your hot water in the house. An expansion tank will absorb the expansion and contraction so your water heater doesn’t have to. In addition to prolonging the life of your heater, it will also prevent your water heater from blowing up in an extreme case.
Regulations for the installation of a water heater
An up to code water heater will be installed with safety in mind including the following:
- Earthquake Straps
- T&P valve with drain exiting to a visible area
- Smithy pan exiting to a visible area
- Double wall venting exiting through the roof
