Hot Water

[FaheyUSMC]

My mother fell behind on the bills about a year ago. She was behind by a few months on the gas bill around July. In September, she was going to pay it off (got a nice check from her previous boss that had screwed her and she'd been able to prove it) when the government came in the day she was going to do it and cleared her out (great timing, eh?).

My question is: we went the winter without running hot water. I'm not interested in doing that this winter and would like to know if there's an alternative to this. I'd like to start looking at options now, to be frank, to try to alleviate some of that stress when the winter hits. Thanks!

 

[Caduceus]

Sorry, Fahey, but even after reading the question I'm not sure what you are asking. Is it that you want to know if there is an alternative to not having hot water. Please clarify and maybe we could help. I may just be misreading the post. Thanks.

 

[LiQuId]

Back in the days people used to heat water on the stove for baths and such.....

I too am not sure what the question is..

 

[bob1231]

electric hot water

 

[Caduceus]

If the gas being shut off and going without hot water are one in the same, bob1231 has the right idea. But in the same token, if somebody doesn't pay the electric bill...no hot water. Also, how is the house heated in the winter? Electric furnace, even a gas furnace needs electricity for the blower, so that takes you back to no hot water with an electric or gas tank. Oil heat for the house? Maybe an oil furnace with indirect heating for hot water, but the cost to install would have to offset the cost of the opposing utility that the previous tank was on otherwise you could afford the hot water without changing the heating method. Without more info we could go back and forth on this one for a long time.

 

[bob1231]

Haha good one caduceus was just thinking hot water no matter gas gotta get paid any utility co could help with bill

 

[FaheyUSMC]

Basically, I'm asking if there is an alternative to having to use the gas for heating the water. I've read about point-of-use water heating equipment, and am wondering how hard it would be to install. For example, what's a decent one (such as a tankless water heater) that would be relatively easy to install as well as providing a somewhat decent shower?

 

[plumbernyc]

There are many tankless water heaters on the market. Takagi Tankless Water Heaters, Stiebel Eltron Tempra Tankless Electric

Keep it mind that it will take some time until the expense pays off in energy savings.

 

[Hyper48fan]

Last week I responded to a call where my company had installed two Stiebel Eltron tankless water heaters (I don't recall what model)at a brand new car dealership. The problem was there was no hot water. Each w/h was installed under a counter top with two lavs, each equipped with Sloan proximity sensor faucets. I checked for voltage inside the unit and it was good. What I noticed was that with one faucet operating the water stayed cold but with two faucets operating the water got hot. I pulled up the Installation manual on my Samsung Galaxy Tab and found that with too low of flow it won't kick on. So I had to order 4 new aerators at 2.2 GPM because the Sensor faucets come with .5 GPM aerators. I hope this works, I'll let you guys know, I install them tomorrow.

The reason I bring this up is you have to match the tankless (point of use) water heater to your application.