Thanks for Tank and Tankless Heaters

Last weekend, Jim and I finished making the final connections for our tankless water heater. I was admittedly nervous since this is a used Takagi TK2 tankless water heater we had gotten off of Craigslist. So rather than just cutting out the old tank model, we installed a shut-off isolation valve on our old water heater and left it in place for now. That way, just in case we run into problems with the tankless and need to revert back, it's a simple switch.

So, once the new equipment was in place and water lines were soldered together and leak free, we flipped the switch on the tankless water heater. Water flowed in and no leaks! I turned on a hot water tap, and water began to flow through the tankless. Once the flow was high enough (more than 0.5 gallons per minute), the electronic igniter lit the flames, which we could see through a tiny window (Jim is pointing to it the photo). Then the exhaust fan kicked on to push the fumes out the special stainless steel venting. Shortly, there was hot water flowing through the tap! Yay!

In a tankless water heater system, the hot water takes a bit longer to reach the taps than a regular water heater would. This happens because there is no constant heat source heating water all the time, and no standby heat is transferred to the water pipes. This is a trade-off with a tankless water heater. Less fuel is needed to heat, but more water is used and wasted down the drain as you wait for the hot water. Fortunately almost all of our plumbing runs are relatively short, so we haven't noticed this isn't a big deal. It takes maybe an extra 20 seconds at our furthest plumbing fixture.

Anyway, we've now been living with the new tankless for a week. Sunday night, Jen was very happy to finally be able fill the bath tub with hot water instead of running out halfway through! But we noticed when taking a shower that the hot water fluctuated off for about two minutes (completely, so it was cold!) and then came back on.

I read the TK2 manual, did a bit of research, and found a great discussion on problems with Takagi TK2 water heaters. This gave me some good ideas such as cleaning water inlet filter, cleaning the igniter and flame sensor (next to the tiny burner window) as well as checking the temperature sensors in the water intake and outtake lines for any clogs. So I did all this. At first, looking at this thing with the cover off is quite intimidating, but if you try to look past all the electronic wires, it's relatively straightforward.

However, after all these maintenance tweaks, it seems we still have occasional problems with the shower. We still get hot water there (and everywhere else for that matter), and there is no problem if the shower is set to full-hot (not mixing with cold water). I wonder if this is mixing valve issue so we'll have to do a bit more investigation on the temperature fluctuations (and maybe even call Takagi) to get this figured out.

Anyhow, despite these initial problems, I'm quite pleased with the fact that the system works, and I'm really looking forward to cutting out the old tank-style water heater and getting some extra space in the small utility room / shop area in our basement. But we'll hold off on that until these issues are resolved, knowing that if needed, we can fire up the old beastly water heater at any time.

Going Tankless

On Friday morning, a piercing scream woke me better than any alarm ever could. I soon discovered that Jen was rudely informed by our plumbing system that our hot water heater had given out and was no longer working. Unfortunately, this was while taking a shower. Not the best way to start the morning.

I fooled around with the pilot light for awhile trying to relight the burner. The pilot light would catch, but as soon as i released the priming button to turn the burner on, the flame would go out. After work, my stepdad told me that it was likely due to the thermocouple going bad. This little copper safety device ensures the pilot flame is present. When heated by the pilot flame, a small electrical signal is generated and sent to the main gas control valve. In the event of pilot flame failure, the electrical signal is no longer generated, and the main unit shuts off the gas flow to the burner equipment. So when our electrical signal was gone, so was our water heat. Fortunately, this was a fairly easy replacement, and it only cost a whopping 4.95 for a new thermocouple!

So the water heater limps on, and we have hot water again. But the whole event got me thinking about replacing our 14 year old water heater when we redo the rest of the plumbing in the house. I've heard about tankless water heaters for awhile. They've become standard in green building technology. Low water usage, no standby heat loss (you only heat water as you use it, "on-demand", instead of constantly heating a 50 gallon tank of water all the time), and very small space requirements. The technology has been used elsewhere in the world where water is a premium (Europe, Japan), but has only recently caught on in the US.

An excellent overview of how tankless water heaters work is provided on the Takagi website, as well as other providers (Bosch, Rinnai, Paloma). Basically, you never run out of hot water... the tank can always heat water on the fly. The biggest disadvantage is that you need to get a large (read: expensive) tankless heater if you expect to have more than 1 "major application" at a time. This means 2 showers or 1 shower + dishwasher. Most can support 1 shower + a sink. But they last a LONG time, manufactures claim 20+ years. Some people say even longer.

The only other bad thing is the initial cost. It's about twice as much as a traditional tank heater. For a model that provides for 2 major applications, it is about $1000 (they also need special ventilation too). But part of this cost can be offset since because they are about 85% efficient, they qualify for a $300 energy credit for next year's taxes.

All said and done, I think the pros may outweigh the cons. In addition to the cool sustainability points for being green (and saving greenbacks in terms of nat. gas costs), I really like the space efficiency aspects. We'll have to do more investigation on these tankless units. Any feedback or insight is welcome!

C'mon get happy ...

So we were at last successful. No more with the curb madness. I contacted the village manager's office and the curmbly sloppy-arched curb was removed and replaced within 48 hours. Gotta love it when someone can just (finally) make something happen. I also received several phone calls from the new streets manager - sounded nice. The guy we had been dealing with is no longer around (surprise, surprise). Yay for the curb!

There have beena few developments since our last posting. We've managed to redo the plans for the upstairs (THANK YOU VIV FOR ALL YOUR HELP!) and submitted them to the village for their hopefully timely consideration. I can't wait to make some progress above ground. I am feeling caught again lately.

We need a plan. I told Jason this the other day. We used to have this big white board we could put finish dates on, cross off completed projects and look forward to new ones. I don't know where it went, but we gotta find it again. That was like my security blanket, I think. I just didn't know it at the time. Guess you never do till it's GONE!

I just can't wait till we have the bathtub installed upstairs. Right now our water heater can't hold enough hot water to fill the tub on the first floor. How sad is that? SIGH ... but the new tub, that will be awesome.