2015 water heater regulations

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briankeal

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I own a house in NC that I rent out. Resident was complaining of warm but not hot water and an odor coming from the water. The plumber that went out said the following:

Received call for bad odor emanating from hot water only. We flushed the water heater located in crawl space and removed large amounts of buildup from tank. Diminished 'anode rod' is likely the cause of bad odor, but we also found that even when thermostats set at 125 degrees water is only coming out luke warm. We would have to remove the water heater in order to install a new anode rod...then replace thermostats as well. It would be much more cost efficient to install a new 50 gallon electric water heater. Also remember, new regulations on water heaters will discontinue 50 gallon lowboys after next month. (You will not even be able to buy this heater in about two more weeks) If it goes out the homeowner would likely be forced to change over to a tankless water heater costing over double.


The diagnosis isn't my issue here, I haven't been able to find anything that says lowboys will be discontinued and I honestly dont think replacing would be a better choice, financially speaking. Could you all shed some light on the new regulations for me and let me know if this guy is being legit? I haven't found anything that says lowboys won't be available, only noticed energy regulations and efficiency. He wants to charge $400 for the tank, $550 for labor and then tax. The tank is in a crawl but there is plenty of room to work on the tank so I do t see that being an issue.
 

Terry

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The "lowboy" electric water heaters will be a little taller and wider.
As long as it still fits you're okay. But yes, after April 15th, they can no longer make some of the old water heaters. They can still sell what is left in stock, but stock has been getting thin on the old stuff.
Plumbers do charge for labor. These things don't just hop into homes, and then hop to the recycle outifts. We pick up the heaters, and then we dispose of them. We pay a plumber his time to run those trips for you. We don't run a non-profit. Our guys expect a paycheck each week.
And sales tax. Are you complaining about sales tax? Maybe you would like to sit in on a three year audit where the state comes in and downloads your hard drive to see how well you are collecting "their" taxes. They look at "everything".

The large electric water heaters like the 80 gallon will change a lot!!!
http://www.rheem.com/products/water_heating/NAECA/
 

hj

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All water heaters over 50 gallons will have MAJOR revisions, meaning they will cost considerably more, besides being larger. Here, they just revised the sales tax process, so we pay it when we purchase items, rather than submitting a monthly report, and money, about how we collected it.
 

Terry

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I might also add that the flat dollar amount for the install also includes the parts needed for the install that he didn't bother listing out. He doesn't get to keep the full dollar amount.
 

briankeal

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Terry,

I'm aware water heaters do not walk nor fly, I was simply stating what the charges were. With that being said, yes I do believe the labor cost is a bit high but I understand I will not be able to change that. I was looking for some advice about the regulations as I'm not in that field and don't know all the details like a lot of people here would.

Thank you both for your help and information, I appreciate any I can get.
 

Reach4

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If you could get the old anode out (and that probably requires an impact wrench), a powered anode would go in with minimal overhead clearance. The part that goes into the tank is essentially a somewhat springy wire with a weight. However you would have to install an outlet for the power supply. The old anode can be lifted out and easily bent if it is worn out. Before the aluminum or zinc or magnesium is eaten away, they are stiffer. If you had to take a new one out, you would probably need to saw it on the way up.

A powered anode is not cheap (low volume production), but it gives top protection to the tank while not doing any chemical reaction that causes a sulfur smell. I have one. You could move it to the next tank.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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The diagnosis isn't my issue here, I haven't been able to find anything that says lowboys will be discontinued and I honestly dont think replacing would be a better choice, financially speaking. Could you all shed some light on the new regulations for me and let me know if this guy is being legit? I haven't found anything that says lowboys won't be available, only noticed energy regulations and efficiency. He wants to charge $400 for the tank, $550 for labor and then tax. The tank is in a crawl but there is plenty of room to work on the tank so I do t see that being an issue.




Just change out the heater unless you wish to find another plumber.......
Your plumber is giving you a very fair price to do the work....under a grand.. and it sounds like he
has already attempted to clean out the old unit that is sitting down in your wide open, clean and pretty crawl space..

I assume you are gonna pay him for his time and labor to repair your old heater????:rolleyes:

Of course If the work is so easy, why dont you climb into your nice crawl space and do
the job yourself?? Its not that hard a job to drag one of those pigs out of the hole....
and drag another one down there.....especially if the new one is a lot larger than the old one...

you claim its a wonderful crawl space with lots of room , maybe you could have a picnic down
there with flowers, picnic baskets , blankets for the ground and ham sandwiches.with other delights...chicken salad, deviled eggs.....
You could make changing out that water heater into something like a family outing at the park...
invite all your relatives over to help out..:):):D..

OR maybe you could haggle with the plumber and ask him how much cheaper it would be if
he just left the old one down there for someone else to deal with in 50 years??
 
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briankeal

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Mark,

I'm not trying to fight with anyone on here or put anyone down. I respect your profession and know it isn't easy. I am unable to do it because the house is in NC and I am in PA. I dont believe I said it was a "wonderful" crawl space, I just said there was a good bit of room. I understand you guys probably get a lot of people putting you down but that's not my intention. I simply asked for you're thoughts, not to get bombarded with mockery.

Reach,

Thank you for the Information.
 
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Master Plumber Mark

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Oh come on......Some mockery wont hurt you.......

the plumber is giving you a good price and I suggest you accept it
he is going above and beyond the normal install and giving you a great deal
for being in a crawl space... no matter how nice it is down there
 
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