Converting gas water heater

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Pluto

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Hi everyone. I am urgently looking for some guidance about a hot water heater replacement and would really appreciate your help.

We have a 50 gal gas water heater that is vented through a chimney in our 1927 house. Both the chimney and the hot water heater have not been well maintained and the hot water heater, while functional, has been flooded and is dangerous, I believe. We want to replace it with either an electric water heater or a direct vent.

Would you all be able to give pros/cons about both? The increased operating cost for electric is okay with us, as is the cost of upgrading the electrical since we need a new panel anyway. Our furnace vent is directed through an exterior wall we are not inclined to keep the chimney active just for the hot water heater. In addition, other than the furnace the entire house runs on electric so we're slightly more inclined to go that way but wonder if we are overlooking any obvious pitfalls with an electric water heater.

Thanks for any help you all are able to offer!
 
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Jadnashua

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Unless you have quite inexpensive electricity, NG is usually a lot less expensive to run. But, an electric WH is very simple and can last longer than a combustion heated one. A direct vent unit may be more efficient than a naturally vented one, but again, is more complex. It can also be a bit louder.

THe recovery rate of a NG fired WH will almost always be faster than an electric one, so that's another benefit. Federal regulations have made all WH more efficient, so standby losses are much less than they used to be, but an electric one is still usually better than a combustion fired one because of the flue. But, with direct vent, those usually have a damper, and don't lose as much as a conventional flue version.
 

Dana

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What else is being vented into the chimney?

A hydronic boiler + indirect water heater is usually a pretty good option, but if you're heating with a hot air furnace it's not an option.
 

Home Improvement

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assuming you're using LPG:
1 kg LPG generates 49MJ x 0.8 (give electric water heater some handicap, only 80% energy from LPG converts to heat), that's 39.2 MJ
1 KWH only generates 3.6MJ x 1 (as handicap, electricity converts to 100% heat)

this alone already shows significant advantage of LPG over electricity. in my area, 1 kg of LPG is 75 cents, while 1 KWH costs 12 cents.
so, with LPG, it's 75 cents generates 39.2 MJ, while with electricity, you'll need 39.2MJ / 3.6 MJ x 12 cents = 130 cents to generate the same amount of heat energy. that's almost 50% cheaper than electricity. and with current tech, electric water heater efficiency is most certainly below 100%, and efficiency of gas water heater is nearing 90% http://www.palomaglobal.com/product/waterheater/lineup.html, making gas water heater all that cheaper
 

Lalit

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I think you should go for direct vent. As A direct vent water heater draws all its air for combustion from the outside and returns the combustion gases to the exterior, in essentially a sealed system. There is no chance of backdrafting and no negative air pressure created inside the home. Also, because they vent thru adjacent exterior wall, they are typically easier to install. Only concern here is price. These are 30% costlier. Rest is your call! :)
 
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