vpn33
New Member
Hello all. New here but have been picking up some tips and thought I would make a post. I am replacing a 17 year old gas water heater and it seems pretty straightforward. I have done a couple of electric ones before so the gas is really the main difference. I am likely going to get the Rheem 12 year 50 gallon tank at Home Depot. My other local option is A O Smith at Lowes but they just have the 9 year in stock and the Rheem has a brass drain so maybe it is higher quality. It is about the same height as the current one so I should be able to put it right in place and connect the exhaust to the current setup. Actually, the current tank sits about 5 inches away from the wall and if I push it back a couple, it would line up perfectly without needing that bend in the pipe. It currently has flexible copper lines from the solid plumbing to the tank which I will replace. Do you recommend the corrugated stainless lines (not braided) over the copper? I will also replace the gas line as well. I suppose I should put this in a pan (even though in the basement) and I will need to strap it to the wall.
There currently is no expansion tank and I want to install one without soldering or modifying any of the existing solid plumbing. I know I will have to put a tee either on top of the tank or coming off of that shutoff from the cold line. Will it work fine to just get an expansion tank bracket, mount it to the wall, and run another one of those flexible lines from the tank to the tee? Any other better ideas, let me know. Thank you.
There currently is no expansion tank and I want to install one without soldering or modifying any of the existing solid plumbing. I know I will have to put a tee either on top of the tank or coming off of that shutoff from the cold line. Will it work fine to just get an expansion tank bracket, mount it to the wall, and run another one of those flexible lines from the tank to the tee? Any other better ideas, let me know. Thank you.
Last edited: