Replacing a rented water heater

[tempoe]

I am getting charged almost $50mo for a rented water heater that is installed in a home I recently bought. I have a new 12 gal, as that hopefully will be enough for 1 person. The problem is the pipes are different setup (see pic), the rented tank has only the hot on the top, and then some weird plumbing down the side. The new 12gal is the basic setup I've seen before, hot and cold on the bottom. So what is the best/easiest way to do this? Should I just drain, and cut the pipes (where?) to the tank, then use quick connect hosing to rerun the cold in and hot out? What is thatvalve in pic aaa with the grey handle? will the rental tank people want that back? thanks for any replies, I have no money to hire someone but am pretty handy with repairs.

https://ibb.co/kL5Kta

 

[Reach4]

What is thatvalve in pic aaa with the grey handle?

That is a tempering valve that mixes hot with cold to produce water not hot enough to burn anybody.

I don't know if they will want that back or not. You are kinda supposed to have one. I don't have one, and will not put one in if I put in my own replacement some day. The purpose is to keep the more burn-prone people from getting burned by hot water.

The knob sets the regulated temperature.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[tempoe]

cheers, that was the most confusing part of it to me, now it all makes sense, thanks! I don't think I'll hook it up, I guess the rental company has to use them so there is no lawsuits..no kids here...well I hope I never burn myself too lol, I'll try tomorrow to replace it. Also there is no ground on the new heater, do I just ground to the tank?

Imagine renting that heater for 10 years like the previous owner did, would cost $6000. lol what a racket, I paid $50 for the replacement used, is pretty much new though

 

[Reach4]

Also there is no ground on the new heater, do I just ground to the tank?

Take a photo of the place where the red and black wires are coming out.

 

[Terry]

You can expect at least 10 years from an electric heater. So what do you have left on the "used" replacement you picked up.
It looks like you will need a stand for the replacement, otherwise the water connections and the electrical won't reach. It's a shame you doing the work with an old tank though. The labor if you were to pay for it would be a lot more than a new tank.
The ground should go to a grounding screw, near where the two hot lines are. The old tank will be 240 volts. How many volts is the new one?

 

[tempoe]

Thanks, I think the used tank is actually almost brand new, there are no dates I can see but on inspection the stickers look new and inside the pipes are very clean. I got it from a construction site just down the road, a new building, they had 30 of them, they all looked new, maybe they decided to go with bigger ones. They were sitting in a container on site for a month or so, only have 5 left, so lots of people bought them

They are also 240v, 4000w. I see where the ground wire goes now too, thanks. There is a mounting bracket on it, I may use a stand if it's easier. I'll have a look for some quick connect hosing tomorrow at homedepot, hopefully that will work ok, If not I will have to do some copper pipe. Thanks guys!

 

[Terry]

Often if it's a rented water heater, they will want the old one back. Make sure you call and arrange that.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

Good luck putting that 12 gallon electric heater in to replace a 40 or 50 gallon heater.
you are going to be sorely disappointed when it pisses out just enough hot water to get
through about half a bath...... The 12 gallon heater is made for public bathrooms where folks simply wash their hands...for a second or two....

Renting heaters is stupid ... and its wise to just go out and buy one...
but you should at the very least get something similar
to what you are removing... Unless you like punishing yourself/


You also want to call this place that rents them and
ask what their procedure is for taking it back... they could ding you on
the removal if you dont follow their rules........

.

 

[Dj2]

I'm doing the math here:
$50 per month comes to $600 a year.
For the expected life of the water heater, it will be $6,000.

Would you like me to rent you a 30 gal WH for half price?
30 gal tank will give you 250% more hot water and half off will save you thousands.
What do you say?

 

[Jadnashua]

FWIW, you won't get the full volume out of a WH at the set temperature, so that 12g tank will actually supply about 9g or so before the incoming water cools things off. Being in S. Canada, your incoming cold water can get quite cold in the winter, making things worse, since you'll want a higher proportion of hot to make a comfortable shower since you'll only need a very small amount of cold to make it comfortable. So, if you have a 2.5gpm showerhead (typical), you might get a 3-minute shower out of the 12g tank. IMHO, not a wise decision. You can make the tank 'look' bigger if you rehook up the tempering valve since it will then mix some cold into the outlet from the much hotter water in the tank assuming you raise the thermostat.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

FWIW, you won't get the full volume out of a WH at the set temperature, so that 12g tank will actually supply about 9g or so before the incoming water cools things off. Being in S. Canada, your incoming cold water can get quite cold in the winter, making things worse, since you'll want a higher proportion of hot to make a comfortable shower since you'll only need a very small amount of cold to make it comfortable. So, if you have a 2.5gpm showerhead (typical), you might get a 3-minute shower out of the 12g tank. IMHO, not a wise decision. You can make the tank 'look' bigger if you rehook up the tempering valve since it will then mix some cold into the outlet from the much hotter water in the tank assuming you raise the thermostat.

He got such a great bargain on those used heaters , he should have bought about 6 of those 12 gallon
heaters and hooked them all up in
series and then he might get enough hot water for a 20 minute shower.....