Halp Ever install an electric water heater?

So it seems to be working! However, after reading through the directions, I see that I'm going to have to redo the drain tubes. I assumed the pressure relief valve only opened in case of emergency. From the manual, it seems that it occasionally opens to relieve pressure from the heating of the water as well. I don't want my garage wet regularly. So now I'm back to having two drain tubes that flow slightly uphill and will have water in it all the time.
 
The PRV should only open if a failure causes the water to start boiling in the heater, or if the PRV relief pressure is too close to the house pressure in which case change the PRV or lower house pressure. You'll be fine.
 
gee said:
The PRV should only open if a failure causes the water to start boiling in the heater, or if the PRV relief pressure is too close to the house pressure in which case change the PRV or lower house pressure. You'll be fine.
Click to expand...

Well sweet. Is the brittle PVC generally of any concern?
 
fly said:
Well sweet. Is the brittle PVC generally of any concern?
Click to expand...
Depends on how brittle it is. If you can crack a piece of pipe using just your two hands, that's bad. Though the piping is over your hot water heater, and one side carries hot water obviously, and PVC degrades quicker at high temperature. So it's hopefully not representative of all the PVC pipe in your house.

As for the stuff you just put together, it's in the garage so if it breaks it won't cause too much damage. I wouldn't worry about it for the time being.

You can probably come up with something creative to use the "waste cool" in the summer. Does your house have any kind of central air system - eg, an ERV system?

Though keep in mind, Darkhelmet built someting where he used a hot water heater as a heatsink for an A/C setup without realizing how many KW of heat an A/C unit puts out on the hot side - it heated up the hot water heater stupidly quick and tripped off. The cooling provided by the water heater might not be all that significant compared to what's needed to cool your house, so spending time trying to duct that heat might not be worth the effort.

If you want to save as much as possible, I'd probably chat up an A/C guy and see if there's any efficiency improvements you can make on your A/C system itself, or on the rest of your house - eg, do you have insulated floors/decent windows?
 
Last edited:
fly said:
Single pane isn't that big of a deal in Florida, but yeah. And you can use copper, PEX, or C/PVC.
Click to expand...

I don't understand using plastic pipe for potable water. It's been proven chemicals leech from them, especially PVC. Seems like better materials should be used/developed.
 
CletusJones said:
I don't understand using plastic pipe for potable water. It's been proven chemicals leech from them, especially PVC. Seems like better materials should be used/developed.
Click to expand...

Florida construction is shitty. Unless you custom build and specify it, PVC is what you're gonna get in anything built after 1990.
 
CletusJones said:
I don't understand using plastic pipe for potable water. It's been proven chemicals leech from them, especially PVC. Seems like better materials should be used/developed.
Click to expand...
Most large municipal water pipe is PVC, and there's so much other plastic in your home water - lining in your water heater, bladder in your pressure tank, housings for water filters, foam water filters, flex lines under your sink... Plastic's pretty inert if it's made right and is well cleaned before use.

Copper can react with acidic water to create various toxic compounds, and it's often soldered with lead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back