Okay, so my hot water heater stopped working. The water is no longer hot and if you run it for more than a few minutes, there is sediment in it. I figured at first that it'd just be easier to get a new one than to find out what's wrong with it and fix it, since plumbers charge $texas and a new heater isn't all that expensive.

The guy at Sears said the minimum installation fee would be $220, plus $75 for the permit application, but that the install fee could easily be in the range of $500-$600 depending on the differences in the building codes now and when the house was built. He basically told me to not have Sears install it, and that the best course of action was to get a plumber who doesn't give a shit about permits and being up to code. I don't really want to do that.

Has anybody installed or paid somebody to install a hot water heater? Who did you use, and how much did it cost? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

9/27/2006 1:09:47 PM

gas or electric?

I ask b/c my dad installed ours when I was little, with no problems or permits (wasn't Wake co., though, so who knows what the reqs were), but it was electric. I think gas is a totally different animal.

[Edited on September 27, 2006 at 1:12 PM. Reason : edit]

9/27/2006 1:11:13 PM

I had a new one put in and paid the guy like $100, but he was a friend of mine.

I watched him do it and it's pretty easy if you know how to sweat copper.. If not.. This isn't really the time to learn.. How old is the current water heater? You might can get away with just replacing the heating elements. There are some basic things you can do if you feel fairly handy to check out what the problem is. A few minutes of time and investigating could save you $$..

9/27/2006 1:15:11 PM

you probable just need to flush it out and replace the elements

9/27/2006 1:16:57 PM

why do you need to heat the hot water?

9/27/2006 1:17:04 PM

It's electric.

I agree, this is not the time for me to become a master plumber.

I'll look into flushing it and replacing the element. I have to figure out where I put all the paperwork on it, but I'm not sure how old it is.

9/27/2006 1:21:45 PM

Since when do you need a permit to change out a hot water heater? If it's electric all you need to know is some basic pipe soldering (or crimping if it's CPVP and not copper) and how to work a wire nut. It's not exactly rocket science.

9/27/2006 1:28:28 PM

Quote :

"you probable just need to flush it out and replace the elements"

yep, that'll probably fix it. This happened to me. replaced elements and it worked perfect.

9/27/2006 1:28:47 PM

i just replaced my aunt's water heater, wasn't an issue and only took two trips to lowes. i switched her from copper to cpvc pipes too.

go talk to the guy at lowes, he'll tell you everything you need to know about replacing the water heater.

9/27/2006 2:57:06 PM

get yourself a copy of black and decker's complete guide to plumbing.
If you are a homeowner it will save you thousands over the years.
Since I bought that book a few years ago I've done the water heater, replaced sinks, faucets,
outdoor silcocks.
You might not want to go out and invest in the basic tools (pipecutters, torch, spud wrenches and shit like that) at this time, however.

BTW, sweating copper is fun AND easy!
Just get a short length of pipe and some fittings and couplers and practice a few before doing the real job.

9/27/2006 4:34:18 PM

first off, it's not a hot water heater like humandrive pointed out. it is a water heater.

second, have you even checked the breaker? how about the reset switch on the thermostat?

third, you do not need to sweat copper pipes anymore these days on a water heater. you don't even need to upgrade to cpvc. you can buy flex-connectors at any hardware store including home depot or lowes. they utilize compression fittings to prevent it from leaking and maintains pressure where it attachs to the copper pipe. be sure to buy the braided stainless-steel kind. about $15 each but worth it.

here's how ya do it. it's easy. if you can't do this then you struggle with wiping your ass.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2installwaterheater

9/27/2006 5:30:40 PM