Home Alone Emergency: Hot Water Heater

9 years ago

I am babysitting the house while the parents left for someplace sunny and warm for a month. I went downstairs to get something and there is water all over the floor from the hot water heater. I call a repairman and he says that the tank is corroded out and I need a new one. (I agree with his assessment; the valves are all tight at dry, but there is a drip or two coming from the bottom of the tank with rusty water.) For a 50 gal natural gas power vent heater, he quoted $2300. This does include some work to bring it up to code as well as all permitting fees.

I searched Home Depot and Lowes and even limiting by gallon size and recovery time, the prices are still all over the place.

Can someone please chime in with an opinion? What is the difference between all these water heaters?

We've used this company before and been happy with their work.

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Comments (2)

randy427
9 years ago
Generally, I'd say that higher energy efficiency and faster recovery drive prices up the most, but so can a higher quality unit with a longer expected useful life. YMMV
Are you sure you need a power vent and what are the code issues with the current water heater installation. Even having dealt with them before, getting a second bid/opinion would be a good idea.
pprioroh
9 years ago
Wait a minute. Why are you ordering a water heater for your parents?

What size heater do you have now? What hot water needs do they have? No sense having a bigger heater if it's just two people and nobody takes a big tub. But if they frequently complain of being out of hot water, then now is the time to get it fixed.

Make sure the water heater is unplugged, and shut the water supply going into it off, and drain it. if it's leaking and you leave it online you may wake up with a flooded basement. And if you shut the water off and don't shut the power off, it's dangerous.

Most importantly: call your parents!