Friday, July 18, 2008

Who Installs A Tankless Water Heater?

Plumbers have traditionally been the ones to install water heaters. Electric tankless hot water heaters have help change that. Tankless models - the electric kind - have quick heating technology that require high amperage use. It takes a little more know-how, and many plumbers are not yet familiar with this technology.

In spite of this new technology, electric tankless hot water heaters are not that difficult to install; you can do it with average plumbing and electrical skills. To find out if you have the necessary handyman skills, get an installation manual from the manufacturer’s website and a good how-to book. Read up on what’s required for electrical and plumbing installation. You may decide you can do this yourself after reading through this literature.

The electrical model heater is much smaller than a regular hot water heater and lightweight enough to be a one-person job. The big question is whether your electrical panel has the capacity to take on an extra 80 or 120-amps that an electrical model tankless requires. Talk with someone at a home improvement center to get an experienced opinion. Or, if you have an electrician you’ve used before, he can give you the information without making a house call.

One of the things an electrician will tell you is the wire used for your old tank model heater is not adequate for your new heater. The installer’s manual will tell what’s required. In addition to new wire, you will need two or three 40-amp breakers, depending on the size unit you are planning to install. An electrician can also advise you on whether you electrical panel is adequate for the job.

Piping has gotten a lot easier for those not up on “sweating” pipes. Compression fittings make the whole process real simple. It’s just a matter of pushing pipes into the fittings for leak-proof connections

These are supplies that you can get at any home improvement store.

If you decide to do it yourself, there is information on manufacturer’s sites and other sources like http://www.installing-a-tankless-water-heater.com that can walk you through the steps once you’re sure you are up to code and ready to go.

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