hot water tank
Dec. 3rd, 2019 11:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chhotiiCopied and pasted from what I sent to elbow-joints, because this is what's going on in my life at the moment:
Context: I live in a condo. Each unit has its own hot water tank. All the
tanks for this building are in a room in the basement. My old tank is
leaking so I'm on notice that it has to be replaced ASAP.
I'm looking at this hot water heater:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-Platinum-50-gal-10-Year-Hybrid-High-Efficiency-Smart-Tank-Electric-Water-Heater-XE50T10HD50U1/303419574
Yeah, it's a bit pricy and weird, but its estimated yearly energy cost is
phenomenally low. It does this by stealing heat from the surrounding air.
Because of this there are a couple of additional considerations. One is
that because it acts as a great big dehumidifier, there has to be some
place to drain the condensate. I think there's a drain in the floor where
the hot water heaters are located-- unfortunately not directly next to
where my tank has to go, but I think it will just take a bit of piping to
run the condensate line over to the drain. Another is that if this heat
pump-based idea for hot water heaters were to really catch on and there
were multiple heat pumps all trying to steal heat from the room, you would
want them to vent their cold exhaust outside. Not fair to the water
heaters that are generating heat the expensive way, by passing electricity
through a resistor, to have multiple heat pumps chilling the air around
them. But, I figure, if I'm the only one, I can get away with being a
mooch. Nobody has yet said "oh no you can't do that".
So, leaving aside any considerations of piping the condensate and venting
the cold air exhaust. I'm sure that the quote I got from Home Depot
assumes minimal work on these points. Like, a trivial distance to wherever
the condensate drains, and no ducting of the cold air.
I figured that Home Depot, since they list the mid-sized tank in this
series as one of their "best sellers", that their installation people are
familiar with this type of tank. Indeed, the company that they subcontract
to if you click on "GET EXPERT IN-HOME INSTALLATION" has a package deal
for this model. The tank, delivered, with installation, and cleanup and
removal of the old tank... for $3,199.
Is this outrageous? Just the tank itself, with sales tax, would be about
$1,243 from Home Depot. Delivery to the room would be $135. Assume that
removal and disposal of the old tank is $500? This would suggest that the
installation itself is about $1,320. And this is quite pointedly assuming
that no additional work is needed above and beyond what is always,
invariably found. The contract is quite clear that if there's additional
work that they could charge for, they will.
So, assuming it's a two-guy job, takes all day, and pretty highly
skilled... 2 guys, for 7 hours, with a personnel cost of about $50 per
hour, would be about $1,400. But installing a hot water tank can't be that
big a chunk of the day, can it? How big a cut is Home Depot getting for
the referral here? Just how much am I volunteering to get ripped off by
clicking on the Home Depot "just make it happen" button?
But, I contacted the plumber recommended my the building super, and told
him that I thought the Home Depot proposal was a bit outrageous, gave him
all the details, and told him let's talk if you think you can do better...
and he hasn't gotten back to me. He said he would get back to me at the
end of the day yesterday, and hasn't. I texted him today, and still
nothing. I don't know whether he's having a nutty time because of the
weather and jobs getting backed up because of the holiday last week, or
whether he's concluded that I'm too unreasonably stingy to work with.
So, should I have patience, not try be pushy the week after Thanksgiving
in the middle of a snowstorm, or should I start calling the list of
contractors on Rheem's website? Should I roll with the Home Depot deal,
figuring that it costs what it costs, or put effort into trying to find a
better deal?
Context: I live in a condo. Each unit has its own hot water tank. All the
tanks for this building are in a room in the basement. My old tank is
leaking so I'm on notice that it has to be replaced ASAP.
I'm looking at this hot water heater:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-Performance-Platinum-50-gal-10-Year-Hybrid-High-Efficiency-Smart-Tank-Electric-Water-Heater-XE50T10HD50U1/303419574
Yeah, it's a bit pricy and weird, but its estimated yearly energy cost is
phenomenally low. It does this by stealing heat from the surrounding air.
Because of this there are a couple of additional considerations. One is
that because it acts as a great big dehumidifier, there has to be some
place to drain the condensate. I think there's a drain in the floor where
the hot water heaters are located-- unfortunately not directly next to
where my tank has to go, but I think it will just take a bit of piping to
run the condensate line over to the drain. Another is that if this heat
pump-based idea for hot water heaters were to really catch on and there
were multiple heat pumps all trying to steal heat from the room, you would
want them to vent their cold exhaust outside. Not fair to the water
heaters that are generating heat the expensive way, by passing electricity
through a resistor, to have multiple heat pumps chilling the air around
them. But, I figure, if I'm the only one, I can get away with being a
mooch. Nobody has yet said "oh no you can't do that".
So, leaving aside any considerations of piping the condensate and venting
the cold air exhaust. I'm sure that the quote I got from Home Depot
assumes minimal work on these points. Like, a trivial distance to wherever
the condensate drains, and no ducting of the cold air.
I figured that Home Depot, since they list the mid-sized tank in this
series as one of their "best sellers", that their installation people are
familiar with this type of tank. Indeed, the company that they subcontract
to if you click on "GET EXPERT IN-HOME INSTALLATION" has a package deal
for this model. The tank, delivered, with installation, and cleanup and
removal of the old tank... for $3,199.
Is this outrageous? Just the tank itself, with sales tax, would be about
$1,243 from Home Depot. Delivery to the room would be $135. Assume that
removal and disposal of the old tank is $500? This would suggest that the
installation itself is about $1,320. And this is quite pointedly assuming
that no additional work is needed above and beyond what is always,
invariably found. The contract is quite clear that if there's additional
work that they could charge for, they will.
So, assuming it's a two-guy job, takes all day, and pretty highly
skilled... 2 guys, for 7 hours, with a personnel cost of about $50 per
hour, would be about $1,400. But installing a hot water tank can't be that
big a chunk of the day, can it? How big a cut is Home Depot getting for
the referral here? Just how much am I volunteering to get ripped off by
clicking on the Home Depot "just make it happen" button?
But, I contacted the plumber recommended my the building super, and told
him that I thought the Home Depot proposal was a bit outrageous, gave him
all the details, and told him let's talk if you think you can do better...
and he hasn't gotten back to me. He said he would get back to me at the
end of the day yesterday, and hasn't. I texted him today, and still
nothing. I don't know whether he's having a nutty time because of the
weather and jobs getting backed up because of the holiday last week, or
whether he's concluded that I'm too unreasonably stingy to work with.
So, should I have patience, not try be pushy the week after Thanksgiving
in the middle of a snowstorm, or should I start calling the list of
contractors on Rheem's website? Should I roll with the Home Depot deal,
figuring that it costs what it costs, or put effort into trying to find a
better deal?
