Thursday, December 20, 2007 - ...we really needed to clean the basement. And we found out the wet dry vac really does work. And I found my ice scraper, the one I hunted for when the snowstorm hit. And tax statements older than 10 years are not important, and the hand me down clothes were all in plastic bags.
Our hot water heater sprung a leak sometime over the past week, and flooded the basement floor with water. The words "Trey, I really don't like plastic boxes, please pick up cardboard storage boxes," are resonating right now as we slog through the mess.
Even our house weeps. ha. ha. -ca
I learned some valuable Hot Water Heater lessons with this experience:
1) Most everyone likes the idea of having an efficient Hot Water Heater, but it's difficult to spend the cash when your current (less-efficient) one seems to be working just fine.
2) People don't remember when their Hot Water Heater's warranty is due to expire.
3) Hot Water Heaters will fail catastrophically very shortly after their warranty (10-year, in our case) expires. Own a good wet/dry vacuum for this occasion (oh, and it's also good for inflating stuff).
4) Plumbers (and their plumbing supply warehouses) only stock inefficient models, but they're happy to special order the one you want... it just takes 2 to 5 weeks. It's simple matter of supply and demand, they say. I tell them I demand a more efficient one, and they reply that those are not what they have in their supply. Supply and demand... of course.
5) In the winter in Boston, you really need hot water.
6) So you end up buying one of the less-efficient models, thus proving to the plumbers that the demand for these energy-hogs still exists... and they no doubt stock up with lots more of them.
7) Highly-efficient or not, the hot water it makes is clear and steaming, and it makes for nice showers and wonderful soaky baths... and that's what's REALLY important to our family right now! :-) -tk
Day 102: Well, the good things are....
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12 comments:
God ir eally torturing you guys. Better make sure your car starts!
Love you guys-s
okay it is early in the moring.
s/b God is really torturing you guys. Better make sure your car starts.
Love you guys-ahc
Perhaps you should plan for some black eyed peas on New Years to turn things around for 2008
Kathy
It looks like You need one of those posters with a kitten hanging on a clothes line that says "HANG IN THERE BABY"
Keep strong!
JJ
Hey, Arthur/Kleins ... we love you!!
The Chaneys
Oh my gosh - how completely aggravating. Hope not too much stuff was completely ruined. I wonder how old our hot water heater is.....
Oi! Hang in there!
P.S. Buttercup is so cute!
Susan J.
WE LOVE YOU! J,T,F
Trey-
Thanks for the inspiring lesson and the unexpected laughs. Our hot water heater stories are not even nearly as good! Juliet
Great tip about the black-eyed peas, but you should also consider "jumping" into the new year (from a chair or sofa) at the stroke of midnight. I have it from an authority that it's absolutely standard practice in Scandinavian countries and it has mostly worked for me.
Susan S.
Chris / Trey:
I just received Chris' note about Mady and the link to the blog. I am saddened by the news, amazed by the emotionally honest daily accounts, anxious to help in whatever way we can... Beth and I send our love and prayers.
For those of you who use RSS to keep track of blog updates etc... you can access this blog through: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mady
For example, this will allow you to add it to your Yahoo page, My AOL, etc.
Sorry to hear about the basement flood. What a pain!
It's guaranteed to happen about a year after your hot water warranty expires. But the mystery of catastrophic water heater failure has been explained to me, and I will now pass along my wisdom, grasshopper.
Water heaters fail because electrochemical reactions eat away the tank. There's one surefire way to prevent that from happening: put a "sacrificial anode" of a more electro-reactive metal -- such as zinc -- into the water heater, in contact with both the water and the tank. The reaction then eats away at the sacrificial anode, leaving the tank unscathed. Water heaters could last pretty much forever if they always had sacrificial anodes in them. BTW, this means that there's always a bit of zinc in your hot water. Zinc is considered harmless.
Why don't manufacturers put sacrificial anodes in water heaters? Ah, but they do. On the top of every water heater (except ones that have stainless steel tanks, which don't have this problem), you see a plug about 2" across. Hanging from the plug into the tank is a long zinc rod. Here's the catch. Manufacturers size the rod so that it it lasts just long enough to get through the warranty period. Once the sacrificial anode is completely eaten away, your tank will get eaten through in about a year.
It turns out that you can replace the sacrificial anode pretty easily. All plumbing supply companies sell them, probably home depot too. All you have to do is turn off the water heater's gas or electricity and water supply, drain the house's hot water pipes (so the water doesn't gush out the tank when you remove the plug), uncrew the plug, take out the old anode (which will be very short), put in the new anode (which will be long -- let's hope you have a few feet of clearance above the tank, otherwise buy a new anode that has one or two folding joints in it), and screw in the plug. If your tank is glass-lined, make sure not to smack the anode against the glass. Now restore water and gas/electricity to the water heater, and you're in business.
How come nobody ever does this? Because no plumber is ever going to call you and say, "I replaced your water heater about 9 years ago, and now it's time to replace your sacrificial anode." And no homeowner remembers and gets around to either doing it themselves or calling a plumber to do it. Also, you can't see how much of the anode is left, unless you go to the bother of removing it from the water heater, so you don't really know when it's used up. But you know how long the warranty is! Replace the sacrificial anode one year before the warranty expires. Put a note on the outside of the tank reminding you to do this on the appropriate date.
This is the path of wisdom, grasshopper.
Will Messenger
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