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I have a 4 unit rental, each unit has it’s own 30gal DHWH (Nat gas). Since the builder scrimped on absolutly everything else…I do beleive that these are pretty cheap units and are all 17 years old. Not being in a
city, where there is a Home Depot at every turn, I was thinking about buying one replacement heater to
have on hand for when I get a failure. I will save about $40 on the heater if I can buy it when I’m around a
big supplier vs buying it from local supply center when I really need it NOW. My question is, if I store this new
heater, in the packaging, in an unheated shed for a couple years, will I notice any degredation, or will it be as good as the
day I bought it? Also, any thoughts on how long a cheap-o Nat Gas heater lasts? Thanks.
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Sounds like a very good idea to me. Saves your tenents a day without water and you from running all over town when you hadn't scheduled it. I'd also put aside a few nipples and 90's, a valve, a pair of dielectric nipples and a pair of flexible 3/4" copper lines. A little pipe dope and some teflon tape. When you get the call in the middle of the night, all you need is your pipe wrench.
Everything but the pipe dope will keep for years if dry. Steel pipe gets rusty if wet. The water heater will be fine in the box.
17 years is pretty good for cheap water heaters. The longer warrantied ones have more zinc in their anodes (the anodes in some DHWH can be replaced). I figure the manufacturer puts enough zinc in a "5-year" HWH to last most everyone 5 years including those with the worst water chemistry and usage pattern. So most people get a fair bit more life out of theirs.
When the first of the four go, you might want to replace the other three proactively. -David
*OK David,Maybe another dumb question, but do Gas DHW heaters have anode rods too, or just the electric models? Thanks for the encouragement, and I think I'll go ahead with the plan to tuck one away for that rainy day I know will come....As an aside, I wandered around the Kenai Peninsula 8 years ago and have longed to get back there...some day. On the East coast for now, living amongst too many others...and the fishin' and huntin' isn't nearly what you have up there.-Stray
*Yes - gas water heaters do have anode rods. That said, consider installing a 40 or even 50 gallon heater when you have to replace those old 30 gallon models. A 30 gallon runs out of hot water pretty quickly, so the usual solution is to turn up the temperature so you can reduce the volume of hot vs cold water. As a landlord, if you have the heaters set at anything above 120F, you're letting yourself open for a lawsuit if someone scalds themselves. By putting in a larger heater, you can keep the temp at 120 and still have adequate hot water. This chart on my web site will give you an idea of how fast water scalds as the temp goes up from 120.
*Stray,On the storage side of things, make sure your package isn't susceptible to intrusion by insects or mice. I'd hope the gas inlet is sealed with tape or a plug so you don't end up with a some kind of critters making a nest in the gas valve and you might want to be sure you are mice resistant as well. You know, they might find that cardboard easy to chomp up and make a little home on the burner, up in the flue, you name it they'll be there. I have had trouble with mud daubers building nests on the innards of electric motors in outdoor buildings, and they work fast. So check your building out real good to see if you have any little tenants who might be looking for a "move up" in life into your boxed water heater.
*Stray: Yes, one of the appealing aspects of the Kenai was the low density of people. I don't know anywhere else where we could afford 13 acres with this view:http://www.alaska.net/~dthomas/ournewhouse.htmlDue to new parenthood, only went fishing once last fall. Got 58 sockeyes in the Copper River in about 4 hours (using a dipnet). Not very sporting, but it fills the freezer. -David
*I on't agree with the other opinions. Seems to me that storing something and only saving $40 doesn't make much sense. Say you spend $200 on a water heater and keep it for 2 years before you use it. At 10% interest, it would cost you an additional $20 to keep it for those 2 years. (The numbers are just rough - I ain't an accountant)You also run the additional risk of knocking the thing over or otherwise damaging it. I can't see taking that risk just to save a few bucks.
*Forget the $40. If you have reason to expect they're close to the end of their lives, it's alot nicer to have one in the basement waiting for you when one goes on a Friday Night than it is to have to search three counties for one or tell your renter no hot water till Monday.When I was an apartment Super, we kept a small HW heater (maybe a 20 gallon) that we could move around with one of those appliance hand trucks. About 30 of the appartments had thier own water heaters. If somebody's heater failed at night or on an exceptionally busy day, it would take me 30 minutes to roll it to the apartment and plumb it in along side the old one. It had braded hoses for the inlet and outlet pipes and a roll of flexible tubing for gas. Some compression fittings for the plumbing and it took no time at all. I'd then have a replacement delivered and we'd install it on Monday. I always hated (and still do) those little things that make you stop what you're supposed to be doing.
*Beautiful pictures of your piece of paradise, David. Nice family you have. Is that a downdraft stove?? ;-)
*Like Dave and Ryan say, it's the convienience, not the $40. Uncle Sam calls it "strategic reserves", but hoarding when you do it on your own. You might end up with 3 extra barns to store stuff.
*I vote to buy the water heater and store it. The only issue I can think of is maybe spider nests in the burner plate and thats easy enough to clean out. We have some rental properties and I keep a water heater on hand for the same reasons as Ryan described above, convenience. They always go out on a Friday night or the night before Thanksgiving. (that was when my last one died.) DanT
*Now that's a view I can handle....Do Alaskan's play tennis?near the stream,aj
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I have a 4 unit rental, each unit has it's own 30gal DHWH (Nat gas). Since the builder scrimped on absolutly everything else...I do beleive that these are pretty cheap units and are all 17 years old. Not being in a
city, where there is a Home Depot at every turn, I was thinking about buying one replacement heater to
have on hand for when I get a failure. I will save about $40 on the heater if I can buy it when I'm around a
big supplier vs buying it from local supply center when I really need it NOW. My question is, if I store this new
heater, in the packaging, in an unheated shed for a couple years, will I notice any degredation, or will it be as good as the
day I bought it? Also, any thoughts on how long a cheap-o Nat Gas heater lasts? Thanks.