How do you prep for future power outages?

[bindian]

I’m not sure there is anytime when a hot water heater breaking is not the worst time. We all need hot water when we want hot water.

MoKelly

I gotta go with Christmas Eve as the worst time. Don't ask me why I say that. Let's just say I learned how to use pex fittings.
hugs, Brandi

 

[the old grind]

I got a call on Thanksgiving morning a few years ago. A well pump or switch had gone out. I grabbed the working Sta-Rite I'd just replaced and took it over arriving just as dinner was done, gained shelf space, and enjoyed my first food drunk of the day. Always happy to help.

 

[drssg]

This is way off topic for this thread, but water heaters would last much longer if people replaced the sacrificial anode every 2 or 3 years.

I had never even heard of that before. I watched the following video on replacing one. I was surprised by the amount of force that was required to loosen the nut holding the rod in place. It looked like I would need another man to hold the water heater in place, so it doesn't move and damage the copper connection pipes. He uses a long pipe on his wrench at around 2:40 in the video to loosen it.

Have you found it challenging to get that thing loose?

 

[ponytug]

Mine are even worse, and there almost isn't enough room above the water heater to do the change, though they make jointed ones that you can unkind as you feed them in. Impact wrenches really help. I think that the force is proportional to the amount of corrosion going on at the anode. Here in California water heaters are solidly bolted to the wall, so you can get a grip on them.

I don't miss pulling them annually, which is what I needed to do with our very hard water. The covering of calcium is a real problem. The powered ones are closer to once and done, though I keep an eye on it to make sure that it is still running.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I had never even heard of that before. I watched the following video on replacing one. I was surprised by the amount of force that was required to loosen the nut holding the rod in place. It looked like I would need another man to hold the water heater in place, so it doesn't move and damage the copper connection pipes. He uses a long pipe on his wrench at around 2:40 in the video to loosen it.

Have you found it challenging to get that thing loose?

We have a seismic code where I live, so the water heater is firmly attached to the framing. It's not going anywhere.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My kitchen, guest bath and master bath are located back to back, so I installed a little 5 gallon water heater under the cabinet, with a hatch on the outside wall so I can get to it for maintenance. I get quick hot water at the taps and in the shower. The big water heater in the garage feeds the little water heater. It was a simple solution that doesn't require running a recirc pump all the time. If I had natural gas, I would go with a tankless unit, but I don't.

 

[grsthegreat]

But the power needed to run the small water heaters way outruns what is needed to power the tiny circ pump. Mine is actually 1/25 th horsepower (looked up data sheet) about 60 watts give or take. 12 hr run time per day so at my cost per KW, it cost me $1.05 per month to operate it.

 

[ponytug]

My pump is the same size, running for a few hours more (5am-10pm). Electricity is prepaid for with solar.

All the best, Peter

 

[the old grind]

A circulating pump makes all HW pipes better radiators. Can you say 'parasitic losses?' There will be trade-offs for convenience. Nobody has posted about heating water for free.

 

[ning]

But the power needed to run the small water heaters way outruns what is needed to power the tiny circ pump. Mine is actually 1/25 th horsepower (looked up data sheet) about 60 watts give or take. 12 hr run time per day so at my cost per KW, it cost me $1.05 per month to operate it.

Recirc pumps cost more energy than just the electricity to run them.

Recirculating the hot water will likely lose additional water heat in the lines, especially if the water isn't used during the day. Without the pump, the water in the pipes would lose heat until it's the same temperature as the surrounding environment; with the pump, that cooler water gets dumped back into the tank and rewarmed.

I still like mine, however, and my wife the nurse loves it when she can get right into the shower at 0dark30 (and I hear about it when the pump tiner didn't self-adjust for DST!).

The timer on our recirc pump failed at about 20 years but the pump is still good, so I leave it turned on all the time and plugged it into another timer...