Water heater recs please

[ponytug]

I didn't even know about fiberglass tanks. I'm gonna check into them. I hope I can find one that is propane fired. If I can only find electric then I would need to run wire over 60 feet to power it. That will be expensive. But I really like the idea of a tank that won't corrode.
Eric

FWIW: I've never seen a combustion fired fiberglass water heater. I have seen stainless ones.

In this day and age, I would go for a heat pump water heater, some of which run on 120V, especially given the cost of power in the NW.

Let us know how the search goes!

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

Steel, Stainless or Copper gas fired is my experience…

Hoyt Copper tank made in Oakland CA is the longest lasting I have come across… forever warranty also… that is until the company was bought out and moved to Nevada and the name no longer exists.

I had one dated 1950 going strong and was still in the house 50 years later when sold.

 

[wilso]

We went from an electric tank to a gas tankless. I will never go back! There are 4 of us here now, but I love never running out of hot water. I also talked to a guy from HVAC services in Fair Oaks https://alphamechanicals.com/service-area/fair-oaks-hvac-service/ about this, and he said that if it's in the budget, they always recommend gas tankless to their clients.
Among other benefits - utility cost savings, space saving, and if you pay a bit more for one with the internal buffer tank and circulator, the wait for hot water is mitigated.

 

[arto98607]

FWIW: I've never seen a combustion fired fiberglass water heater. I have seen stainless ones.

In this day and age, I would go for a heat pump water heater, some of which run on 120V, especially given the cost of power in the NW.

Let us know how the search goes!

All the best,

Peter

Not sure what you mean by "especially given the cost of power in the NW" ?

Our cost here in the Pacific Northwest is 8.79 cents / kWh, but please don't tell anyone!

It stayed at 8.13 c/kWh for about 13 years, until just recently it was raised to 8.79

We will see what the future brings?

 

[arto98607]

I didn't even know about fiberglass tanks. I'm gonna check into them. I hope I can find one that is propane fired. If I can only find electric then I would need to run wire over 60 feet to power it. That will be expensive. But I really like the idea of a tank that won't corrode.
Eric

We have a year 2003 version of this:

 

[ultrarunner]

Not sure what you mean by "especially given the cost of power in the NW" ?

Our cost is 8.79 cents / kWh

PSE cost per kW is much less than PGE making electric viable?

 

[ponytug]

Not sure what you mean by "especially given the cost of power in the NW" ?

Our cost here in the Pacific Northwest is 8.79 cents / kWh, but please don't tell anyone!

It stayed at 8.13 c/kWh for about 13 years, until just recently it was raised to 8.79

We will see what the future brings?

Yes, I was referring to the regionally cheaper power in the Pacific Northwest, which makes the ROI on an electric water heater or a heat pump water heater more compelling. The latter uses 1/3-1/4 the energy of the former, and even less compared to propane.

Just for comparison, here the "off peak"(0:00-15:00) power is $0.35/kWh, "peak" (16:00-21:00) is $0.66/kWh.

Propane is $2.75-$5./gal

All the best,

Peter

 

[arto98607]

Ouch, sorry about that!

 

[ponytug]

Ouch, sorry about that!

I guess that I am kind of on the "it is what it is" page, though it does definitely incentivize us to be energy conscious, so we have been pretty proactive with a number of energy projects. It does make for a pretty rapid return on investment for energy investments like solar and heat pumps, despite the high labor and permitting costs here.

I used to live where intense weather was more common, but you still had to go out and care for the animals or the farm, so perhaps I lean a bit more toward the "it is what it is", and getting on with life.

All the best,

Peter

 

[LouNY]

Not sure what you mean by "especially given the cost of power in the NW" ?

Our cost here in the Pacific Northwest is 8.79 cents / kWh, but please don't tell anyone!

It stayed at 8.13 c/kWh for about 13 years, until just recently it was raised to 8.79

We will see what the future brings?

Is that the total delivered cost per kwh or just the so called electrical cost portion of the bill.
My $0.18 to $0.20 per kwh is the actual delivered cost while the so called electrical amount is listed as $0.06 or $0.08 per kwh.