Water Heater Rebates?

[Glacier]

I was sorta joking about houses not having floor drains. I knew they exist, but just would never buy a house that didn't have one (I suck at upgrading and don't want to take the risk). I have a 6 bedroom house with hard water (but only when I forget to put salt in the water softener). Water softeners will save you huge money in the long run when it comes to water tanks, washing machines, and the like.

P.S. They guy who built my house was high too. I can't believe how many things they did that I as a complete amateur noticed.

One thing I did not know is that you should NEVER buy a house with polyb. water lines (grey plastic stuff). I've had it break twice now. The stuff breaks down over time. It's better to buy a house from the 70s with copper pipes or a newer one (post 1995) with plastic PEX.

[rustled]

There's lots of houses without floor drains.
If your house is or was on septic and you have a full basement you likely don't have one.
....

Had one full basement home on septic, but we'd had to put in a sump pump during the build. Bet that's not the case with older homes, and I expect it's a rather costly thing to do after the fact.

Without a floor drain or sump pump, I'd be inclined to install the new tank in a collection basin with a water alarm. At least if I'm home, I'd be aware there's a problem. (Our tank that failed didn't gush, it trickled out.) If it's near enough to a place to drain it, like the laundry sink, a person could maybe use some kind of bilge pump?

Cuz even if insurance does cover it, I'd want to avoid the loss of personal belongings, frustration, and environmental impacts of a flood and restoration job.

[Bpeep]

I put a water alarm in the cupboard under every sink, beside the floor drains and beside my hw tank. Water alarms are cheap and can save you thousands in the event of a flood.
I also put on ss braided supply lines to everything.

[Jlabute]

I had a busted clothing washer. The model I bought was on the Fortis rebate list BUT, I had missed the eligibility date. Trying to get a rebate from Fortis might as well be impossible. Barely worth reading their literature. Disappointing :-)

[rustled]

Bummer.
Was the rebate part of the incentive to buy that model, or something you noticed after the fact? (Just curious as to how much influence the rebates have on consumer choices.)

[Jlabute]

Something I noticed after the fact... I just picked a washer I liked... then thought of looking it up on Fortis website... only to notice any rebate had expired.lol

[Ub2]

As to the water heaters. I have a few friends that have tank-less water heaters and they love them. My next purchase will be one of those, no catastrophic tank bursts, or re-circulation heating costs.
The initial costs are pretty reasonable also.

[Glacier]

As to the water heaters. I have a few friends that have tank-less water heaters and they love them. My next purchase will be one of those, no catastrophic tank bursts, or re-circulation heating costs.
The initial costs are pretty reasonable also.

I've heard they they suck when you have 3 people showering at once (a common thing in my house).

[Bsuds]

I've heard they they suck when you have 3 people showering at once (a common thing in my house).

Not an issue here...the shower isn't big enough for 2 let alone 3.

[Ub2]

I've heard they they suck when you have 3 people showering at once (a common thing in my house).

Apparently not if they are sized right.

If you are going to change from a 50-gallon gas heater to a tankless you are probably not going to realize quite that much energy savings. In fact a 50-gallon tank water heater does not use much more fuel at all compared to most tankless heaters. However a 50-gallon tank heater only can really give you about 40 gallons of hot water per use before you begin running out of hot water. The tankless heater will deliver more than 300 gallons per hour for most of the year and you can never run out! If it is an electric tank water that you are replacing, your savings may be higher than 50% depending on the size of the tank. If you really want to know what your savings may be, look for the yellow "Energy Guide" sticker on your existing heater and look for the one on the tankless unit you are considering. This will give you a good idea of what to expect. Of course your personal use will effect this as well. If you have a family of 6 that has never had enough hot water with a 50 gallon tank heater, your bill might just go up because now your family will not be taking cold showers or have to shorten them. If you have a vacation home that is occupied only on weekends or using the tankless for something like a school locker room, your savings will be greater because the tankless unit is "always off" eliminating a lot more stand-by heat losses.

Part of the decision making process is; What do you want? Endless hot water may be worth the additional investment to you even without an energy payback.

http://www.profitableplumbing.com/tankless101.html

[hobbyguy]

I would do the math very carefully. Tankless heaters don't last forever.

Prices may have changed (I did this 3 yrs ago), but a big part of the cost was installation. Given our low NG costs, when I worked it out carefully, even with rebates, the payback time exceeded the estimated life of the tankless water heater.

IF you are using electric water heater, it would likely work out better for that.