As part of my “home improvements” (in quotations because it was really more “home repairs”) I decided to replace my water heater.\u00c2\u00a0 The utility room was already ripped up and my old water heater was nearing the end of its life.\u00c2\u00a0 After putting this all back together, who wants to have a water heater rupture and ruin it all?\u00c2\u00a0 I decided with the tax credits and everything, this might be a good time to switch to a tank-less.\u00c2\u00a0 And let’s be honest, I’m a ‘gadget’ kinda guy anyway.<\/p>\n
Quick side-rant\/plug here:\u00c2\u00a0 I have a hard time believing the economy is as bad as everyone says.\u00c2\u00a0 When this disaster first hit, I called a lot of people to get estimates.\u00c2\u00a0 I had a feeling I might end up doing a lot of it myself, but I wanted to make sure the numbers the insurance guy was giving me were correct and if the price was good enough I’d save myself some time and money.\u00c2\u00a0 One drywall place I called… let’s just call them “Drywall Surgeon”\u00c2\u00a0 took about 4 days to show up to even look at the place.\u00c2\u00a0 He finally got there on a Friday I think it was, and said he’d have an estimate to me “…next week sometime”\u00c2\u00a0 When the estimate did finally show up, they wanted over $1,000 to do what ended up costing me maybe $100 (not counting beer)\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, one of the other drywall guys I called just never showed up. One thing I knew I wasn’t going to do myself was some of the plumbing.\u00c2\u00a0 I can do some basic stuff, but when it involves water, electric, and gas<\/em>… nuh-uh.\u00c2\u00a0 I had pretty much decided on a Rinnia<\/a> tank-less water heater mainly because my dad went on and on about how great the one he put in a few years back was.\u00c2\u00a0 On top of that I was going to need a new water softener.\u00c2\u00a0 No sense destroying the fancy new water heater with hard water because the old POS softener I had couldn’t keep up.\u00c2\u00a0 And of course my motto towards the end of this whole project was “Why cheap-out now?”\u00c2\u00a0 One plumber (actually the one that did the ’emergency repair’ on the pipe) I couldn’t get to give me an estimate.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m pretty sure I asked for it 3 or 4 times and it took probably 2 weeks… if not more.\u00c2\u00a0 The guy from Ed’s Heating and Cooling<\/a> though… boy was he on it.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I’m difficult to please – which means that when I say “Use this guy” it should actually carry some weight.\u00c2\u00a0 Use this guy.\u00c2\u00a0 Seriously, he was fantastic – I think he was out the day after I called to look at what I needed, sat down at my kitchen table and gave me a quote, explained all the tax credits, told me about a rebate my gas company was just about to start that no one really knew about yet, and even called me 2 or 3 times to see if I had any questions or had made a decision.\u00c2\u00a0 Not in a pushy way at all, just in a “I want your business” way. Ok… so the side rant really turned into most of the post.<\/p>\n So the point – last July my gas usage averaged 0.37CCF\/Therms per day.\u00c2\u00a0 This year with the tank-less water heater it was 0.12.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s safe to say that neither year had the furnace running at all and hot water usage was probably similar… so that’s a pretty good indication.\u00c2\u00a0 That alone probably won’t pay back the extra installation cost over the life of the unit, but add in the tax credit and it probably comes close.\u00c2\u00a0 Not to mention I can take a 2 hour long shower (if I really wanted) and not run out of hot water :)\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, and the new softener is saving me a little too – it’s one of those ‘smart’ ones that only regens when it has to – my water is nice and soft all the time now and I’m probably using 1\/4 of the salt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As part of my “home improvements” (in quotations because it was really more “home repairs”) I decided to replace my water heater.\u00c2\u00a0 The utility room was already ripped up and my old water heater was nearing the end of its … Continue reading
\nThe kitchen people I called were almost as bad.\u00c2\u00a0 Ok, so the one wasn’t all that bad… they were just a little slow, uninspired, and wanted to do all<\/em> the work.\u00c2\u00a0 One moved really slow (they actually emailed me a good 2 and a half months after we had last spoke to ask if I had made a decision!) and I actually felt insulted by them on more than one occasion.\u00c2\u00a0 I really got the feeling this was too small of a job for them and I wasn’t worth their time.\u00c2\u00a0 The third guy got the job – he was the last one I called, the quickest to come out, the first one to have a design that I liked with numbers, and I probably learned more from him in 20 minutes than I had in the hours I spent talking with the others.\u00c2\u00a0 He was probably more expensive than the other two, but he was actually fine with me doing everything – actually, I think he preferred it.\u00c2\u00a0 The only reason he’s not getting a great review complete with name and number is because they made a pretty big ‘oops’ and I actually think they still might owe me some money \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n
\nThe installation went perfect, even though they had to do some of it in the rain.\u00c2\u00a0 They cleaned up well after themselves, did a solid job, it even looks good, and he even (for no extra charge)\u00c2\u00a0 had one of the HVAC guys put in a small vent for that room in case it starts to freeze up again this Winter.\u00c2\u00a0 He went so far as to fill out and mail in the rebate form for me to make sure I got that $150.\u00c2\u00a0 Just wonderful all-around customer service… just when I thought such a thing no long existed.\u00c2\u00a0 Really, if you’re in this area and need plumbing work of any kind done, call him<\/a>.<\/p>\n