Avoid the Problems With DIY Pittsburgh Water Heater Replacement
Common Signs a Failing Water Heater is in Need of Replacement
According to the folks at Kwiatowski Plumbing, who we contacted at 412-681- 9525, if you plan to do your own do-it-yourself Pittsburgh water heater replacement, you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
They told me they see it done quite often, and some of the time, it works out, just as long as the person doing the work knows what the pitfalls are and how to avoid them.
With electric water heaters, powering them up is simply a matter of connecting up the existing wires to the new unit. Gas is a little different, though, and it’s not hard to figure out why.
A gas leak is simply out of the question, so here again, you need to know the basics about connecting household gas lines.
As long as it doesn’t leak, you’re home-free.
Old age is one of the most easily diagnosed indicators that you need water heater replacement in Pittsburgh PA. It’s the hard water in the greater Pittsburgh area that makes plumbing issues there so different from other areas of the country.
Hard water is a term used to describe water with a high level of dissolved mineral content. Perhaps you’ve noticed the white crust building up in your glass coffee pot that needs to be washed out occasionally with vinegar.
Vinegar is a mild acid, and the calcite deposits from hard water are a base. This is why when you add vinegar to baking soda; you get an immediate reaction. It’s a release of carbon dioxide from the calcium carbonate that creates a big fizz.
Hard Water in Pittsburgh PA
So if you don’t have a water softener system treating the water at your home or business, then the same calcite deposits that you can see in your coffee pot have been building up year after year in your water heater.
Another common sign that you need to replace your water heater is water leaks causing rust on the top and down the sides of the water heater.
Then if you’re automatic pressure release safety valve has been gummed up, and it most likely is if it’s an older water heater in Pittsburgh, that too is a serious safety issue.
In a worst-case scenario, you can end up with your water heater exploding if, for some reason, the gas or electric heating system gets stuck on.
Built-up excessively high pressure means that the pipes throughout your business are also under unduly high pressure, and that’s not good because it can lead you to be inundated with leaks.
Another thing you need to be aware of if you plan on sidestepping plumbers in Pittsburgh PA, and doing your own Pittsburgh water heater replacement is that it’s the sheer size and weight that bring their unique problems.
Yes, the water can be drained out to reduce the weight, but if the drain valve is clogged up with calcite, that’s another problem that you need to find a solution to. Then even after the water is drained, the typical water
heater, mainly the larger models, is heavy even when they’re empty. Then if it has a wide circumference rather than a thinner model, you have to figure out how you’re going to get your arms wrapped around the thing and wrestle it out after everything is disconnected.
Turn the Gas or Electric Power Off
You might be surprised to discover just how many people forget to turn off the gas or electrical power before they start in on a Pittsburgh water heater replacement job. There should be a knob on the line above your water heater to turn the gas off.
Then the electricity has to be shut off at the power box. If you can’t find a switch there that’s explicitly labeled for the water heater, don’t try guessing.
Instead, turn the main breaker off for the entire home because removing it when the electrical power can result in quite a catastrophe. You also need to shut off the water with the knob or with the main water valve for the home or business.
Either way, though, you must drain the water from your water heater by opening the valve at the bottom and opening a line at the top to allow air to displace the water being drained out. Water weighs in at 7 lb per gallon, so a larger 50-gallon water heater has an extra 350 lb that you need to drain, and then there’s the weight of the water heater.
It’s just not something that the average homeowner can lift unless you’re an Olympic weightlifter and you’re winning tournaments.
There’s another thing to keep in mind, and it is that the garbage collection service won’t haul away your old water heater. So you need to transport it to the dump, and they charge an extra fee for electrical appliances.
Get to Know Tankless Water Heaters in Pittsburgh Before You Buy
Then you may have heard about tankless water heaters in Pittsburgh, and in your eyes, they might appear to be the perfect solution for a few common standard water heater issues.
Heating the water as needed rather than paying to keep a full tank of water hot 24 hours a day is an energy-saving no-brainer. Particularly if you work out of town and are stuck somewhere else during the workweek and you need to keep a big tank of water hot all week long.
There is one downside, though, and that is if you have anyone in your home who is prone to taking long showers, then get ready because a tankless water heater opens new doors for them.
They can stand in that shower 24 hours a day taking epic showers, whereas, in the past, it was the tank running out of hot water that was a signal for them to move along.
Then back to Pittsburgh’s unusually high mineral content, it’s a worse problem to deal with for people with tankless water heaters. So you must have a water softener installed if your plan is to do a tankless Pittsburgh water heater replacement.
Then the last hot tip here is that unless you’re familiar with and have some experience doing plumbing work, you’re taking a giant leap of faith installing your own water heater. Then it’s tough to return a damaged water heater that you dropped, and given the weight and awkwardness of the water heaters, it’s not uncommon for this to happen.
So the cost of having a company like Kwiatkowski Plumbing do the installation work might be greater than doing it yourself; the finished work is guaranteed, and if the water heater somehow gets dropped, it’s they who have to pay for a new one, not you.