Advantages of Hot Water Tank in Shop

Hi,

You ask, "What is the advantage of hot water tank in the garage?" Well it is a good way to get your shop floor cleaned and wash the ends of oak, mahogany, etc. and wash the sides of plywood sheets. It also seems to get all moveable tools into new locations---including outside.

Oh yes, it also creates back aches in self and Love Of Your Life.

My shop is in the garage. Like many garages, it contains the hot water tank.
I came home after my woodturning class and found a half-inch of water on the floor. Whoopie Duck.

Now I only have to come up with $700.oo for a new tank (I could have used that for lathe tools, chuck, etc.). Doesn't that add insult to injury?

OK I'm thru crying. You might want to flush some water (drain out a few gallons of water) if you have not done this for awhile. Or if your tank is 12 years old, as mine was, consider a new one. And with that last comment comes a request for all plumbers to send a donation to the James C Bradley new tool fund. This is fully not deductable from your income tax.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
Rotten break Jim.:( Has one let go in the last house. Luckily we were home and happen to walk through the utility room in our stocking feet and it happened on a week end. :D I'll not have that prblem again..... We have a gas fired on demand hot water heater... never runs out of hot water, unless you forget to buy gas that is:eek::D
 
Bummer, Jim. What a way to end a fun afternoon of woodturning. :rolleyes:

We had to replace ours last year. Fortunately, the leak was only a slow one, so it didn['t get too much wet. Our water heater is in the furnace closet in the middle of the house. A bad leak could do some serious damage.
 
I dunno what they cost, but how about a tankless water heater?

We really like ours, and the take up very little space, so you could gain some workshop/garage space at the same time :dunno:
 
My shop is in the garage. Like many garages, it contains the hot water tank

"Most"... Well maybe most in the Southern US.

My HWH is in the basement. Of course, so is my shop :doh: So if it goes boom then my shop is in the same condition as Jim's. .... along with my wife's sewing room, and the playroom, and the freezer, and the extra storage... :eek:

On the upside, there is a floor drain about 3ft away from my HWH, and I hope that most others have one there also.

My condolences, Jim. When our HWH broke down a few years back we went the rental route. On the upside, it was free to get the old one removed and a new one installed. On the downside, it's a $60 bill every 4 months for ever...
I looked into Tankless units, but they still carried a price premium at that point. Maybe that has changed.
 
Put a drain pain under it and a drain line from the pan to the outside on the new one. I write up homes almost every week with WH in the house with no drain pans. Just a flood waiting to happen.
 
I dunno what they cost, but how about a tankless water heater?

We really like ours, and the take up very little space, so you could gain some workshop/garage space at the same time :dunno:
We looked at replacing ours with tankless. Like for like we were looking at around $600. Tankless was near $3,000!:eek: The tankless was 3 times as much plus they would need to run a new, larger, gas line because of the need for a higher flow to the tankless.
 
We had a less than two year old GE water heater go bad and flooded our downstairs, which is 75% finished. It was still under warranty but neither the dealer or GE would even talk about it. Short of calling my cousin in Chicago or a lawsuit, I gave up and got a high-efficiency Marathon from our electric company. We now pay $11.00 month for the lease. I know that over time we will pay more than the tank costs but they absorb all costs if something goes wrong. And, already, one element went bad and they fixed pronto. The tank is all plastic so shouldn't ever corrode through and flood us again. Plus, cost of operation is negligible.
 
Hi,

You ask, "What is the advantage of hot water tank in the garage?"

Jim

You definitely need it in a more convenient location as it is in my house... inside the master bedroom closet... :wave::wave:
We live in a doublewide modular and some engineer had an empty space behind the furnace which is in the breakfast area, so he stuck the hot water tank there.. access is through the master bedroom closet. That way when the tank burst or leaks, you can get all of your shirts and jeans washed and the carpet too.:eek:

I think they put the water tank in before they put the two halves of the house together..
 
Put a drain pain under it and a drain line from the pan to the outside on the new one. I write up homes almost every week with WH in the house with no drain pans. Just a flood waiting to happen.

If it's not already, make sure the new one goes up on a stand as well. These are usually 18" tall, but keep the tank from igniting any fumes that may be lingering since it's in an area that may have fumes accumulate (from finishing products or gasoline). I've seen these with the pan built in also.
 
Let's see . . .

Basic starter set - $300
Mini hollowing set - $150
Roughing gouge - $100
Bowl gouge - $100

I curse you, oh failing water heater!!!

A while back my lawnmower died. I didn't see a new lawnmower, I saw a lost smoothing plane ;-(
 
Been there; last year while I was away on a business trip. My wife had to deal with the problem. Cost me a small fortune, as the plumber she called sold her a very expensive replacement.

Flood0001.JPG
 
They make a gizmo that sits in the pan under the tank and shuts off the water/gas/electricity if the tank leaks. I forget what it's called but I insisted on one for the hot wateer heater in our attic and sure enough six months later the thing did it's job when the tank sprang a leak. Good investment at about $125
 
We had a pan under ours when it started leaking last year, but the pan leaked, and we didn't know we had a problem until we noticed the wet carpet in the adjacent bed room. :bang: The new water heater was installed with a new pan and drain pump. ;)
 
We looked at replacing ours with tankless. Like for like we were looking at around $600. Tankless was near $3,000!:eek: The tankless was 3 times as much plus they would need to run a new, larger, gas line because of the need for a higher flow to the tankless.

Don't know who you were talking to but me and my son were just discussing putting in a tankless in my house. He is a is a foreman for a plumbing contractor so I take his word. He said a new system that would be enough for me and my wife (lower end supply) would run about $700 and yes you need a larger gas line and need a new vent system. He just installed a larger one for a customer and said it cost around $1800 dollars. considering it will cost about $1000 for new water heater installed I think tankless is the way to go.
 
Don't know who you were talking to but me and my son were just discussing putting in a tankless in my house. He is a is a foreman for a plumbing contractor so I take his word. He said a new system that would be enough for me and my wife (lower end supply) would run about $700 and yes you need a larger gas line and need a new vent system. He just installed a larger one for a customer and said it cost around $1800 dollars. considering it will cost about $1000 for new water heater installed I think tankless is the way to go.
I might check around again, but it was one of the more reputable outfits in the valley, so I think he must have known what he was saying. Was your gas line $1800 plus the $700 for the tankless?
 
Top