Author Topic: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?  (Read 14793 times)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #50 on: November 26, 2016, 11:47:21 AM »
Gas is DIY-able if you are careful.  Just test all the fittings with a 50-50 mix of dish soap and water.  It's easy to tell if they are leaking.

I always suggest that if you're buying a tank heater, make sure it has a brass drain spigot.  Often times you will open the plastic spigot to drain it and it will deform and never close again.

Be aware there are likely code changes since 1995.  If you do it yourself or hire a plumber, it will likely add some costs.

It does have a brass tap, and it opened well... just nothing came out except a few dribbles of clear water. Checked with 3 different online How-Tos to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

Good point on the code changes. Anything in particular you can think of? Ventilation requirements or something? Seems like otherwise it would all be internal to the water heater.

Garage heaters (possibly others in areas where flammables might be stored) have to be elevated 18 inches off the floor for gas heaters.  This is to reduce the possibility of flames igniting spilled flammable vapors.  Often this means re-plumbing stuff because the plumbing in/out, gas, etc might have to be raised too.

If you share a wall with any finished space, you'll need a catch pan that has it's own plumbing that drains to somewhere safe (outside, to a dedicated drain, etc).  I believe there is some alternative where the catch pan can have an automatic switch that shuts off the incoming water if it senses water.  This is not nearly as nice as a drain though, because if you have a leak, you may very well dump 50 gallons of water even if the incoming water is shut off.

There may be more... these are the ones I've experienced.  I think they're both actually good ideas and for your own good, so adding these didn't bother me a bit.

Thanks so much! It is in the garage. We are at least 18" off the floor on a stand, but I don't think there's any sort of a drain, and it definitely is on a shared wall that's finished on the other side.

Tried to get in touch with people... forgot it's a holiday weekend. Only emergency services available right now, even for places that are normally open weekends.

Dicey

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #51 on: November 26, 2016, 01:26:41 PM »
DH says when you open the tap (after you've turned off the water supply and the pilot light) the entire volume of the water heater should come out. For this reason, one should connect a hose and have a plan for the water that theoretically flows out. A few drips means 1) You're lucky, if you hadn't attached a hose 2) The tap (hose bib) is probably plugged up, which indicates a probable large sediment build up. He says attempts to clear that much sediment are not likely to have a happy outcome.

Watch a few You Tube videos to decide if you can install it together. If you're careful, you could even get it done before the weekend's over. Then you just have to worry about how to get rid of the old one. Hint: In some areas they can be recycled. And yes, code requirements have changed dramatically. Make sure it's correctly strapped in place once it's installed.

We have rental properties, so DH, who is not a plumber, but is handy and smart, routinely replaces the gas water heaters. I ride along to help load the behemoth, but otherwise, he does it all by himself. Also, buy the one with the longest warranty, it's worth the money.

Spork

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #52 on: November 26, 2016, 01:31:27 PM »
DH says when you open the tap (after you've turned off the water supply and the pilot light) the entire volume of the water heater should come out. For this reason, one should connect a hose and have a plan for the water that theoretically flows out. A few drips means 1) You're lucky, if you hadn't attached a hose 2) The tap (hose bib) is probably plugged up, which indicates a probable large sediment build up. He says attempts to clear that much sediment are not likely to have a happy outcome.

Watch a few You Tube videos to decide if you can install it together. If you're careful, you could even get it done before the weekend's over. Then you just have to worry about how to get rid of the old one. Hint: In some areas they can be recycled. And yes, code requirements have changed dramatically. Make sure it's correctly strapped in place once it's installed.

We have rental properties, so DH, who is not a plumber, but is handy and smart, routinely replaces the gas water heaters. I ride along to help load the behemoth, but otherwise, he does it all by himself. Also, buy the one with the longest warranty, it's worth the money.

I am also wondering:  Did you open a hot water faucet somewhere in the house?   You won't likely get any drainage unless you get air in the system.  Otherwise you have, effectively, a 50 gallon straw with a big finger on the top end.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #53 on: November 26, 2016, 01:36:43 PM »
DH says when you open the tap (after you've turned off the water supply and the pilot light) the entire volume of the water heater should come out. For this reason, one should connect a hose and have a plan for the water that theoretically flows out. A few drips means 1) You're lucky, if you hadn't attached a hose 2) The tap (hose bib) is probably plugged up, which indicates a probable large sediment build up. He says attempts to clear that much sediment are not likely to have a happy outcome.

Watch a few You Tube videos to decide if you can install it together. If you're careful, you could even get it done before the weekend's over. Then you just have to worry about how to get rid of the old one. Hint: In some areas they can be recycled. And yes, code requirements have changed dramatically. Make sure it's correctly strapped in place once it's installed.

We have rental properties, so DH, who is not a plumber, but is handy and smart, routinely replaces the gas water heaters. I ride along to help load the behemoth, but otherwise, he does it all by himself. Also, buy the one with the longest warranty, it's worth the money.

We did have a hose attached. And we did turn off water supply and the gas. I was watching the hose, hence knowing no more came out. Then we detached the hose and opened the tap slowly with a large bucket under it. Minimal output still. Yeah, seems like the prevailing opinion is, "if it isn't coming, that's bad, call someone".

Good advice on the warranty, that was one I still hadn't found an answer on.

We're back to back and forth about tank vs inline. Looks like there are some hefty tax credits for inline in Oregon. Although it may apply to certain tank models as well, we're still trying to puzzle that all out. Not clearly written.

See it's funny, DH does stuff with GIANT gas boilers and so on at work, but he's way less comfortable with the idea of doing it at home. It terrifies me, personally. I'll do plumbing like there's no tomorrow, but touch a pilot light and I break out in a cold sweat.

DH says when you open the tap (after you've turned off the water supply and the pilot light) the entire volume of the water heater should come out. For this reason, one should connect a hose and have a plan for the water that theoretically flows out. A few drips means 1) You're lucky, if you hadn't attached a hose 2) The tap (hose bib) is probably plugged up, which indicates a probable large sediment build up. He says attempts to clear that much sediment are not likely to have a happy outcome.

Watch a few You Tube videos to decide if you can install it together. If you're careful, you could even get it done before the weekend's over. Then you just have to worry about how to get rid of the old one. Hint: In some areas they can be recycled. And yes, code requirements have changed dramatically. Make sure it's correctly strapped in place once it's installed.

We have rental properties, so DH, who is not a plumber, but is handy and smart, routinely replaces the gas water heaters. I ride along to help load the behemoth, but otherwise, he does it all by himself. Also, buy the one with the longest warranty, it's worth the money.

I am also wondering:  Did you open a hot water faucet somewhere in the house?   You won't likely get any drainage unless you get air in the system.  Otherwise you have, effectively, a 50 gallon straw with a big finger on the top end.

Yep, we opened the hot water tap closest- in the laundry room. Thanks for checking though. I was worried I *was* missing a step somewhere, but several guides and youtube videos has me pretty sure I'm not missing something obvious.

Dicey

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #54 on: November 26, 2016, 02:03:16 PM »
I hear you on the handling gas=cold sweat, which is why I don't even watch. It helps that all of ours are in the garage. In-line is expensive and requires a dedicated roof vent. We have tile roofs, so we haven't pulled the trigger yet on them yet, though we'd like to. That's specifically why I mentioned the warranty. Don't buy the cheapest one now, thinking you'll do an in-line "next", because that cheapo might give up the ghost before you're ready for "next."

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #55 on: November 26, 2016, 02:11:12 PM »
I hear you on the handling gas=cold sweat, which is why I don't even watch. It helps that all of ours are in the garage. In-line is expensive and requires a dedicated roof vent. We have tile roofs, so we haven't pulled the trigger yet on them yet, though we'd like to. That's specifically why I mentioned the warranty. Don't buy the cheapest one now, thinking you'll do an in-line "next", because that cheapo might give up the ghost before you're ready for "next."

Hmmmm, didn't realize on the dedicated vent. The furnace and water heater are side by side, and I think there's only one roof vent? I would have to double check.

So much to learn about houses.

redbird

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #56 on: November 26, 2016, 10:08:18 PM »
I haven't read all of this thread but something I want to point out - You may need to buy new pots/pans, depending on what you have, if you go for induction. Induction needs magnetic materials to function. Stainless steel and cast iron work fine. Aluminum and copper do not.

So that would be an additional expense if you went for that.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #57 on: November 27, 2016, 08:02:51 AM »
I haven't read all of this thread but something I want to point out - You may need to buy new pots/pans, depending on what you have, if you go for induction. Induction needs magnetic materials to function. Stainless steel and cast iron work fine. Aluminum and copper do not.

So that would be an additional expense if you went for that.

Yep, this was covered, and all our things except 1 work =) Very easy to check with a strong magnet. Thanks for the concern though!

Metric Mouse

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #58 on: November 27, 2016, 09:52:45 AM »
I haven't read all of this thread but something I want to point out - You may need to buy new pots/pans, depending on what you have, if you go for induction. Induction needs magnetic materials to function. Stainless steel and cast iron work fine. Aluminum and copper do not.

So that would be an additional expense if you went for that.

I did not know this! I may have to spend too much time reading about induction cooking now, for no reason at all.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #59 on: November 27, 2016, 09:54:15 AM »
I haven't read all of this thread but something I want to point out - You may need to buy new pots/pans, depending on what you have, if you go for induction. Induction needs magnetic materials to function. Stainless steel and cast iron work fine. Aluminum and copper do not.

So that would be an additional expense if you went for that.

I did not know this! I may have to spend too much time reading about induction cooking now, for no reason at all.

I'll be sure to report back with the (god I hope so) awesomeness of it. Comes in on Thursday! (Then we have to cut our cabinets to get it in, but hopefully DH and I can get that done same day).

Trudie

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #60 on: November 28, 2016, 02:29:33 PM »
I have bisque appliances and it sounds like the dishwasher is about ready to crap out.  When it does, I will replace it with black/stainless steel and gradually replace the other pieces until they match.
+
My strategy will be a package deal from Costco.

This seems to be a total contradiction.  Can you elaborate on your strategy, please?

FWIW, I've always been a fan of bisque appliances and am sad to see that they're "out".

Well, it's impossible to find bisque anymore.  If I could, I would.  It appears that the dishwasher will be the first item to go, when it does, I will replace it with a stainless dishwasher, then start working on getting the other pieces.  Costco sells packages -- sometimes the stove and microwave, sometimes 3 or 4 pieces.  Once I start replacing I will probably look for packages on the rest.

Part of my reasoning is based on where I live (rural) and the ease of getting things installed (not easy) as well as Costco's policies (generally great, but they don't install microwaves, for instance.)

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #61 on: November 28, 2016, 03:00:18 PM »
I have bisque appliances and it sounds like the dishwasher is about ready to crap out.  When it does, I will replace it with black/stainless steel and gradually replace the other pieces until they match.
+
My strategy will be a package deal from Costco.

This seems to be a total contradiction.  Can you elaborate on your strategy, please?

FWIW, I've always been a fan of bisque appliances and am sad to see that they're "out".

Well, it's impossible to find bisque anymore.  If I could, I would.  It appears that the dishwasher will be the first item to go, when it does, I will replace it with a stainless dishwasher, then start working on getting the other pieces.  Costco sells packages -- sometimes the stove and microwave, sometimes 3 or 4 pieces.  Once I start replacing I will probably look for packages on the rest.

Part of my reasoning is based on where I live (rural) and the ease of getting things installed (not easy) as well as Costco's policies (generally great, but they don't install microwaves, for instance.)

They had bisque available at Home Depot- none on display, but it was listed on a ton of the order cards, so much so that I googled it to figure out what color it was! (Only bisques I could think of were lobster and asparagus, which are pink and green respectively, lol).

Metric Mouse

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #62 on: November 29, 2016, 04:14:35 AM »

They had bisque available at Home Depot- none on display, but it was listed on a ton of the order cards, so much so that I googled it to figure out what color it was! (Only bisques I could think of were lobster and asparagus, which are pink and green respectively, lol).

I think that is what Bisque is - if you mixed those two colors and then set it out in the sun to fade for awhile.  (My mom loves her bisque appliances as well)

Dicey

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #63 on: November 29, 2016, 05:28:31 AM »

Trudie

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Re: Preemptively replace range/oven and dishwasher?
« Reply #64 on: November 29, 2016, 09:47:44 AM »
I have bisque appliances and it sounds like the dishwasher is about ready to crap out.  When it does, I will replace it with black/stainless steel and gradually replace the other pieces until they match.
+
My strategy will be a package deal from Costco.

This seems to be a total contradiction.  Can you elaborate on your strategy, please?

FWIW, I've always been a fan of bisque appliances and am sad to see that they're "out".

Well, it's impossible to find bisque anymore.  If I could, I would.  It appears that the dishwasher will be the first item to go, when it does, I will replace it with a stainless dishwasher, then start working on getting the other pieces.  Costco sells packages -- sometimes the stove and microwave, sometimes 3 or 4 pieces.  Once I start replacing I will probably look for packages on the rest.

Part of my reasoning is based on where I live (rural) and the ease of getting things installed (not easy) as well as Costco's policies (generally great, but they don't install microwaves, for instance.)

They had bisque available at Home Depot- none on display, but it was listed on a ton of the order cards, so much so that I googled it to figure out what color it was! (Only bisques I could think of were lobster and asparagus, which are pink and green respectively, lol).

Thanks for this.  I went online and checked.  Very interesting.  So, maybe I WILL just replace the dishwasher when it goes and roll the dice.  The appliances match and look decent with the cabinets, which are natural maple.