replacing a water heater

[brand new stash]

Has anyone replaced an electric hot water heater?

I've read a few tutorials, and I think I might be able to do it.  My concern is the weight of the hot water heater and the electrical connections.  Can two out of shape adult lift and move it?

I'm a rank beginner when it comes to electrical issues.   Do you think this is a project appropriate for a beginner?

[kendallf]

If you can drain the old one, the empty water heater doesn't weigh much (maybe 50 lbs?  Guessing..).  If it has a few gallons in it, the weight adds up quickly.  You can generally tilt it and roll it outside once it's loose.

The electrical connection will require turning off the breaker and verifying that no power is applied with a multimeter.  Then you'll unscrew three wire nuts and pull the wiring out of the way.

The water lines may be the hardest part of the removal and replacement, depending on what type it currently has and what their condition is.  Home Depot and others sell inexpensive stainless and copper flex lines for the connections and if it's set up to accomodate something like these, it's an easy job with a big wrench and possibly a pipe wrench.  If it has sweated copper pipe connections (i.e., no joints to unscrew) it'll require more work and expertise.

[Spork]

Just an fyi: most water heater replacements require a permit (depending on your location.)  Now: I'd absolutely ignore that, but just thought you should know.  Also, if you're on a city-supplied trash pickup, lots of garbage collection are "spotters" for code violations.  I'd haul it to the dump myself if I were you.  I used to put construction debris in dumpsters where I worked -- with permission -- to avoid this.

Also, if it's been installed a while, there are likely bits of code changes here, so try to read through it.  I know the insurance industry pushed through requirements for a catch pan in semi-recent years.  It has to be plumbed separately to a visible outside location.   Most code like this is actually in your own best interest.  And it can stick out like a sore thumb in an inspection if you sell your house.

[brand new stash]

I just checked my local code, and replacement of electric water heaters doesn't require a permit (new ones do, and replacement of gas water heaters need permits, but not the replacement electric ones).   But that's a good heads up, I hadn't thought to look at that.

[Greg]

You could do it easily (ok with some effort). 

Take pics of the connections you have and ask the folks at the hardware store what you'll need to make the new electrical and plumbing connections.  Label things with tape and marker pen before disconnecting to help prevent confusion.  If I were you, I'd enlist the help of a handy friend to check your work.  Worth a beer easily.

There could be ground clamps and other things attached to your pipes, be sure to reinstall these.

[ritchie70]

If you have hard water the old one will probably be much heavier than the new one due to deposits.

Big boxes and hardware stores will sometimes install free.

[SwordGuy]

We replaced our hot water tank with a gas-powered on-demand heater.  It is awesome!

We don't pay to heat water all day long (which is how traditional tanks work).  We just pay to heat the water we use. 

And we never run out of hot water, either!

[Micheal]

A thing to do is to let your water company know you are switching water heaters.  Some cities offer leak protection and this would fall under that as you will be using 50 gallons or so pretty quickly.  If its like mine they actually called the day after to ask if we had a leak and to let us know that we had a major spike in usage and to warn us we had no such leak protection for our city (bill went from $60 a month to $189 for two months to cover the overage, water here is expensive).

[Spork]

We replaced our hot water tank with a gas-powered on-demand heater.  It is awesome!

We don't pay to heat water all day long (which is how traditional tanks work).  We just pay to heat the water we use. 

And we never run out of hot water, either!

We did the same...  When we computed the payback, it takes quite a while to reach it.  And, the downside, the "never running out of hot water" has a tendency to make showers longer (for us, anyway).  I suspect it's even money on our side and may not result in much (if any) long term savings.

One caveat on these: A plumber friend of mine said he absolutely refuses to install tankless heaters for all electric houses.  They pull so god-awful much electricity that they're just not worth it.    (He says they usually require a 400 amp panel to even run them).

[gdborton]

I replaced mine back in January (horrible time for it to go out), Lowe's installed it for free.

[bogart]

The hubby and I have replaced ours several times, it's not a big deal.  It is a nuisance, and well worth getting the flex pipes and installing them to make the hooking-back-up easier.  Expect to need to make one additional run to a hardware store during the process when you discover you need a XXXXXXX because you don't have one, it's broken, or it's the wrong size (this is my general experience with DIY projects anyway).  Last time DH and I replaced ours we were able to do the whole job in 5 hours from the realizing-there-was-a-problem stage to the warmly-showered-and-ready-to-go-to-the-office stage, including two trips to the hardware store and (I think) taking the old tank to the dump.  But we're pretty practiced ...

[Micheal]

You always need Xxxxx in DIY it seems.  Its always some little niggling part too.

[Emg03063]

This isn't a direct response to your original question, but if you're replacing an electric water heater, I would definitely consider a heat pump model if you can.  They pay back pretty quickly, there's a $300 federal tax credit available this year if you're in the US, and possibly more state or local incentives depending on where you live.

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/heat-pump-water-heaters

http://www.lowes.com/Plumbing/Water-Heaters/Hybrid-Heat-Pump-Water-Heaters/_/N-1z0zp1j/pl#!