How To Install Electric Water Heater Youtube

DIY H2o Heater Installation

When your water heater begins to leak, you have to install a new one fast.

Time

A full solar day

Complication

Intermediate

Price

$101–250

Introduction

When your water heater begins to leak, you have to supervene upon it fast. We'll show y'all how to install your own gas water heater in less than a day. Even if you don't demand a new h2o heater right now, chances are you lot will within the side by side few years. Water heaters tend to last seven to 15 years. If yours is getting old, this article is also for you. Replacing a water heater isn't difficult if you're handy with basic tools and have a bit of experience soldering copper.

Tools Required

Materials Required

Discharge piping
Fittings
Piping thread compound
Pressure level relief valve
Solder
Venting piping and connectors
H2o and gas piping

Getting Started Installing Your New Hot Water Tank

We're replacing a natural gas h2o heater in our sit-in. The steps for replacing a propane water heater are exactly the aforementioned, and those for an electrical water heater are similar.

In any case, when you're planning a water heater replacement, play information technology safe. Call your local department of inspections and ask if y'all need a allow. And make sure a plumbing or electric inspector checks your work.

Installation Costs and Labor

Plumbers typically charge $45 to $65 an hr and can commonly install a h2o heater in a day or in half dozen-viii hours.

Most residential h2o heaters cost $150 to $400 for either gas or electric, plus $200 to $450 if you lot have a plumber install it. More than expensive gas h2o heaters with special venting systems also are bachelor. Simply they're more difficult to install, and nosotros won't deal with them here.

Water Heater Parts and Breakdown

Flue pipe
Cold water shutoff valve
Typhoon diverter
Temperature and pressure relief valve
Overflow pipe
Hot water outlet
Anticorrosion Anode Rod
Dip tube
Elements
Insulation
Drain valve
Thermostat or control valve
Burner
Thermocouple
Gas supply valve

When to get a new water heater

Your water heater is dead when the tank leaks. The telltale sign that your water heater needs replacing is a irksome baste underneath, usually showing upward as a trail of rusty h2o. This means that the steel tank has rusted through and can't be stock-still. Other symptoms, such as insufficient or no hot water, commonly signal other water heater repair problems that you can fix.

If you lot spot a baste, program to supersede the water heater right away. Don't wait until the leak gets bad.

New water heaters come with installation instructions and lots of warnings to make sure you handle the gas, electric and other connections safely. In this article, nosotros'll supplement those nuts with techniques and "real world" advice from several professional plumbers.

But have mind: Y'all'll be working with natural gas, propane or electricity, all of which are hazardous. If you don't feel confident, phone call in a pro to have care of the tough parts. And have your work inspected when it's washed.

Plumbing codes vary by region. Describe your planned installation to your local plumbing inspector, including the types of materials you intend to use for your new connections. Meliorate to get guidance start so you don't accept to change things afterwards!

Figure A: Gas Water Heater Details

Water Family Handyman

To print out this epitome, see the Additional Info at the cease of this article.

Effigy B: Connections for Steel and Plastic Pipe

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Many homes have galvanized steel or plastic (CPVC) water supply pipes. Galvanized steel pipes are difficult to supervene upon. We recommend that you remove the pipes dorsum to the nearest tee, screw on a plastic-lined galvanized nipple and complete the connections with copper every bit shown in our photo series.

Because of potential heat buildup, keep plastic pipage at to the lowest degree 6 in. away from the vent and tank. Make a transition from plastic to copper with a special coupling that's available wherever CPVC is sold.

Flexible copper connectors are easier to install than solid copper, specially when the existing pipes and the tank inlets don't line upwardly. But not all local codes allow them. If yours does, take special care not to pinch or kink them. You could go a leak.

Projection footstep-by-step (12)

Step i

Shut off the gas and water

gas

Turn off the gas to the water heater by turning the nearby shutoff valve a quarter turn. When off, the handle should be at a right angle to the pipe. Close off the main water supply as well and drain the lines past opening a faucet on the lowest floor.

Step 2

Drain the water in the tank

hose

Attach a garden hose to the drain valve and drain the water left in the tank. Caution: The water will exist scalding hot! Disconnect the gas line at the nearby spousal relationship with a pair of wrenches and unscrew the pipe from the gas control valve with a pipe wrench.

Step 3

Cut off the h2o lines

Unscrew

Unscrew the vent pipe from the vent hood and motion it to the side. Then cutting the hot and cold h2o lines with a tube cutter. (Unscrew unions for galvanized pipe or the nuts on flexible connectors if yous have them.) Slide the one-time water heater out of the way.

Footstep 4

Attach the relief valve

Wrap

Wrap the threads of the new temperature and pressure level relief valve with Teflon tape (iii turns). Screw it tightly into the tank with a pipe wrench. Attach a copper discharge pipe (see Fig. A for routing details).

Step 5

Attach pipage assemblies

Solder

Solder new copper adapters to half-dozen-in. lengths of iii/4-in. copper and screw the assemblies into the hot water outlet and cold water inlet ports in the pinnacle of the tank. Add brusque, plastic lined nipples to shield confronting galvanic corrosion, especially if you accept hard water or if they're required by local codes.

Step 6

Adhere the water lines

Slide

Slide the new water heater into place, recut or extend the old tubing to meet the new, and solder the tubing together using copper slip couplings. If the tubing doesn't line upwards, commencement the lines every bit needed with pairs of 45-degree elbows.

Step 7

Reattach the vent

Reconnect

Reconnect the vent. Shove it tightly over the draft hood and anchor it with three 3/8-in. No. vi canvas metal screws. Predrill the holes. The vent should rise at to the lowest degree 12 in. vertically before turning at the first elbow.

Step 8

Use two wrenches to adhere the gas line

pipe

Reconnect the gas line. Glaze the threaded ends with pipage joint compound and screw the offset nipple into the gas valve. Use two piping wrenches to avoid stressing the valve. Reassemble the remaining nipples, finishing up with the union (Photo 2). Then follow these iv steps to fill the tank: (1) Shut the bleed valve; (ii) turn the water back on at the principal shutoff and open the common cold water valve to the h2o heater (exit it open up); (3) turn on a nearby hot h2o faucet until water comes out; and (iv) inspect all the joints and fittings for h2o leaks.

Footstep ix

Bank check for backdrafting

Most h2o heaters rely on a natural draft to draw combustion fumes up the flue. If the typhoon doesn't work, those fumes, possibly containing deadly carbon monoxide, will spill out into your home. Later on completing your installation, check the typhoon.

Close all outside doors and windows and turn on your kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans. So open a nearby hot water faucet until you lot hear the gas burner in the h2o heater ignite. After a minute, move a smoking match around the edge of the draft hood (Photograph 7) on pinnacle of the heater. The smoke should exist drawn up the vent piping. If the smoke doesn't draw, the fumes from the burner aren't venting. Turn off the gas to the water heater and call a licensed plumber to correct the problem.

Footstep 10

Check for leaks

Expect for bubbles at connections

bubbles

Turn on the gas and cheque connections for leaks by brushing a l-50 mixture of dishwashing liquid and water over the joints. If the mixture bubbling, you have a leak. Tighten or reconnect joints that leak. Wipe the joints dry when finished. Telephone call the plumbing inspector to check over your work. Follow the how-to communication that accompanies the photos to make sure the connections are tight.

Pace 11

Light the airplane pilot light

Utilise a lighter to calorie-free the airplane pilot light

lighter

Light the pilot light co-ordinate to the manufacturer's directions. (For electrical water heaters, turn the ability on at the chief panel afterward the electrical inspector checks your work.) Finally, set the temperature to 120 degrees F., following the installation instructions. Light the airplane pilot light in the new water heater and accommodate the temperature setting.

Installation Details for Electric Water Heaters

First plow off the power to the water heater at your main electrical panel. So follow the aforementioned draining procedures equally for a gas water heater.

When the water heater is drained, disconnect the electrical wires from the spiral terminals nether the admission panel, which is ordinarily located almost the meridian. (If yous don't take electrical feel, hire an electrician to handle all the electrical wiring.)

Follow the manufacturer'south instructions for wiring the new water heater. If the new h2o heater is shorter and the old wires won't reach, surface-mount a four-in. 10 4-in. 10 1-i/2 in. metallic electrical box on the wall or ceiling nearby, run the sometime wires to the box, and so run a new section of armored cable or electrical conduit to the water heater. Cheque the instructions and make certain the rating of the one-time fuse or excursion breaker is high enough to handle the new water heater. In addition, the circuit should accept a shutoff switch inside sight of the water heater.

Phone call your local electrical inspector earlier you brainstorm the job. You'll probably need a permit. And so, when you're finished, have the electrical inspector check your piece of work.

Aluminum wiring requires special handling. If you have aluminum wiring, call in a licensed pro who'due south certified to work with it. This wiring is dull gray, not the wearisome orange that'southward characteristic of copper.

Step 12

How to Dispose of a Water Heater

Jeff Gorton, an editor at The Family Handyman, will prove yous how to remove and dispose of a water heater in our video tutorial. He volition also show yous the easy fashion to carry a h2o heater out of your home, even if y'all are working alone.

These tips will make your work go faster and easier:

Measure out the meridian of your old water heater and buy a new one the same height so you don't accept to modify the length of the water, gas or electric lines.
The bleed valve (Photo 2) on old water heaters often clogs upwardly. If the water drains slowly, be patient. CAUTION: Information technology'south scalding hot! TIP: Turn your water heater off two hours in advance to allow the water to cool.
Water heaters weigh about 150 lbs. You'll demand a strong helper or a dolly when you motility the old 1 out and cycle the new one in. Garbage services typically accuse about $25 to take the former ane.
Before you start, buy the tools and materials shown here at a plumbing supply or hardware store or a home middle. Check the sizes of the water supply pipes (most will exist 3/iv in. like the ones in our photos) and buy the right-size fittings. With everything on paw, y'all'll need four to six hours to complete the job (assuming no big hitches!).
The temperature and pressure relief valve is a safety device that limits tank pressure and keeps it from exploding (Photo 4). A new 1 must be included with every installation. For the valve to work properly, the discharge pipe must exist kept gratis of obstructions (Fig. A).
In regions with highly mineralized water, or where required past local codes, utilise 3/4-in. plastic-lined nipples (almost $ii each; Photo 5 and Fig. A) for joining different metals, commonly copper tubing to the steel tank. This slows corrosion.
When connecting the water lines, solder the copper fittings before you spiral them to the tank so you don't heat the tank itself while soldering (Photo 5).
Apply "slip" couplings to connect the old and new lines (Photo 6). Unlike regular couplings, they don't have an internal stop. You lot can slide them on, align the copper tubing, then slide them back and heart them over the joint.
The new inlets and outlets on the tank don't always line up with the old supply lines. Solder in a pair of 45-degree fittings to kickoff each line if necessary. Too supervene upon the old shutoff valve with a new brawl valve while you're at it (Photo 6). Vent diameters are sized co-ordinate to the heat output of the h2o heater. Yous might have to increase or decrease the vent size to ensure the best draft. Circumspection: If you're unsure if your chimney has a liner, inquire your plumbing inspector.
Make gas connections with solid steel piping (Photograph 8) or soft copper with flare fittings (Fig. A). Both are more than reliable and less expensive than flexible stainless steel connectors, which are not always permitted. Employ rigid copper rather than flexible copper water supply lines for the same reasons.
If you lot locate your h2o heater replacement where leakage could cause damage to the floor or other parts of the house, set a pan of an canonical size under it (metal for gas water heaters). The pan must take a drain tube that leads to a house bleed or other approved location (outdoors where permitted). The temperature and pressure relief valve belch tube also must atomic number 82 to a drain if leakage would harm the floors. If routing is difficult, discuss options with your local plumbing inspector.
If you alive in an earthquake-prone region, strap the water heater to the wall with special straps (Fig. A; available at plumbing stores and habitation centers). Your plumbing inspector will tell y'all if they're required.
Ready the new water temperature setting to no more than 120 degrees F. to avert scalding.

Additional Data

Figure A: Gas water heater details