Raise your hand if you hear George Carlin saying, “hot water cooler or cold water heater”
Sometime between a late morning shower on Saturday and a Sunday morning shower, we lost our hot water. Trying to relight the pilot light didn’t work. So we called the plumber. It was mid-afternoon before we managed to make contact with the weekend on-call plumber. After explaining the situation to him, he said it was likely the gas control valve, a part he couldn’t get until at least Monday.
On Monday I called the plumber and requested someone come look at it and let us know what needed to happen. When the dispatched learned the brand name of the unit (Rheem) she audibly groaned. Turns out it’s a “big box” store brand, and parts are hard to come by.
The plumber came and said it was either the gas control value or the pilot light assembly. He left to try and find parts. Late in the afternoon I called and spoke some more with the dispatcher. They might be able to get the parts by Thursday or Friday. Both would be approximately $350, and there would be a 2 hour ($89/hour) labor charge.
When I asked what the cost of a new water heater would be, she said $1750, installed. Our non-functioning heater is 14 years old. After talking it over, we decided to get a new one installed. I called a left a message on their after hours voice mail requesting an installation.
Tuesday they called and said they could install the new heater Wednesday afternoon.
Today the plumber came, and in about 90 minutes, drained and removed the unit, and installed the new one. Since our house was completed in 2010 there have been a couple of code changes. First, an expansion tank is now required. This protects the main tank from expanding and contracting each time the burner comes or or goes off. The second change is a carbon monoxide detector requirement.
We both enjoyed a shower about an hour after he left. We had been making due with heating water on the stove using our stew pot, and mixing it with cold, and pouring it over each other. This worked surprisingly well. A real, hot running water, shower was nicer though.
I was impressed by the confidence and skill the plumber displayed. When I asked he said he was working through his apprenticeship. He knew what he was doing, and worked steadily. He cheerfully answered my questions and genuinely seemed to enjoy his job.
If the new unit lasts 14 years, it will cost us about $125 a year. Excluding water and gas, of course. Worth every penny. This was a good homeowner experience.