Point of use water heaters/Washing clothes

[ampersat]

A couple of years ago, we had a pipe burst inside the slab in a part of our house. It was the hot water pipe and the plumber who came out on the weekend simply capped off the pipe. It serviced the second bathroom in our house but we never used that one anyway. However, that pipe also supplied hot water to the washing machine. Since then we have just made do by washing everything in cold water. But we're hoping to have kids soon and washing their stuff in cold water just isn't an option sometimes.

I could pay to have a hot water line run over to the washing machine. They're really close to each other: I can stand with one hand on the water heater and the other hand on the washing machine. However, running the pipe between the two would mean going up the wall, across the ceiling and down the other wall. There's also some furnace ductwork and electrical stuff in the way. I'm thinking this won't be a cheap option.

On the other hand, there's the point of use water heater. For about $140, I can get a 4 gallon point of use water heater, run it off the existing cold water line, plug it into the wall and be done with it. Now, 4 gallons isn't going to fill my washing machine but it's better than nothing and I'm guessing it'll be cheaper than having a plumber come and run a new line for me.

Does anyone have experience with these? Good opinions, bad opinions? How much would I expect to pay a plumber to run the line if I chose to go that way with it?

Now about the washing clothes part: how does one survive washing everything in cold water? Can a person wash everything in cold water and get it all clean. I've actually hauled buckets of hot water from the working bathroom (a half a house away) to bleach whites.

[ 02-18-2004, 10:05 PM: Message edited by: ampersat ]

[Riverkeeper]

I don't have any experience with that type of water heater, but I'm willing to bet the type of washer you have will make a big difference with respect to the utility that you get out of a point of use heater.

Sorry for the run on sentence.

What I mean is, if you have a high efficiency, small volume washer, the 4 gallons of piping hot water will probably go a long way. If you have a big old tub of a washer, it may not make a lick of difference as compared to washing in straight cold water.

[Dipnet]

If you have a gas furnace, there are also small water heaters that run on gas that heat the water as you use it. It is a small unit that you run a line of water to, that heats the water pretty much like a radiator. We have one at our cabin that we run off a 5 gallon propane tank. It is really nice to be able to take a long hot shower outside on the back deck of the cabin!! I can't think of the brand, but if you do a search of "gas water heaters", you should find one. Hope this helps!!

Dipnet :grin:

[ 02-18-2004, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: Dipnet ]

[happybrew]

Funny you should mention this. Our water heater just went out. But we're going to replace it with an 80 gallon one! None of those piddly little underpowered models. Heck no! Bigger is better! Especially with five kids' worth of laundry to do!

Check out Lowes! I saw some 50 gallon ones for around 170.

happybrew

[ampersat]

Hey Dipnet: I think what you're referring to is the tankless water heater. We do have a gas furnace right next to the existing water heater and when it goes I'm definitely considering going tankless. Some pages I found quoted savings of 60%+ for tankless over a tank model. I also like the idea of an endless supply of hot water. I could actually take a shower after the wife without having to wait an hour for the water to heat up.

I pulled some calculations online. The model we have has a capacity of 2.5 cu. ft. As just a raw calculation (without clothes) that comes out to 18 gallons of water on the wash, another 18 gallons for the rinse. I don't think a little point of use heater is going to cut it.

[Dipnet]

Yep, that's it. We can use our shower for the whole spring and summer which is probably 30-35 days on one tank of propane. Pretty economical and so very nice when you're camping!! As long as you have gas, you have hot water!!

Dipnet :grin:

[ampersat]

Happybrew: 80 gallons of hot water or limitless hot water? Some tankless models are strong enough to fully support two simultaneous showers. Do some research before you plunk down your cash. Think about it: you're heating 80 gallons of water 24 hours a day but you'll probably only be using hot water for maybe 8 hours a day at the most (and that's everyone showering and doing all the laundry and dishes every single day).

[Barviewrocks]

Even though it may be a hassle to run the hot water pipe connections, I would consider it using PEX Pipe. It is much more flexible and freeze resistant. I just repaired a burst pipe subsituting PEX plastic pipe for copper and it was much easier. The main challenge may be the initial tap into the hot water. If you can solder the capped pipe to a PEX fitting, you should be most of the way there. I bought an RTI fitting tool if you want to borrow it.

[fishonksm]

Ampersat You said you had a plumber cap out the end of the broken pipe. Do you know where the other end comes out of the slab? If you can take a section of pipe out and open up the line at the bathroom end maybe you could slide a pipe plastic/copper inside the broken one and with some fittings reconnect both ends and restore the entire line again. [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]
This is what the city did for me when the water main broke at our house.