New Water Heater

[bhowden]

I was off camping this week and only saw this post now. From the pictures you posted, it looks like you have the PEX running much too close to the tank. BC plumbing code calls for at least 18" of metal(copper) between the inlet / outlet of the tank and where it transitions to PEX. I believe the reasoning is that heat from the tank can exceed the rating of the PEX so they want a radiator between them. Another thing I always do is use 4 copper 90's to run the pipe coming out of the hot water outlet back down for a couple of inches before running up to the distribution piping in the ceiling. This acts as a convection trap to stop hot water from your tank bleeding into the distribution system. If you hold the pipe above the tank and then above the convection trap the temperature drop is very noticeable. Without the trap you can feel the heat quite a ways from the tank. If you have a circulation pump to reduce the lag to your taps ignore the above idea! Obviously I am a bit anal about wasting heat but another thing that helps is to run my hot water feeds in a star network from the tank to the non bathtub taps. I use 3/8" pex for the runs and that eliminates about 1/2 the standby loss when you first turn on the tap. Since kitchen and bathroom sink taps have 3/8" feeds anyway the reduction in volume is fairly low. The only thing the larger pipes do is reduce the pipe friction a tiny bit. 3/4" feeds in a new house to all the taps seems just plain dumb.

Brian

 

[jcdammeyer]

I was off camping this week and only saw this post now. From the pictures you posted, it looks like you have the PEX running much too close to the tank. BC plumbing code calls for at least 18" of metal(copper) between the inlet / outlet of the tank and where it transitions to PEX. I believe the reasoning is that heat from the tank can exceed the rating of the PEX so they want a radiator between them. Another thing I always do is use 4 copper 90's to run the pipe coming out of the hot water outlet back down for a couple of inches before running up to the distribution piping in the ceiling. This acts as a convection trap to stop hot water from your tank bleeding into the distribution system. If you hold the pipe above the tank and then above the convection trap the temperature drop is very noticeable. Without the trap you can feel the heat quite a ways from the tank. If you have a circulation pump to reduce the lag to your taps ignore the above idea! Obviously I am a bit anal about wasting heat but another thing that helps is to run my hot water feeds in a star network from the tank to the non bathtub taps. I use 3/8" pex for the runs and that eliminates about 1/2 the standby loss when you first turn on the tap. Since kitchen and bathroom sink taps have 3/8" feeds anyway the reduction in volume is fairly low. The only thing the larger pipes do is reduce the pipe friction a tiny bit. 3/4" feeds in a new house to all the taps seems just plain dumb.

Brian

So you are suggesting that it's actually mandatory to replace that PEX with Copper.

 

[bhowden]

Not me but my reading of the BC plumbing code is you cannot have PEX within 18" of the tank. (maybe) 🙂 Google's AI will give you a pretty quick summary if you google something like "Does the BC Plumbing code specify metal pipe to connect to an electric hot water tank?" I just checked my query and surprise surprise, I got a different answer than I did the other night. You definitely can NOT have pex connecting to a gas hot water tank. The wording I got the first time was that included electric as well but this time it was a bit more ambiguous about an electric tank. One summary said definitely can not and another summary said as recommended by the manufacturer. I gather that some tank manufacturers specify the metal connection and those MUST use a metal connection. If the tank manufacture does not specify it then it is up to the local inspector. My experience there has been all over the map from very lax to totally anal. YMMV. If you got your tank at Home Depot it is probably a Rheem. Their manual recommends a metal connection but does not specify a length. Who knows what "recommend" means when it comes to code. Again, it will ultimately come down to the inspector or, worst case, the insurance inspector after a fire or flood.
They don't specify copper but it does have to be metal. There are home handyman connections that look like a large version of the braided stainless steel hose you can get to connect sink taps to plumbing that screw onto the tank and have a shark bite on the other end. They get somewhat mixed reviews and are a bit expensive but boy are they easy to use. I still use copper on my own tank but I have done a couple for neighbors using the quick connect gadget and it makes the job into a 15 minute exercise if things go well.

Brian

 

[jcdammeyer]

Not me but my reading of the BC plumbing code is you cannot have PEX within 18" of the tank. (maybe) 🙂 Google's AI will give you a pretty quick summary if you google something like "Does the BC Plumbing code specify metal pipe to connect to an electric hot water tank?" I just checked my query and surprise surprise, I got a different answer than I did the other night. You definitely can NOT have pex connecting to a gas hot water tank. The wording I got the first time was that included electric as well but this time it was a bit more ambiguous about an electric tank. One summary said definitely can not and another summary said as recommended by the manufacturer. I gather that some tank manufacturers specify the metal connection and those MUST use a metal connection. If the tank manufacture does not specify it then it is up to the local inspector. My experience there has been all over the map from very lax to totally anal. YMMV. If you got your tank at Home Depot it is probably a Rheem. Their manual recommends a metal connection but does not specify a length. Who knows what "recommend" means when it comes to code. Again, it will ultimately come down to the inspector or, worst case, the insurance inspector after a fire or flood.
They don't specify copper but it does have to be metal. There are home handyman connections that look like a large version of the braided stainless steel hose you can get to connect sink taps to plumbing that screw onto the tank and have a shark bite on the other end. They get somewhat mixed reviews and are a bit expensive but boy are they easy to use. I still use copper on my own tank but I have done a couple for neighbors using the quick connect gadget and it makes the job into a 15 minute exercise if things go well.

Brian

The short piece of PEX is new since the old tank was slightly taller and I used a PEX to 3/4" coupler joint. It was too badly corroded to reuse so I went with hard copper to PEX. But the original length of PEX has now been there for 13.5 years. So maybe a good idea to replace it all with copper anyway.

Don't like water leaks.

 

[Janger]

Lots to talk about…
People recommend setting 60C for hot water as it greatly reduces the scalding risk. It happened to my neighbours child getting in to the tub. Same for older people or even just hand washing. It reduces the amount of hot water available of course.

Another neighbor had her city water meter replaced, and the guy who did the work put all PEX and up and down from the meter. And he left the ground wire attached above the water metre so it wasn’t grounded. Then there was a wind storm which yanked the wires off the house. They shorted and the microwave, tv, furnace etc. all were wrecked. If the ground was correct would that prevent the damage? I don’t know. I went down and double checked mine. The meter did have pex above/below but they ran another ground wire from above to below the meter. I hope it’s good.

 

[DavidR8]

I think that you have your temps mixed up.
49C/120F is fine if scalding is a concern but that water temp can create the right conditions for harmful bacteria like Legionella to grow in the tank. 60C/140F prevents that potential but scalding is a concern.

 

[Elektrishun]

Lots to talk about…
People recommend setting 60C for hot water as it greatly reduces the scalding risk. It happened to my neighbours child getting in to the tub. Same for older people or even just hand washing. It reduces the amount of hot water available of course.

Another neighbor had her city water meter replaced, and the guy who did the work put all PEX and up and down from the meter. And he left the ground wire attached above the water metre so it wasn’t grounded. Then there was a wind storm which yanked the wires off the house. They shorted and the microwave, tv, furnace etc. all were wrecked. If the ground was correct would that prevent the damage? I don’t know. I went down and double checked mine. The meter did have pex above/below but they ran another ground wire from above to below the meter. I hope it’s good.

I would suggest anytime you have doubts get it inspected by an electrical inspector. While there are a lot of similarities with residential services there can be enough differences that it's worth a first hand look by a local inspector who knows exactly what the local code requirements are for that installation.