DIY Network

Plumbing: Hot-Water Heater From "Blueprint for Home Building" episode DBHB-201

Water heaters are either powered by electricity or gas. At the point of the water-heater installation, there is a tank installed that has a cold-water line coming into the top of the water heater. Hot water rises throughout the tank and comes out through the hot side of the water-heater tank and is distributed to all the faucets in your new home.

There is also a burner assembly that heats the water, and there's a flue that comes up the center (figure A) and is exhausted out through the roof.

An electric water heater uses two heating elements located on the inside of the tank -- resembling electric coils on a stovetop -- to heat the water. The average water-heater tank holds approximately 50 gallons. For larger homes where you want to supply hot water in more than one area, you may want to consider installing a second water heater (figure B).

Note: With a conventional hot-water heater eight gallons of drinking water -- on average -- run in the shower before it's hot enough to get in. A re-circulation pump allows you quick access to hot water and it costs approximately $3 a month to run.

Figure A

Figure B

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Figure C

Another water conservation alternative to the conventional tank-style water heater is the tankless water heater (figure C), which is activated when the hot-water faucet is turned on. The water is quickly heated as it flows to the point of use -- and it will continue to generate hot water as long as the water is running.

The tankless hot-water heater generates the water on demand so you're never heating water that you aren't using -- and you'll save a significant amount of energy with an electric tankless hot-water heater over an electric tanked hot-water heater.

For more information on your home's plumbing system, check out our Home IQ online package. Scroll down to the "Plumbing and Electric" section.

In the next episode of Blueprint for Home Building Wilson continues his discussion of how water gets into your house and how it's distributed to each point of use -- and then the drainage system is discussed.

GUESTS :

Anthony Grisolia
Building Performance Specialist
IBACOS, Inc.
Website: www.ibacos.com

Dana Bres
Research Engineer
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 7th St., SW
Washington, DC 20910
Phone: 202-708-4370
E-mail: dana_b._bres@hud.gov

Jack Tucker
Building Wisdom
Frankford, DE 19945
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E-mail: tucker@buildingwisdom.com
Website: www.buildingwisdom.com