How Much Does It Cost To Convert From Gas To Electric Hot Water Heater?
Posted on | December 16, 2009 | 4 Comments
We have two in our house and I know how dangerous they are. I would like to convert to electric and I am wondering how much it would cost to do the conversion. Also, if you can tell me about the tankless options I would appreciate that as well. Thanks in advance!
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Comments
4 Responses to “How Much Does It Cost To Convert From Gas To Electric Hot Water Heater?”
Leave a Reply
December 16th, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
Gas heaters aren’t dangerous so long as they’re well maintained.
Also, electricity is lousy for heating stuff. Gas is 6 to 10 times more efficient than electricity – that goes for water heaters, space heaters (kerosene), forced air furnaces (central heating), stove tops/ovens, and dryers. When possible, use gas. The appliances are cheaper, more reliable (simpler mechanisms) and way more energy efficient.
During our remodel, we put in a tankless gas water heater. This model starts up automatically, unlike many of the models you would see in Asia that require you to hit a button to start the burners.
Tankless heaters are not for everyone. A tankless heater simply raises the temperature of the water that flows through it, as opposed to a tank where the water will just sit, and is kept at a certain (hot) temperature. If your incoming water pipes are near the ground surface, and it gets cold and snowy where you live, the water coming into the house may be too cold to be heated by the tankless heater to any significant temperature. One way to fix this is to install a geothermic loop – essentially a long loop of piping that goes down about 20 feet into the ground, before coming back up, and entering the house. This will slightly warm the water due to the heat of the earth.
Another limitation of a tankless heater is that it can only output so much water per second. If you have a larger family that has 2 showers going at once, or maybe a shower and a dishwasher going at once, you may not be able to get enough hot water, just due to the maximum amount of water that can flow through the heater.
Finally, there are some installation challenges that your contractor will need to be informed about. The biggest one is the exhaust chimney for the heater. Tankless heaters give off much hotter exhaust than a tank heater. As a result, the tankless heater requires its own exhaust pipe that goes to your roof. This pipe must be triple walled. Meanwhile your gas tank heater’s exhaust pipe is only double walled. We had a hard time finding the triple walled pipe, and ended up ordering it from a plumbing specialty store for about $700.
We ordered the tankless heater direct from a local manufacturer who sold it to us for about $700. Saving a few hundred from buying it from Home Depot or elsewhere. We were doing a remodel at the time, so we already had a licensed contractor on hand to install the heater.
So, it cost about $1500, or about 5 or 6 times as much as a new water heater for the house. However our gas bill is about 1/5th lower. The savings will pay off the heater in about 5 years.
December 16th, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
The cost could be substantial if your present electric service needs to be upgraded. That alone could cost between $1000 and $2000. You would then have the cost of the electric water heater, the installation costs, and the added monthly expense of heating the water. Maintenance will be about the same. Electric water heaters are much more costly to operate than gas water heaters are. Years ago I converted from an electric to a gas water heater and I have saved a lot of money!
Tankless are expensive to start but are cheaper than even gas to operate; probably save about $50/year. You can get a Federal Tax Credit of up to $1500 on tankless heaters through December 2010. You’ll need to do the math to see if tankless is cost effective for you. The best time to install tankless is really during new construction. The tankless heater can be centrally located in the house for better distribution of hot water.
December 17th, 2009 @ 12:36 am
The conversion process is two-fold. First, you must drain and remove the existing gas water heaters. Also, you have to have the gas lines that are installed to the gas HW heater(s) shut down and capped off. Finally, remove the smoke piping that goes to the chimney, cap off the hole at the chimney since an electric HW heater requires no venting. Get an electrician to install a 220 line to the new HW heater location, this will require (probably) a new 40 amp breaker in your service panel. You might ask the electrician if he’ll hook up the new line to the new HW heater (DO NOT energize it by turning the breaker on). Install the new HW heater, the plumbing hook-ups are the same as on the old gas heater. Completely fill the new tank with water – go the farthest bath sink away from the HW heater and turn the cold and hot faucets “on”. Once you have a steady stream of water (no air in lines), turn the faucets off and go turn the breaker “on” since the tank is now full. Costs for this will vary depending on your level of “handyman” expertise, but minimally, use an electrician to run the new 220 line, and if you do the tear-out yourself, be SURE that you have properly capped and shut off the old gas lines. If your unsure about any of this, use a plumber for the tear-out and install.
December 17th, 2009 @ 2:32 am
Converting from gas to electric is easy. You just buy an electric heater and run 220 volt to it. As far as you concern about safety, gas heaters are very safe, normally people will convert from electric to gas for savings. Tankless heaters are just that, tankless, they offer instant and continuous hot water. The downsides are the initial cost of the units and installation. The upsides are the efficiency ratings and the length of life they offer.