How To Replace A Hot Water Heater - Do It Yourself Home Project
on this page you will find instructions how to replace a water heater. i will show you step by step what you need to do for replacing a water heater in your house. i will include step by step instruction with pictures. [1557], Last Updated: Sat May 18, 2024
myhouser
Thu Feb 17, 2011
0 Comments
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for some time now, i have noticed that the water heater in my house has been showing signs of rust around the water heater. i know that if i dont replace it now, it will soon start to leak even worst and make a mess. so to avoid the mess, i think it would be wise to just replace it with a new one. as you may know, the economy is pretty tight. so in order to save some money, i am going to replace my water heater. usually, water heaters last for about 10 years. about ten years ago, i replaced my for the first time. and this month i decided to replace it again. so i wanted to show people how i did it. maybe you can learn something. :)
how can you tell if your water heater needs to be replaced? well the first signs is rust. you will see that your water heater will start to leak small amounts of water. another way, is time. there are water heaters that are warranty for a certain amount of time. in my example, my water heater has a warranty of six years, but it was installed ten years ago, so i definitely got my money's worth on this one.
this is the damage on my water heater that made me realize i needed to replace it, as you can see, there is water leakage and rust.
these are the tools i used to replace my water heater:
From Left to Right:
* Gas tape
* Teflon Tape (aka plumber's tape)
* tape measure
* utility knife
* vise grips
* 8 in 1 screw driver
* long flat screw driver
* 2 adjustable wrenches
* Power Drill
ok, now that you have the tool lets start removing the old water heater.
before you go to the store and buy a new water heater, you should note the dimensions from the old water heater so you wont have any problem with the new one. this is what you are going to need:
* height
* width
* number of gallons
* gas or electric?
* if gas, be sure its natural gas or propane
write the above on a paper and head to the appliance center. i shopped around, and compared prices between The Home Depot and Lowes. Lowes had the lowest prices, but i ended up going to the Hope Depot because it was closer to where i live, it was only like 5 miles from my house, where as Lowes was like 30 miles away from my house, so the gas i would spend to go buy at lowes, i would have spent on gas.
ok, now that you are home with a new water heater, its time to remove the old one:
* turn off the old water heater and shut down the gas. or disconnect the power if you have an electric one - have your family or yourself take a shower to use up the remaining hot water inside the water heater.
once all the hot water has been used up, shut down the water supply to the water heater:
drain the water - connect a hose to the drain plug at the bottom of the water heater:
go inside your house and open the hot water faucet so the water can flow faster.
once all the water has been drained, disconnect the inlet water house and the outlet water connections at the top of the old water heater. also disconnect the exhaust vent at the top of the water heater:
disconnect the safety valve, in my case, i could not unscrew this, i had to make a cut on the pipe because everything was welded together. so i used a pipe cutter in order to remove the water heater. you might be lucky though, you may not have to cut anything. but if you do, beware that you will have to weld it back. so if this is something you are not sure of, its better to pay a professional plumper to do this for you.
now disconnect the gas inlet.be sure not to use the vise grips on the gas fastener. otherwise, you will strip it, instead use an adjustable wrench.
im not sure if a pipe wrench is better than a pair of vise grips, i dont own a pipe wrench so i cant tell you if that will work. if you have them try them and tell me if its better than using vise grips.
here i use a pair of vise grips to remove the pipes. you will need the vise grips to loosen the pipes.
now that you have removed all the gas pipes, remove the old water heater and put the new one.
now connect everything back, here are some tips to use:
* DO NOT RUSH!!! - Take your time and be patient. Dont cut corners. you are dealing with explosive things here. specially if you have a gas heater, be sure to check for everything. the worst thing you want, is gas leaking in your house. so take things slow. dont rush it. its better to do this by yourself and not have someone distracting you. dont buy cheap products like tools or parts, you pay for what you get. this is not something you want to fail. its a pretty straight forward replacing a water heater, but if you start cutting corners and rushing it, you will not do a good job and it could end up costing you even more money.
* be sure to use gas approved tape on the male end of the pipes. dont use the regular white teflon tape. the gas tape will be in yellow color. you can also use putty instead of tape, tape is more expensive but its much cleaner to install. you can buy them at the home depot, ace, orchard hardware, lowes, etc.. i bought mine for $4.67 for one roll. (seen on this picture)
* use Teflon tape (aka plumber's tape) you can buy at your local hardware store, use white Teflon tape on every water connection
* when its time to tighten the water connections to the heater, be sure to start threading them with your hands first, otherwise, you WILL STRIP the threads and if you dont, then the WHOLE heater is RUINED. this is very critical, so dont use a pair of pliers to start screwing the water connections. same for any gas connections. start screwing them with your hands, once you have made a couple of turns, then its safe to use a pair of pliers to turn them. I CANNOT REPEAT THIS ENOUGH. START SCREWING ALL CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR HANDS FIRST!!!! OR ELSE, IT WILL COST YOU ALOT OF MONEY AND HEADACHE!!!! YOU GOT MY POINT?
* test for gas leaks with soapy water around the connections before you start the water heater. if any gas is escaping, you will see bubbles. if you do see bubbles, be sure to tighten the pipe connections.
* Fill the water heater with water before turning it on. do not start the flames with the tank empty. DONT DO IT. OR IT WILL EXPLODE!!!!!
* once you have the water heater all filled with water, check any water connections for any leaks.
* if no water leaks and no gas leaks. start the pilot light according to the instruction on the water heater.
* now start heating up the water.. keep watching for 10 minutes that anything abnormal like leaks.
* if everything looks normal. enjoy your water heater... keep an eye for a couple of days for anything abnormal.
this is how my new water heater looked after i installed it:
* Purchase at The Home Depot
* Price: $517.00 + tax = $540.00
* Brand: GE
* Capacity: 48 Gallons
* Type: Natural Gas
Hot Water Heater Repair Find Hot Water Heater Repair It Is Always Smarter To Ask!!
DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for any damagea. i only am writing this howto as informational. do all these steps at your own risk.
give me your comments!
how can you tell if your water heater needs to be replaced? well the first signs is rust. you will see that your water heater will start to leak small amounts of water. another way, is time. there are water heaters that are warranty for a certain amount of time. in my example, my water heater has a warranty of six years, but it was installed ten years ago, so i definitely got my money's worth on this one.
this is the damage on my water heater that made me realize i needed to replace it, as you can see, there is water leakage and rust.
these are the tools i used to replace my water heater:
From Left to Right:
* Gas tape
* Teflon Tape (aka plumber's tape)
* tape measure
* utility knife
* vise grips
* 8 in 1 screw driver
* long flat screw driver
* 2 adjustable wrenches
* Power Drill
ok, now that you have the tool lets start removing the old water heater.
before you go to the store and buy a new water heater, you should note the dimensions from the old water heater so you wont have any problem with the new one. this is what you are going to need:
* height
* width
* number of gallons
* gas or electric?
* if gas, be sure its natural gas or propane
write the above on a paper and head to the appliance center. i shopped around, and compared prices between The Home Depot and Lowes. Lowes had the lowest prices, but i ended up going to the Hope Depot because it was closer to where i live, it was only like 5 miles from my house, where as Lowes was like 30 miles away from my house, so the gas i would spend to go buy at lowes, i would have spent on gas.
ok, now that you are home with a new water heater, its time to remove the old one:
REMOVAL
* turn off the old water heater and shut down the gas. or disconnect the power if you have an electric one - have your family or yourself take a shower to use up the remaining hot water inside the water heater.
once all the hot water has been used up, shut down the water supply to the water heater:
drain the water - connect a hose to the drain plug at the bottom of the water heater:
go inside your house and open the hot water faucet so the water can flow faster.
once all the water has been drained, disconnect the inlet water house and the outlet water connections at the top of the old water heater. also disconnect the exhaust vent at the top of the water heater:
disconnect the safety valve, in my case, i could not unscrew this, i had to make a cut on the pipe because everything was welded together. so i used a pipe cutter in order to remove the water heater. you might be lucky though, you may not have to cut anything. but if you do, beware that you will have to weld it back. so if this is something you are not sure of, its better to pay a professional plumper to do this for you.
now disconnect the gas inlet.be sure not to use the vise grips on the gas fastener. otherwise, you will strip it, instead use an adjustable wrench.
im not sure if a pipe wrench is better than a pair of vise grips, i dont own a pipe wrench so i cant tell you if that will work. if you have them try them and tell me if its better than using vise grips.
here i use a pair of vise grips to remove the pipes. you will need the vise grips to loosen the pipes.
now that you have removed all the gas pipes, remove the old water heater and put the new one.
INSTALLATION
now connect everything back, here are some tips to use:
* DO NOT RUSH!!! - Take your time and be patient. Dont cut corners. you are dealing with explosive things here. specially if you have a gas heater, be sure to check for everything. the worst thing you want, is gas leaking in your house. so take things slow. dont rush it. its better to do this by yourself and not have someone distracting you. dont buy cheap products like tools or parts, you pay for what you get. this is not something you want to fail. its a pretty straight forward replacing a water heater, but if you start cutting corners and rushing it, you will not do a good job and it could end up costing you even more money.
* be sure to use gas approved tape on the male end of the pipes. dont use the regular white teflon tape. the gas tape will be in yellow color. you can also use putty instead of tape, tape is more expensive but its much cleaner to install. you can buy them at the home depot, ace, orchard hardware, lowes, etc.. i bought mine for $4.67 for one roll. (seen on this picture)
* use Teflon tape (aka plumber's tape) you can buy at your local hardware store, use white Teflon tape on every water connection
* when its time to tighten the water connections to the heater, be sure to start threading them with your hands first, otherwise, you WILL STRIP the threads and if you dont, then the WHOLE heater is RUINED. this is very critical, so dont use a pair of pliers to start screwing the water connections. same for any gas connections. start screwing them with your hands, once you have made a couple of turns, then its safe to use a pair of pliers to turn them. I CANNOT REPEAT THIS ENOUGH. START SCREWING ALL CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR HANDS FIRST!!!! OR ELSE, IT WILL COST YOU ALOT OF MONEY AND HEADACHE!!!! YOU GOT MY POINT?
* test for gas leaks with soapy water around the connections before you start the water heater. if any gas is escaping, you will see bubbles. if you do see bubbles, be sure to tighten the pipe connections.
* Fill the water heater with water before turning it on. do not start the flames with the tank empty. DONT DO IT. OR IT WILL EXPLODE!!!!!
* once you have the water heater all filled with water, check any water connections for any leaks.
* if no water leaks and no gas leaks. start the pilot light according to the instruction on the water heater.
* now start heating up the water.. keep watching for 10 minutes that anything abnormal like leaks.
* if everything looks normal. enjoy your water heater... keep an eye for a couple of days for anything abnormal.
this is how my new water heater looked after i installed it:
* Purchase at The Home Depot
* Price: $517.00 + tax = $540.00
* Brand: GE
* Capacity: 48 Gallons
* Type: Natural Gas
Hot Water Heater Repair Find Hot Water Heater Repair It Is Always Smarter To Ask!!
DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for any damagea. i only am writing this howto as informational. do all these steps at your own risk.
give me your comments!