Hot Water Heater

[djohnson6]

I need some clarification, 13 year old LPG HW heater using Natural Gas? Any help would be greatfull!

[Gerry Beaumont]

Originally Posted by djohnson6

I need some clarification, 13 year old LPG HW heater using Natural Gas? Any help would be greatfull!

Hi to all,

may not be a problem but should have been relabled when converted from LPG to NG (re-jetting appliances to swap either way is very easy), what have you seen that is making you ask?

Regards

Gerry

[Jeremy Tucker]

Could you please verify if the HWH has been converted. Being a gas fitter, reading about an appliance being used for alternate fuels without proper conversion makes me jittery. If there is a doubt about if it was, get a licensed gas fitter to check the oriface and regulator/manifold pressures. LPG appliances run at 11" Water column and NG runs 7" WC upstream of the appliance and 3.5"WC at the manifold. LPG orifaces will be smaller than NG as LPG is a "hotter" burning fuel 2500 BTU/CuFt vs 1000 BTU/CuFt.

[djohnson6]

The home is supplied with NG and on the data plate it listed the unit as LPG. the heater was kicking on just fine and produces sufficient HW. Other than that it was just the data plate that made me raise the eyebrow.

To Jeremy T
I cannot tell if a conversion was done (thats not what I do) I will advise to have the unit further evaluated.

Thank for your input

[Peter C. Russell]

I thought most gas units came set up for N/G and then the conversion to L/P was required?
Also the flame should be able to tell you if the units burning correctly

[Patrick Bolliger]

The pressure at the appliance metering valve is key here. Going from what I have been taught, Propane will have a higher pressure (supply) then Natural gas piped to the house from a utility.

If for example you had a Natural gas stove with the "pressure control disc" on the valve set for Natural gas and you used it with propane , the flames would be "huge" hence the proper "pressure control disc" for propane would be needed.

Always check with your local utility or gas / propane supplier and first and foremost the appliance MFG.

[William E. Siegel]

Just a little pet peeve I had. Why do some of you call it a "hot" water heater. The term is redundant. It is a water heater. Why would anyone want to heat hot water?

[Erby Crofutt]

Take your pet and put it in your peeve!:mrgreen :

The heater does NOT wait for the water to get cold before it heats it again.

It KEEPS it hot, thus it is heating hot water, thus it CAN be properly lablelled as a "hot water heater".

Surely you have something better to be peeved about than that.

Though I agree it is kind of redundant.

[Joe Hugenroth]

Why don't they call a water cooler a "cold water cooler" then? It's cooling cold water is it not?

I agree that "hot water heater" is redundant as well. The incoming water isn't hot.... whatever (must be a slow day)

[Erby Crofutt]

Yeah, it was a slow day. But I have six inspections for the rest of the week. Guess that'll keep me from razzing Bill.

[Claude Lawrenson]

Bill (William) raises a valid point. If we report correctly, we time and time again provide proof positive of our mastery of technical reporting skills.

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by wsiegel

Just a little pet peeve I had. Why do some of you call it a "hot" water heater. The term is redundant. It is a water heater. Why would anyone want to heat hot water?

I see some others have already attempted an answer, and I know I have answered it many times, but think of it this way:

Water heaters have a thermostat.
On that thermostat is a manufacturer's recommended setting.
That setting usually is either 120°F or 125°F, depending on the manufacturer.
Other settings on the thermostat below that recommended setting usually range from 10°F to 15°F.
So let's say that the water heater in question has settings every 10°F, and we'll use 120°F as our manufacturer's setting.
I presume that everyone would agree that 120°F definitely is hot.
Now if the next lower setting is 110°F, would you still consider that hot?
Let's go to the next lower setting, 100°F.
Do you consider that hot?
Since a hot tub usually has a maximum setting of 104°F, I think we can all agree that 100°F is also hot.
Now if the thermostat is programmed to keep the water at 120°F, then when you use 10 gallons of hot water, that means that 10 gallons of cold water are coming into the water heater.
Let's say it's a 50-gallon water heater.
Let's presume that the cold water coming in is at 60°F.
Is the water heater heating only 60°F water, or is that water immediately getting mixed with the remaining 40 gallons of water that was at 120°F?
Do the math.
50 gallons at 120°F - 10 gallons at 120°F + 10 gallons at 60°F =
(we're keeping it real simple here)
= 50 gallons at 108°F.
Is not 108°F hot?
So we are, indeed, heating hot water.

That's the whole problem with tank water heaters.
They waste a lot of energy keeping hot water hot, or making hot water hotter.

I have a 50-gallon water heater, and when I pull as little as 2-gallons of hot water out, the thermostat fires up the water heater, thereby heating hot water and making it hotter.

I look forward to getting rid of the tank "hot" water heater and going with a tankless water heater.

[William E. Siegel]

Originally Posted by ecrofutt

Yeah, it was a slow day. But I have six inspections for the rest of the week. Guess that'll keep me from razzing Bill.

so now what will I have to look forward to??