No Pain Energy: Automatic Refills of Propane

Last year (see here)I described the installation of the propane tank which supplies out tankless water heater.  The process was absolutely painless.  While I had to be there the installers from Budget Propane did all the work, from placing the tank, digging the trench for the pipe, installing the pipe and testing that everything including the water heater itself.

Similarly for the refill process - it is absolutely painless as well.  Budget Propane watches our consumption and simply keeps the tank topped up.

We don't us much gas so I think it really comes down to a visit in the Spring and then on in the Fall.  I think the cost of the rental of the propane tank is more that the annual cost of the gas!

We can monitor the level of gas we have by popping the top of the propane tank and looking at the attached guage (you can just see it at the bottom left of the picture).

;-)

Installing a Tankless Water Heater

Installing the tankless water heater does require some expertise in assembling gas and water fittings. While installing pex is reasonably easy, these two taskes are certainly not in the realm of your everyday DIY'r.

WARNING: Not doing the gas piping right could be very dangerous and in many jurisdictions requires a certified professional to do the installation or at least test it BEFORE first operation.

But there are a few things you can do to make the job easier.

1) Use Pre-fab Pipe
Most of the big box home improvement stores will have all the black pipe materials in various pre-cut sizes and lengths that you need for this job so doing any cutting of pipe can be avoided or eliminated entirely. The stores will have all the pipe, values, nipples, T's, safety values and other parts. JUST BE SURE TO GET GAS RATED PIPE AND FITTINGS!

While black pipe is adequate for the gas pipe I recommend getting either stainless or galvanized for the water lines.

2) The Gas supply line
You will need to get and route the appropriate size (diameter) gas pipe from your outside source point to the hot water heater. The perfect pipe for this is the corrugated stainless steel tubing (csst) as that manufactured by Gastite. The material bends around corners similarly to PEX so you can run one continuous pipe without elbows. The only connections to be made are at the outside wall (to connect to your gas source) and at the water heater. THESE TWO CONNECTIONS ARE CRITICAL SO ONLY PROFESSIONS SHOULD MAKE THESE.

Using this corrugated pipe eliminated any of the work associated with running and connecting the black pipe normally used for the task.

3) Use the right tools
You simply must have the right tools to tighten these connections. A good set of pipe wrenches is essential.

4) Use plumbers putty
All the fittings must use the appropriate gas-rated putty for sealing the connections.

5) Testing is Absolutely mandatory
You need to test all the fittings for leaks using a soapy fluid.

Related Posts:
Installing Propane Gas at the Cottage
11 rules for venting a tankless water heater (gas)
3 reasons to use corrugated stainless steel tubing (csst)
;-)

Installing Propane Gas at the Cottage

I was amazed at how little time it took the installers at Budget Propane to install the propane tank and connect it to the gas system I installed inside the cottage.

They brought their own concrete pad, leveled out the area where it was to go and plunked down the tank, on the pad, on the spot.

Next the installers dug a trench from the tank to the gas entry to the cottage. They put it at least two feet down. The pipe was a coper pipe with a yellow rubber covering - for protection.

Next they installed a unit over the pipe that came out from the cottage, and connected the other end of the pipe to it.

After a bit of testing - mostly for leaks - they were done. Just the paperwork was left!

Suppliers:
Budget Propane

Related URLs:
Propane Advice for your Home
;-

3 Reasons to Use Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST)

We roughed in the propane gas line the previous weekend. This was necessary so that we could frame and drywall the ceiling bulkhead in the basement.

We used corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST).

We love the tubing because:

1) Easier to route
The tubing is reasonably flexible, so running the tubing through walls and the bulkhead was very eaily

2) Fewer Connections
Because it is flexible you can make tight turns. We actually have only two connections and those are the ones on either end: 1) the one shown in the picture - which is the external connection, and 2) the second connection will be to the appliance itself.

3) No Special Tools Required
We required no special tools. The connectors art each end are attached easily with just two pipe wrenches.

To find more about corrugated stainless steel pipe here are a few links:

• www.gastite.com - a manufacture of CSST
• Installation Guide from Gastite
• An alternative to traditional threaded black-iron gas piping
• Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing: A Good Choice for the Short Run

Future Posts:
I future posts I will be exploring my travels with installing the gas line and its connection to the tankless water heater.

Related Posts:
11 Rules for Venting a Tankless Water Heater (Gas)
Installing the Tankless Water Heater

;-)

Bosch 2400ES Tankless Water Heater: Sneak Peek

Here is a closer view and sneak peek at the Bosch 2400 ES Tankless Water Heater that we are installing in the cottage. In a previous post we described the rough installation we did to allow the electrician to install the electrical outlet for the heater.

As you can see from the picture it is not fully installed yet. There is lots more to do including:

• Cold and hot water connections
• Gas connection, in this case liquid petroleum (yes - Propane)
• Exhaust vent
• Air intake

The box sitting on top of the water heater contains the parts for the AQ3 ES horizontal vent kit. Just add a few more lengths of pipe and voila! we will have an exhaust vent and air intact.

COMING: In about two weeks we will be installing the water system to the water heater, and also the exhaust vent and air intake. The gas connection is planning to done in mid November

Installing the Tankless Water Heater

This past weekend, in preparation for the electrician, we rough-installed the tankless water heater. As you can see in the picture it requires 120v so we installed the heater early so the electrician would know were to place the outlet.

The beauty of this heater is that when we have completed the installation of the tankless water heater, we can just plug it into the wall outlet. The installation of the heater will include:

• Cold and hot water connections
• gas connection, in this case liquid petroleum (yes - Propane)
• Exhaust vent
• Air intake
  

Still we did not just slap it up on the wall. We installed it precisely where it needs to be:

• At least 12 inches from the the ceiling - we placed it about 14 inches
• At least 12 inches from the floor - we placed it just under four feet from the floor.
• At least 1 inch from the right wall - we placed it 4 inches from the wall

The unit comes with a wall mounting bracket which they recommend be installed on a 3/4 plywood strip that is securely fastened to at least two studs. A second plywood strip is secured 30 inches below to ensure the heater rests exactly vertical on the wall.

Checking critical measurements:
It is very important that the exhaust vent and air intakes can be installed between the floor joints at the proper clearance and exit locations. So we made sure that the heater was located properly in that regard.

Don't forget the drywall!
Unless you are installing your heater in a utility room, where you tend not to finish the walls with drywall, be sure to install drywall before the heater. We installed drywall on an addition wall adjacent to the tank because, although it did not have any thing to be installed on it (yet), we believed it would be difficult to install the drywall once the heater was in place. Order of building is everything!

COMING: I will discuss and share my experiences in the installation of the tankless water heater in later posts.

6 Criteria for Sellecting a Tankless Water Heater

The are a six key considerations when selecting the right size and type of tankless water heater:

1. Hot Water Requirements: Your hot water requirements are directly proportional to the number of people in the cottage at the same time and your normal usage of water. For instance, do you wish to have two people showering at the same time (in different showers....), or will you have a dishwasher, and other appliances that need hot water. Generally speaking a shower need about 3 to 4 gallons per minute of hot water. So for two showers your water heater needs to supply about 7 gallons per minute. The more capacity needed the more expensive.
   
2. Single Application versus Whole House: Do you only need to supply hot water to a single appliance, or do you have two or more locations (kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, etc...) that need hot water. There are single application tankless water heaters that would fit in a cabinet in a bathroom that can be dedicated to providing hot water to the shower only. But for most needs a whole house water heater is the ticket - that would be installed in the basement.
   
3. Heat Source (Electric versus Gas): Electric is a bit more convenient as it required no venting, however, it requires a high AMP circuit, often 120 AMPs, and even the largest of residential systems can not provide enough water for one application. Furthermore, it is recommended that they be install close tot he electrical panel. Gas while more complex just simply provide more hot water and are a bit cheaper to run.
   
4. Heat Source (Natural Gas versus Propane): At the cottage it is like you will have no access to natural gas so the choice will be propane. Just be sure to order the LP or propane version - the natural gas model won't work properly with propane.
   
5. Venting Type - Open combustion installation (SINGLE PIPE SYSTEM) versus Room sealed installation (TWIN PIPE SYSTEM): In an open combustion installation only the exhaust vent is installed to the outside - the system pulls in air from the room the heater is installed. For smaller systems this may not be a problem but for larger systems - like the 2400ES that we are using - it requires a room the size of entire single floor - which we don't have. PLUS you can't use the single pipe system in a region which has cold climate - which we do. Twin pipe systems usually come with a direct air vent system that uses an internal fan to pull in and push out the air. Quite frankly I feel safer with the direct vent two pipe system!
   
   
6. Venting Location (Vertical versus Horizontal): The exhaust and air intake can either be routed vertically through the roof or horizontally through an adjacent wall. Which you do depends on a number of factors but the key ones are: location of the heater, the acceptability of the exit point per building code. We used a vertical vent for the exhaust and a horizontal for the intake because 1) you can not vent under a deck - and our deck goes almost completely around the cottage, 2) we wished to place the unit centrally to serve all locations equally, 3) the one wall that was available we did not wish to place the heater there
   
   

5 Reasons to Use Tankless Water Heaters

We have decided to use a tankless water heater to supply hot water to the Cottage. The reasons were very simple and logical:

1. Small footprint: A tankless water heater is much smaller that an equivalent water heater - in fact they just hang on a wall.,
2. Inexpensive to run: Because there is no tank of water to continuously keep hot, you are not paying to heat water when you aren't using it.
3. Instant and endless hot water: The model we got, a Bosch 2400ES, provides water for two major applications. It will keep providing hot water forever or until our propane tank runs out of gas... So nice long showers are possible.
4. Easy to Install: It is no harder to install than a tank water heater, in fact perhaps a bit easier, as it is just hung on a wall, and could go just about anywhere.
5. Easy to Winterize: Because there is no water tank winterizing is easy. Draining the water pipes also drains the water heater. Plus there isn't 40 gallons or more to drain - just the water in the pipes.