The Great Flood

Just as the addition was getting underway, the aging hot water heater developed a leak and had to be tossed.  I was just gearing up to replace it, but being stuck without hot water for a week while the replacement arrived was a tough proposition.  The new water heater is a 199K BTU hybrid tankless water heater - fancy Korean tech.  It is 98% efficient, and it has a small built-in tank to avoid "cold water sandwich" issues present with other tankless units.

Lifting the unit into place solo was a bit of a challenge, as it weighs roughly 100lbs and needed to fit into a rather narrow closet, but I toughed it out and got it positioned solo.  There are no fewer than 8 connections to this unit: water in, water out, T&P relief line, condensate drain line, combustion air intake, exhaust, gas line, and electrical cord.  I had planned ahead for the condensate drain line when the A/C was being installed, so that went relatively smoothly.  The air intake and exhaust required cutting some fresh holes in the roof for the PVC pipe.  All in all, I spent the better part of a weekend getting this unit up and running.

The water heater works like a charm, with an endless supply of hot water.  It should even have enough excess capacity for the hydronic radiant heating system that I plan to install.