For many people tankless water heaters provide a suitable alternative to the traditional storage tank type water heater. Tankless water heaters only use energy to heat water when you open a hot water tap thus saving money on your energy bill. This depends, of course, on how you utilize your tankless water heater. Misuse of the unit, e.g. taking extra long showers, can cost you as much in energy as your old tank type unit. Installing a tankless water heater is usually a job for a professional but the competent do-it-yourselfer can accomplish the installation with a minimum of problems.

Preparation

Used properly, a tankless water heater can save you incredible amounts on your utility bill

1. Determine your hot water consumption. The more hot water you use, the more you stand to save on your energy bill with a tankless water heater. Calculate how many hot water loads of laundry you do daily as well as how many hot showers everyone in your household takes. Include the number of automatic dishwasher loads you do every day as well. The manufacturer of your appliances can tell you how much hot water they use per load.
2. Determine whether you will purchase and install an electric tankless model or a gas unit. If you opt to install a gas unit, make certain that you purchase the tankless unit equipped for the gas your utility provides you. Natural gas and propane are not interchangeable.
3. Check out the proposed location for your water heater. Tankless units are designed for either inside locations or outside locations. Make sure you purchase a unit designed for an outside installation and that it is freeze protected according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Installation of the tankless water heater

1. Route a hot and cold water line to the water heater location.
2. For a gas installation, install the proper gas line sized for your water heater to the water heater location. Make sure to test the new gas pipe installation for leaks before hooking it up to the gas valve on the unit. Verify that the new gas line is properly sized for the water heater as well as all the other gas appliances in your home.
3. For an electric tankless water heater, install the proper size electrical cable to the unit location according to the NEC. Make certain that you have installed the proper size circuit breakers in your electrical panel to accommodate the water heater. In some cases, you may have to upgrade your electrical panel to accommodate the new breakers.
4. Once you have the water, gas, or electrical installed, hang the tankless water heater on the wall and vent it for gas. Usually tankless water heaters will require a minimum of a 5″ B vent extended above the roof at least 5 feet above the highest point.
5. If you are going to use a remote thermostat route the thermostat wire now to the thermostat location.
6. Install the temperature and pressure relief valve in the unit and pipe it to an exterior location without using valves, caps, or plugs.
7. With the gas or electricity off, flush water through the unit until it flows clear.
8. Turn on the electricity and/or gas and open up a hot water faucet in the home. Hot water should appear at the faucet within a couple of seconds depending on how far the water heater is located from the faucet and how much water pressure you have.
9. Adjust your thermostat for the temperature you want and you are ready to go.

Tips

There is limited space in the bottom of some tankless water heater models so make sure you plan your installation to use a minimum number of fittings.

Verify that your installation complies with all applicable codes and the manufacturer’s installation instructions.

One of the most common home repairs is replacing a worn and leaking sink drain, also called a p-trap. The p-shaped drain piping under the kitchen sink or bathroom lavatory is called a p-trap. This assembly is made up of two pieces. The wall bend is the piece of pipe that enters the wall at the back of the cabinet. The “J” bend is the next piece of pipe. It connects the wall bend with the tailpiece or drain extension, the pipe that extends from the bottom of the sink to the trap. P-traps are typically made of PVC plastic or chrome-plated brass tubing. They can also be ABS plastic pipe, which is common under sinks in mobile homes. Replacing a p-trap is not particularly difficult but there are a few “tricks of the trade” that will make your job easier.

Preparation

Replacing a drain is less complicated than it looks

1. Clean out the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
2. Place a container under the p-trap to catch gray water that remains in the bottom of the p-trap.
3. Gather some rags to clean up afterwards.
4. Use rubber gloves to protect your hands and wear safety goggles in case any drain cleaner was poured into the drain.

Removing the old p-trap

1. Use a pair of water pump pliers (also called “channellocks” in the plumbing trade) or a 14″ pipe wrench to loosen the slip nuts on both the wall bend and the J bend. Myths and old wives’ tales to the contrary, a monkey wrench or smooth-jawed Ford wrench won’t help you here. The proper tool will make all the difference between success and failure.
2. Wiggle the p-trap to loosen the joints. Allow the water to drain into the container.
3. Pull the p-trap J bend free and throw it away.
4. Use a twisting motion and pull the wall bend out of the threaded wall connection.

Installing the new p-trap

1. If you are installing a PVC p-trap, you will use plastic beveled cone gaskets. If the new p-trap is made of metal, you will be using square-cut slip joint gaskets. The two different types of gaskets are not interchangeable.
2. Clean the threads of the wall connection.
3. Inspect the vertical drain extension tubing that comes down from the bottom of the sink. Make sure it is clean, solid, and not corroded.
4. Slide a slip nut and gasket, respectively, on the vertical drain extension pipe, also called a tailpiece.
5. Place a slip nut over the wall bend so that it fits over the preformed seal on the p-trap end.
6. Slide a second slip nut over the wall bend facing the wall connection followed by a gasket.
7. Slip the wall bend inside the wall connection and start the slip nut loosely.
8. Place the J bend over the vertical drain connection and align it with the preformed end of the wall bend.
9. Start the remaining two slip nuts on that connect the vertical drain pipe to the J bend and the wall bend to the other end of the J bend.
10. With one hand, hold the J bend in perfect alignment with the drain extension and tighten that slip nut hand tight.
11. Follow the same procedure with the slip nut that connects the J bend to the wall bend.
12. Using your pliers or wrench, give each slip nut an additional ¼ to ½ turn.
13. Wipe down the drain piping.
14. Turn on the water at the faucet and check your work for leaks.

Tips

If you are installing a metal p-trap, be sure you use brass friction rings between the slip nuts and the gaskets or the joints will leak.

When using pliers to install the new p-trap, be careful not to squeeze the pliers or you will distort the slip nuts and they will seem to have tightened up when, in fact, they are still loose and will leak. Let the pliers jaws do all the work of gripping and turning the slip nuts.

If your PVC p-trap leaks when you test it simply loosen the leaking slip nut slightly, realign that joint, and retighten the slip nut. If it still leaks, remove and replace the beveled gasket with a new one.

It’s a common problem. You turn on your outside faucet and notice water pouring out from under the siding below it. This is really typical at the start of spring when you begin watering your plants and lawn. Everything is fine with the outside faucet turned off but as soon as you turn it on, whoosh-a flood! So, what is happening? The frost proof hose bibb froze and broke during the winter. This usually happens because somebody left the hose with a spray nozzle on the end connected to the outside faucet during freezing weather. When you turn this type of faucet off without a hose connected to it, water left inside the barrel of the faucet will drain out thus preventing freeze-ups. Changing the faucet is not usually difficult but gaining access to it can be.

Locate the connection

Leaving a hose connected to an outside faucet is an almost certain plumbing repair

1. Your faucet may be installed above the floor level. If so, the plumbing that serves the faucet will be in an interior wall adjacent to the outside wall where the faucet is located.
2. The plumbing may also be in a cupboard, kitchen sink cabinet, or near another plumbing fixture like a laundry tray in a garage or laundry room.
3. If your faucet is installed below the floor level, the plumbing that serves it will be located in the crawlspace or the basement.

Remove the old faucet

1. Turn off the water at your water shutoff. If you do not have a shutoff in or under your house, you will need to shut the water off at the street. Look for a curb box or a curb stop under a round plate set in the sidewalk or grass. You may need a special tool to remove the access plate. If so, you can call your local municipality water department and they will come out and shut it off for you.
2. If the plumbing that serves your faucet is in the wall, you will have to cut open the sheetrock to gain access to the water line.
3. Make a neat rectangular or square hole so you can repair it easily.
4. Open the faucet and let all the remaining water drain out.
5. Make sure you have the proper fittings for the water line material. Use Sharkbite or Tectite push fittings for copper, Aquapex, or cpvc tubing. These are usually available at your home retail center or hardware store.
6. Cut the water line inside the wall with the proper tubing cutter.
7. Remove the screws that hold the faucet to the siding.
8. Pull the broken faucet out of the outside wall. If may not come out easily because the tubing forming the body of the faucet may have swollen when it froze and broke.

Install the new faucet

1. Using pipe joint compound, prepare the threads on the inner end of the new faucet.
2. Push the new faucet through the original hole in the outside wall.
3. Inside the house, connect the end of the new faucet into the existing pipe work.
4. Anchor the new faucet to the siding. Use the proper length screws so that they reach through the siding into the sheathing underneath.
5. Turn the water back on.
6. Test the faucet and the connections inside the wall for leaks.
7. Repair the sheetrock.