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Well, That's A Relief
So, my day started unusually - I got to sleep in before work. This is because I was working from home for the first hour and a half of my day. And why, you ask? Excellent question.
For those who don't know, a preface: About a month and a half ago our water heater did a very bad thing. It decided that it had lived a good, long life, six years and three months of it, and that the only thing a sensible water heater could do at this point was suicide. I came home to find our erstwhile appliance had bled out all over the basement.
I like our basement.
Specifically, I like our basement when it is dry.
Why six years and three months? Because, of course, the warranty was over at six years. Six years is like three hundred and ninety-two in water heater years.
After shutting off the water and mopping up, we went about getting a new water heater. At first, this was a simple thing - $800 for purchase and install. Not great, not terrible. The plumber came in, took one look and said he couldn't do it. Ours is a twin-pipe power vent system, and what we had purchased was a conventional gravity vent system. The practical downside being if he installed in we would have been dead in a week from carbon-monoxide poisoning. Plus, he couldn't get us a twin-pipe power vent system, so sorry.
So we found the label for the people who installed it and called them. They could do it! That day!
For $2,500.
We declined.
Then we called Centerpoint, and they said they could do it for $1,400. Worse than $800, but oh so much better than $2,500. They sent their man.
Who took one look at it and said it was the wrong type.
As I said, we had a twin-pipe power vent system, a phrase I had begun to brandish with aplomb from all my practice that day. I had come up with phrases involving the words "twin-pipe power vent system" that would work as ice-breakers at parties. I said it more times than you will be asked if you are allergic to medicines when going in for surgery. However, despite my eloquent and frequent use of those five little words and one little hyphen while talking to Centerpoint, the tank they sent was a single-pipe power vent system.
Cue fuming.
All was not lost, dear readers, as the very nice gentleman they sent went over the system and decided he could make the needed alterations to install the new system at no charge.
Cue angelic choir.
So, it was installed, it worked, and the water flowed hotly again.
What does this have to do with anything, you ask?
Because, I reply, the city requires a follow up inspection by a different plumber. This is to deter such unscrupulous practices as, say, installing an EZ-Bake Oven in place of your old water heater.
Seriously, it's so we don't drown in carbon monoxide, etc, etc, but honestly, this was a month and a half ago. I think we'd already be down at this point, thank you very much.
So, the guy comes around nine, and I show him to the tank. Now, you might think this kind of job requires special tools, perhaps a carbon monoxide detector or some sort of apparatus to check the seals. Nope. And now that I've said that, you might be thinking of simpler tools, hammer, wrench, screwdriver. Again, no.
He turned up the heat, and put his hand on the exhaust pipe.
That's it.
So, the city is licensing inspectors to come out and do, essentially, nothing, increasing the cost of the installs (and don't kid yourself, I helped pay that guy's salary when I paid the $1,400), and interrupting people's schedules. I mean, your tax dollars at work, right?
So that's the story. The thing pumping hot water around the house is indeed a water heater, and the exhaust pipe is properly hooked up so that we are still breathing O2 instead of CO.
I can't tell you what a relief that what I already knew has been confirmed. And the cupcakes you can bake on the little light-bulb in the water heater are simply scrumptious.
For those who don't know, a preface: About a month and a half ago our water heater did a very bad thing. It decided that it had lived a good, long life, six years and three months of it, and that the only thing a sensible water heater could do at this point was suicide. I came home to find our erstwhile appliance had bled out all over the basement.
I like our basement.
Specifically, I like our basement when it is dry.
Why six years and three months? Because, of course, the warranty was over at six years. Six years is like three hundred and ninety-two in water heater years.
After shutting off the water and mopping up, we went about getting a new water heater. At first, this was a simple thing - $800 for purchase and install. Not great, not terrible. The plumber came in, took one look and said he couldn't do it. Ours is a twin-pipe power vent system, and what we had purchased was a conventional gravity vent system. The practical downside being if he installed in we would have been dead in a week from carbon-monoxide poisoning. Plus, he couldn't get us a twin-pipe power vent system, so sorry.
So we found the label for the people who installed it and called them. They could do it! That day!
For $2,500.
We declined.
Then we called Centerpoint, and they said they could do it for $1,400. Worse than $800, but oh so much better than $2,500. They sent their man.
Who took one look at it and said it was the wrong type.
As I said, we had a twin-pipe power vent system, a phrase I had begun to brandish with aplomb from all my practice that day. I had come up with phrases involving the words "twin-pipe power vent system" that would work as ice-breakers at parties. I said it more times than you will be asked if you are allergic to medicines when going in for surgery. However, despite my eloquent and frequent use of those five little words and one little hyphen while talking to Centerpoint, the tank they sent was a single-pipe power vent system.
Cue fuming.
All was not lost, dear readers, as the very nice gentleman they sent went over the system and decided he could make the needed alterations to install the new system at no charge.
Cue angelic choir.
So, it was installed, it worked, and the water flowed hotly again.
What does this have to do with anything, you ask?
Because, I reply, the city requires a follow up inspection by a different plumber. This is to deter such unscrupulous practices as, say, installing an EZ-Bake Oven in place of your old water heater.
Seriously, it's so we don't drown in carbon monoxide, etc, etc, but honestly, this was a month and a half ago. I think we'd already be down at this point, thank you very much.
So, the guy comes around nine, and I show him to the tank. Now, you might think this kind of job requires special tools, perhaps a carbon monoxide detector or some sort of apparatus to check the seals. Nope. And now that I've said that, you might be thinking of simpler tools, hammer, wrench, screwdriver. Again, no.
He turned up the heat, and put his hand on the exhaust pipe.
That's it.
So, the city is licensing inspectors to come out and do, essentially, nothing, increasing the cost of the installs (and don't kid yourself, I helped pay that guy's salary when I paid the $1,400), and interrupting people's schedules. I mean, your tax dollars at work, right?
So that's the story. The thing pumping hot water around the house is indeed a water heater, and the exhaust pipe is properly hooked up so that we are still breathing O2 instead of CO.
I can't tell you what a relief that what I already knew has been confirmed. And the cupcakes you can bake on the little light-bulb in the water heater are simply scrumptious.
