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[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

A repeat customer of Dunbar Plumbing called us this past friday in regards to a water heater replacement. We've done work for this customer numerous times over the years and have a great working relationship. The work was performed on Remington Court in the Forest Run Subdivision located in Independence Kentucky. The Forest Run Subdivision has a high water pressure zone where protection (Pressure Reducing Valve and Thermal Expansion Tank) is needed to prevent water pressure spiking and continually high static water pressure. Here is the picture of the water heater, which is a 50 gallon Gas PowerVent Water Heater. Made by A.O. Smith and the water heater we removed was over 12 years old.

The water heater was not leaking, but rather the customer was getting weary of the electronic issues that had kept springing up on him from time to time. Of course, this costs money and the "worry" has a value; do you want to worry from day to day, week to week if you'll have hot water? That's a financial decision for sure.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

12 years is a significant amount of time for a water heater to last that long in this area due to water quality and water pressure considerations. Electronics, as much as people do not want to readily admit, "do" go bad and malfunction, the very reason this property owner finally went and bought a new water heater to resolve the issue.

However, we do not agree with the brand of product that was purchased, knowing the history of the water heater that was purchased. The water heater is manufactured by the American Mfg. Company, the same company that produced the water heater for Whirlpool Water Heater sold at all Lowe's Home Improvement Stores.


The design, which is FVIR Technology (Flammable Vapor Ignition Resistant) is mostly to blame for the issues that have become a sore spot for many unsuspecting homeowners that purchase a gas whirlpool water heater and find out in short time (usually within a few years) of purchase that the water heater does not live up to expectation.

Costs, aggravation, being without hot water for a undetermined amount of time is just the start of the issues that result with this type of water heater. For the majority of those who get the new parts from Whirlpool, the majority go error free afterwards. The bottom line though, it shouldn't take $100's more dollars to make the product you purchased keep operating shortly after a sale.

We explained this consideration to our customer before installing this unit. It was duly noted that this new water heater had a White-Rodgers IntelliVent Gas Control Valve, which is the retrofit gas control valve that has been the fix for the many issues these Whirlpool/American Mfg. Company/Craftmaster water heaters.This gas control valve should stop some of the more common issues these water heaters currently have with mode of operation.

[DUNBAR PLUMBING]

Here is the new 50 Gallon PowerFlex Water Heater by American Mfg. Company. One of the first issues with this unit was that the water heater when it was delivered was missing parts. Thankfully the parts were attainable at the local Ace Hardware in Independence Kentucky. No changes were made to the water lines but the gas line serving this water heater along with the PVC vent piping had to be modified to get this unit to reconnect. PowerVent water heaters are slightly more labor intensive than say the standard gas water heater, along with the quite simplistic electric water heater that consists of only 3 connections (hot water line, cold water line, electrical supply line) and takes less time as a result.

One surprise that we found during the replacement of this water heater was a leaking thermal expansion tank that was installed less than 3 years ago. A water blister in the paint of the expansion tank revealed that a pinhole leak was present, and the tank was replaced as a result. We decided to warrant this tank as this customer has been very good to us and we believe that 3 years was premature for any product to have such a short life.

By friday evening the first cycle of hot water was present and the guarantee of good workmanship along with the product having a new embedded warranty will surely give this property owner peace of mind for time to come.

Cost of the replacement of this water heater was around $700 for the water heater itself.

Cost of the replacement of this water heater with new water heater supplied at the residence was in the range of $375-$489 with the cost of materials (pipe/fittings) to make the changes to retrofit/reconnect the water heater to the supply feeds and venting of the home.

This price reflects haul-away/disposal fee/parts and labor to provide this service. Contact Dunbar Plumbing today for your water heater replacement at 859-359-4833 or visit our website at http://dunbarplumbing.com for more information.

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Tags: water heater replacement  water heater  remington court independence ky powervent powervent water heater powerflex