In Hot Water
Hot water is preferable to cold water for bathing and dishwashing. Our new house came with a water heater (It's not a hot water heater! It's just a water heater!), as most houses do, and we didn't really know the age, brand, or condition of said water heater. Mainly this was due to the inneffective insulating blanket on the unit. Early on we had to deal with some dripping and renovate the water heater's flu (chronicled in this Episode), but after that we really didn't give the thing much thought. We recently had the unit inspected by a professional plumber, Daniel from Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, and the ugly truth was revealed (via removal of a section of the aforementioned insulating blanket): our water heater was a GE (Daniel was not a fan of GE water heaters), manufactured in December, 2004, and due to excessive corrosion, caused by the aforementioned dripping, the magnesium rod could not be removed for inspection. Also we did not have a drain pan and the TPR valve was full of sediment, which was allowing a slight dripping every now and then.
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| The overview |
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| The details |
As we understand it, the average lifespan of a water heater in these parts is 8 to 10 years. Since ours was already 8 years old and we had no way to inspect the magnesium rod to see the true internal condition, it made sense to us to get a new water heater installed. Some jobs we will tackle ourselves, but installing a water heater is not one of these jobs, so we scheduled an installation appointment with Daniel.
Benjamin Franklin installs Bradford White water heaters, and ours is a 40-gallon unit from the Eco-Defender Ultra Low NOx Series Energy Saver line. It has a 12-year warranty, which includes a free annual inspection. We hope/plan to get a lot of years of use out of this new water heater before it needs replacing. We are happy with the professional installation, and with the copious quantities of hot water available to us. We are also happy with the service we have received from Daniel and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.
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| Upper connections |
Deere, John Deere
At long last the long awaited John Deere backhoe has arrived, and we are quite pleased with it so far. It is a model 315SJ, and despite its size we had no trouble getting it into our back yard. Preliminary testing has shown it to be a capable machine with a surprisingly roomy cab. We haven't quite finalized our plans for our back yard yet, so we don't know exactly in what capacity we're going to be using James when the time comes. For now James is being stored inside, out of the weather and away from stray animals. Below you will find pictures of James in action.
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| On a dirt pile |
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| In the sand |
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| Near the tall grass |
Bonus Cake Photos
Here are bonus pictures of the first cake that I have baked in our New House. This cake was in honor of my dad's 75th birthday (which was actually yesterday, but we celebrated today). Happy Birthday, dad.
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| Top view |
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| Side view |
Happy Saint Patrick's
bIsh
1 comment:
Hot water heaters, interesting topic. Been through a few. Other than gas or electric, two types to think about, metal tanks and glass tanks, corrosive water, sacrificial anodes, and not. Lots of technical stuff. Earthquake straps (not strapped in on one in Redmond, and it broke pipes during the 2001 quake, then quit working a few years later, new one was strapped in. One in the rental in Redmond, had tank break at the mid -point, and dump water on the floor. Replacement had defective design heating elements that needed replacing every year. I think you made a good move with a 12 year warranty!
Great to see the John Deere in action.
And a great looking happy birthday cake. My favorite cake color was blue, for you to keep in mind next December if you get in a baking mood.
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