Noisy water heater power vent

[arctic_scrap1]

The outside exhaust from my water heater power vent is too noisy. It's not just the air noise but the fan vibrations resonating up the PVC pipe. I like to sit on the deck outside and listen to the frogs and stuff at night and drink beer but all I hear is the vent. The fan runs 24/7. I don't think it's a problem where something is wrong with the system, it's just loud. Has anyone had success quieting this system down? If anything, I am willing to put in a different style hot water heater as this one is near 20 years old anyways.

[Pat K]

Is it supposed to run 24/7?

The fan on mine cycles on few seconds before the burner in the water heater ignites then stops about 30 seconds after the burner stops. It seems you would be venting a lot of heated air out of the house in the winter or air conditioned air in the summer if the fan runs continuously.

[CAMAN]

20 years is getting pretty old for a water heater. I would replace the entire unit with a new power vent. They have come a long way and are now much quieter and efficient.

[arctic_scrap1]

After doing some reading it sounds like the fan isn't supposed to run all the time but this one does for some reason.

[CAMAN]

After doing some reading it sounds like the fan isn't supposed to run all the time but this one does for some reason.

Yeah probably a bad circuit board or relay

[WWW]

No they are not supposed to run all the time. 10 to 15 years is a good run on a water heater. That one needs to go. Not even worth the time or money to figure out why its not working right.

New 50 gallon power vent runs about $800. If you wait another year or so new regs and water heaters are coming out and that price will go up a lot. 2016 is what Ive heard about the new water heaters.

[arctic_scrap1]

The new power vents are a lot quieter then? I'd prefer if I didn't hear it at all.

[CAMAN]

The only way not to hear it at all is to relocate the vent on another side of your home, as they still make noise. Most of it is the sound of air movement traveling down the pvc pipe and a bit of the fan. But I'd be betting it is considerably lower than what you have now.

And I agree throwing new parts at a 20 year old water heater is not a wise investment. Tanks rarely last that long.

[WWW]

Good chance you are still going to hear it. Electric water heaters are quiet. Have set up a few customers with 100 gallon marathons and off peak power.

[delcecchi]

Does a water heater really use enough energy that a noisy forced type is worthwhile? I have the good old type with a flue and it makes no noise. But it isn't 99 percent efficient either.

When I looked at this question when buying a new boiler the answer was no. And in fact it didn't seem that HE boilers even came in as small a size as I needed.

[aanderud]

Does a water heater really use enough energy that a noisy forced type is worthwhile? I have the good old type with a flue and it makes no noise. But it isn't 99 percent efficient either.

When I looked at this question when buying a new boiler the answer was no. And in fact it didn't seem that HE boilers even came in as small a size as I needed.

Yeah that's a good point, del. What are they, at most 10% more efficient than chimney vented ones? I imagine I'd save about a buck a month on gas. That's 12 bucks a year, or maybe 200 bucks over the lifetime of the unit (not including electricity to run that vent). I don't know, doesn't seem worth it to me, considering they cost more in the first place.

[Tom7227]

The thing I had to deal with was the problem of getting the CO up and out of the house. With the outfits not having a pilot light there isn't enough heat to keep the flue warmed enough to get it to draw properly. The other thing is the moisture that forms inside a clay flue and causes problems in the winter in particular. I think that is the cause of the deterioration of bricks up towards the top of a chimney.

When I bought the house the water heater was electric. I switched it and the dryer to gas. There was no good way to get the flue over to the existing chimney and so I had to go with a power vent. That was 25 years ago. I am on the third water heater and I think that the high efficiency rigs I have now require a direct vent.

[CAMAN]

I wouldn't install one based solely on their energy savings. If I were doing that I'd install an on demand water heater. But if installing into a location that prevents direct access to the roof, besides electric, they are the only way to go. And since he already has most everything he needs (though he may need to install a fresh air intake line now) I would continue to go that route and if it's easy to I would also reroute to another side of the house.

[WWW]

You guys are right on with not saving that much money on a power vent water heater. They are more up front cost. Lots of times double the cost of a gravity vent heater. Good chance you are going to have at least one service call on the power vent heater due to all the additional controls. They do not lat as long as gravity vent heaters also. Many that we change out are due to the controls going out and people dont want to put hundreds of dollars into a older water heater. Lots of power vents getting changed out at about that 10 year mark. Gravity vents 12 to 14 years.

All that for roughly $100 a year savings.

[delcecchi]

100 per year is a kbuck in 10 years, ignoring inflation. That pretty much pays for the water heater, right?

[ottertailguy]

Looks like we are in need of a new power vent water heat because it's leaking from the bottom. So I call the place that put it in when our house was built and they no longer are in business as are a lot of smaller shops because of the recession.

So I called b n d down the street in St. Michael thinking they are local but wouldn't give a quote over the phone. I thought no big deal and had them come over but boy I was wrong. They sent 2 guys and after looking at our water heater they went to their van. Came back with 3 options. They gave my wife the good fix was $1800, the better and the best was $3600.They were plumbers but had been train liked Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman. Then my wife said we'll think about it and had to tell them to leave. They then said it'll be $50 for the estimate and my wife told them that wasn't mention when I called. If that's a problem we would report them to Angie list which they are members. They then said no problem then but grabbed the estimate from the wife and left. What kind of business doesn't leave their estimate? The only one I can think of are timeshare salesmen. We still don't have the water heater fixed yet but at least we haven't been robbed. We make more phone calls today and get a quote first.

I had a standard water heater replaced at our lake place and when I called the plumber up there they gave me a quote for the water heater and basic installation. But told me that any extra work will be so much an hour plus parts.

Anyone have a place they have used and the price they paid. It shouldn't be that hard to get a quote for a 50 gallon power vent water heater should it? At least a ballpark price.

[Tom7227]

If you check at places like Grainger's you can get a good idea of what high quality units should cost. You may be able to do the work yourself as it isn't all that complicated.

[delcecchi]

I just looked at Lowes' site out of curiosity. Looks like the price of the heater is between 750 and 1050 plus tax and installation. So it looks to me like in the ballpark of 1500 installed would be my guess. (I just guessed at 4-500 for installation)

[WWW]

Phone quotes are mostly guesses and not to many shops like to do them anymore. The big box stores will most likely give you the lowest prices up front but watch out for that extra work. Those installers make very very very little on a standard install. Any little extra work will be charged top dollar and they look for it. Things like new gas shut off $200 to $300 dollars. Venting $1500.

That $1800 quote is about $75 more than what we charge for a standard change out so dont think its to far out of range. Hopefully you get a quality water heater with that. Not some crappy Richmond, GE or other off brand. Make sure and get your rebate from the gas company to.

[delcecchi]

I got my (only) replacement water heater from a local guy. I just posted the price from lowes as an indication that the 1500 or 1800 wasn't totally out of line.

Mine was $850 but smaller and not direct vent. And a few years ago.

[ottertailguy]

After the attempt from b n d to fleece us, my wife realized we had the water heater protected under home service plus. She made them come out but before they arrived we found out online only parts are covered. The home service tech said that after he came but called into their office to schedule a local plumber to replace it for $1464 minus $50, so $1414. Plus $100 rebate. I saw online that even if you don't have yours protected by them that you can still call them to replace your. If it needed any extra work he had a sheet stated how much it would be. The local guy was a very nice guy and said if we ever needed a plumber we could call him. The water heater we got was a Ruud 50 gallon Professional Achiever power vent and the only model they installed that was a power vent. It is a lot quieter than the previous one which was stated by a previous guy earlier.

[aanderud]

Did I read that wrong, or did they charge you $1400 in LABOR for a water heater install? WOW. That's absolutely highway robbery!

[Dave]

I feel you read it wrong. They'll replace parts to keep the appliance going (if possible), not replace the whole appliance for free. Just like when your furnace breakdown, they replace whatever parts but, they don't replace the whole furnace for free.

[delcecchi]

Did I read that wrong, or did they charge you $1400 in LABOR for a water heater install? WOW. That's absolutely highway robbery!

I think that included the new water heater. And it was only 1300 since there is a rebate from the gas company.

[aanderud]

Oh, gotcha. That makes much more sense! I was confused. Thought it was like one of those warranties where they cover the TV for a year (parts) but only cover labor for the first 90 days. This is a parts versus whole replacement thing. Nevermind! LOL