I can't believe I didn't tell you about my Independence Day water woes. Long story short, my "PRV" went out. For those of you not hip on your plumbing lingo...PRV is a pressure release valve. It controls the amount of water pressure in your home. Normal home water pressure is 40. Code maximum is 70. The water pressure in my house on July 4 was 170. It was the same pressure as one would find on the fire hydrant that sits in my front yard. That kind of pressure can blow all the pipes in your house. Fortunately, we learned what a PRV was BEFORE the pipes blew and it "only" cost us $400.
Saturday morning my husband, through chattering teeth, reports that we have no hot water. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal. I mean, as far as home improvements go, a new water heater isn't THAT big of a deal...what are they? $300 maybe $400? I tell my husband, "You installed a new 220-volt outlet, you can install a water heater."
Our water heater is in the crawl space and it can't be more than 3 feet tall. Guess what...apparently they don't make 3-foot, 40-gallon gas water heaters anymore. What I want to know is, "WHY THE HELL NOT?!?!" Suddenly our $400 new water heater has turned into a potentially $3,000 ordeal (looks like we might have to go tankless). We've got a guy coming over today to see what can be done.
On a side note, my husband and I are both fortunate in that we have shower facilities in our office buildings. So this morning, we got up and packed gym bags with soap, shampoo, wash cloths, rubber flip flops, deodorant, blah blah blah. I found out this morning that my office building doesn't have hot water either.
I guess I should be thankful that it's July and not January. I should also be thankful that we have the money saved to take care of it. The down side to spending all that money on a new water heater is that it's one of those home repairs that we won't really notice. It's not like getting new windows or new carpet or new appliances. Oh well---hold me in good thoughts and I'll keep you posted.
3 comments:
You'll notice having hot water back, though!
Hope there are no more water issues.
On the bright side, tankless is more efficient. So maybe you'll get that money back long term. Maybe?
Oh NO! What a drag!
Maybe your daughter can do some more housesitting! People are paying her WAY more then they'd pay you guys - haha!
Post a Comment