water heaters which is better gas or
electric or on-demand tankless maybe
even solar in this video we're going to
talk about the difference in the water
heaters and the money you can save by
using different water heaters
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so the easiest way to tell if you have a
gas or electric water heater is by
looking at the front this is a gas
control valve and there's actually a gas
valve coming out of the wall then it has
a line that comes to it and comes on the
side this gas control valve let you know
how you've got your water heater set
this is really your thermostat so on the
inside of this it's got a piece that
goes inside the tank that actually
checks the temperature of the water
heater and controls the gas and the
flame to let it know when to make the
water hotter if anybody ever asks you do
you have a gas or electric water heater
it's real easy to tell by looking at the
front the gas control valve or you're
going to have a panel that is removable
that actually has a thermostat and a
heating element behind it now most big
water heaters have two elements a high
one and a low one and two thermostats
now the thermostats actually attached to
the tank so that they know how hot the
water is to tell the power when to kick
on and heat up the element the heating
element is really what's inside that
heats up the water on an electric water
heater I'm going to show you some things
on the inside that help make a
difference but one more thing on the gas
water heater up on the top if you've got
the round silver pipe coming up out of
the middle of it that's your gas flue
and it may be 3-inch it may be 4-inch
but having that is what gets the bad
gases out of your house that way those
gases go out the roof and vent out into
the atmosphere so now let me show you
what's on the inside now I'm gonna start
with the gas water heater because
there's a few more parts I'm also going
to tell you what they have in common
so the dip tube actually comes in the
cold water and it brings the water in
the cold water in down towards the
bottom of the tank now the reason that
it does this is because heat rises on
the gas water heater you've got your a
burner assembly down at the bottom under
there and when it kicks on I mean it
literally lights up a flame and then
what happens those fumes that I was
talking about they go
right up the middle then this flu now as
you see this flu has a baffle in it and
it's got pieces built on it that keep
that heat coming outside that way it
heats up the inside also so you've got a
heating source down here but when those
hot gases come up it hits that metal on
the inside and that actually helps make
them more efficient so when this dip
tube comes in it has holes in it and
what those holes do they kind of push
the water out to help circulate the
calcium and magnesium in the bottom to
keep it in the water like it should
everyone knows they should flush their
water heaters at least once a year what
I like about these these come with a
brass drain valve and I like that
because they don't corrode up as much
and you don't have as many problems with
them the flue as you see is not on the
inside of the electric water here where
the gas water heater heats with the
burner and the flue pop the electric
water heater heats with elements now
there's one in the very bottom and it's
about eight inches off the bottom of the
tank and then there's the other one up
here now remember if you ever have to
change your heating elements turn the
power off before you start turn the
power off drain the water heater out and
then you can open these panels you can
change out the thermostats
and heating elements if you use the
right ones on a gas water heater you can
change out the burner assembly you can
change out the gas control valve the
thermal coupling everything here it can
be changed out the only thing that you
don't change out is the tank I tell
people all the time as long as your
water heater is not leaking
you can probably fix it but the question
is do you really want to go back and
think about it how long am I gonna be
here how much is it gonna cost and with
that money be better off spent on a new
water heater the parts you see on an
electric water heater are at the very
top you've got the panel that you can
remove that's where your power comes in
that's where you want to test it before
you start working on anything test it
make sure the breaker is turned off
before you open and undo anything now I
know you've got to open the top to test
it but don't be opening the sides or
anything like that until you've turned
the power off and you've got everything
set the drain valve is the other one
is really important guys if you flush
this water heater every year you're
going to keep the calcium and magnesium
out of the bottom of it and you're
actually gonna make it last longer now
the other piece that they have in common
on the inside right here you see the
anode rod now I recommend the customers
that you replace that anode rod at the
end of the first year the reason being
an anode rod is made out of calcium
magnesium aluminum different things and
what it does it's a sacrificial rod
meaning any little impurities on the
inside of the tank is they start to form
the anode rod sacrifices itself and
since pieces out to seal those up that's
why we recommend the people you don't
flush a water heater after six or seven
years five or six years if you've never
flushed it before if you start flushing
it from the very beginning you're not
going to get a lot of buildup but you're
also not going to lose the part that the
anode rod has sacrificed to repair the
other thing they both have in common is
a temperature and pressure relief valve
and why that's important that is the
safety feature for a water heater that
is what is going to keep the water
heater from getting too hot and either
expanding and rupturing or actually
exploding it can happen but it doesn't
happen very often because water heaters
are built to be safe
I've showed you some common things that
they have and I've also showed you the
differences in them the other big
difference is a gas water heater this
one here the insulation is a lot thinner
than the electric they build in that way
so the electric can hold the hot water
longer if they made them that thick on
the gas water heaters the tank would
even get bigger they have made them more
efficient lately and that has made the
tanks bigger so you may not be able to
get a 50 gallon water heater in the
exact same hole you take it out as
before no your water heater annoying
what you can do to repair it can save
you a lot of money the thing to remember
is make sure you shut off your ball
valve up top each water heater should
have a valve coming into it on the cold
water side I've seen them on the hot
water side going out for complete
isolation but to be honest as long as
you've got the cold water shut off
and waters not crossed anywhere you
shouldn't have any problems at all
because if you've ever had to work on a
water heater and change out any parts of
it do me a favor leave me a comment down
below and let me know what did you do
and how did you do it
now I mentioned turning off the power to
the hot-water heater before you work on
it another big tip that's gonna save you
a lot of headache do not turn the
electricity back on until you've done
all the repairs and what I mean by that
is if you're changing the elements out
you need to shut the water and drain it
down so you do that you remove the
heating elements you put the elements
back in you fill it back with water not
until that point do you turn the
electricity back on the reason being if
you turn the electricity on and you
don't have water on this it's gonna pop
it's gonna break it's gonna burn up then
you're gonna be right back in the same
problem you've had and I've actually had
these burn up and break so bad it was
hard to get them out guys think about it
turn the power off to your water heater
before you start working it drain it
down change your elements change your
thermostats change what you're changing
and then fill it back up with water and
then turn your electricity back on now
you don't have to shut off the water to
change out the thermostats just the
electricity but my thing is if you're
changing out the thermostats go ahead
and change out the elements now you've
pretty much rebuilt your hot water
heater one other little tip if I had a
water heater with a plastic drain valve
I would actually want to change that out
to a brass one before I ever use that
water heater those plastic valves are
okay but the corrosion gets in there and
they get where they don't work well the
metal ball valves for a drain valve on a
water heater weren't perfect and I think
that's a great investment so guys now
you know the difference between gas and
electric water heaters do me a favor let
me know below which one you have which
one is most popular in the areas where
you live leave me a comment down below
and let me know what you think
check out the video where we did the
flush on the tankless water heater as a
homeowner that can save you a lot of
money as a plumber that can help you
make a lot of money around your weight
bill believe AP the expert plumber i'll
see you on the next video
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