The Hot Water Adventure

For many years we were renters.  We made that choice because we wanted a certain lifestyle for the kids.  We could have bought a home in almost any residential tract (within reason of course) but we wanted to be where there were woods nearby, large fields for horses and other animals.  So I was quite used to calling the homeowner when some major appliance stopped working.

The Saturday of Labor Day weekend I recieved a call from my wife while at work telling me there was no hot water.  She had checked the HW tank and concluded it had died a natural death.  The Saturday of Labor Day weekend is not a good time for a HW tank to die.  I still had to work on Monday and then again on Wednesday for my debit day (see yesterdays post regarding that moment of fun in the sun).  So it was back to primitive life for us.  If you wanted a bath, heat the water on the stove.  If you needed clean dishes heat the water for a sinkfull and wash them by hand.  It was getting old for my wife and daughter (I showered at work each of the affected days!) but we wanted to take the time to purchase the right tank for our home.

On Tuesday the purchase was made but we couldn't pick it up until Thursday due to the late hour of the purchase and my working on Wednesday.  So Thursday afternoon we get it home.  My wife and I wrestled it into the house and then slowly slid it down the stairs to the basement that would be it's home for many years to come.  I took it out of the carton and moved it to the spot... it was over a foot taller than the old one!  Now the water connections were right at the level of the top of the HW tank - no good.

So we called a plumber to come and move the connections up a bit.  Once done (and a few $$ later) the electrical connection was made, the lines purged of air, the tank full of water and the hot water lines all full and running - my wife flipped the breakers and ...

Hot water!

I suspect there will be more of these events in the life of my home ownership.  May they be solved with a similarly low amount of problems!