Over the weekend our water heater died. It led a good long life, although not as long as we'd hoped it might. It was 12 years old, and that was borrowed time according to our initial home inspector and our latest plumber.
I figured we might be able to get a solar water heater installed when it went. It was, after all, a perfect opportunity to replace the unsustainable with the sustainable. After a weekend without water, however, we're back to square one.
Fortunately for us we have a home warranty that covers the water heater. It was likely the nicest gift our realtor could have given us. They will replace like for like, or give us a cash settlement. My plan was to take the cash and then head over to the solar store. But before I asked for cash I called up the solar water heater place and asked what to do.
I figured we would be living without water for a while if we had a solar water heater installed, and I wanted to get a timeline. I even went out this weekend and bought a camp shower in preparation for the water experiment. When I called the green plumbers, however, they suggested we replace the water heater we already have.
Apparently Massachusetts will give a green tax incentive if you install an electric backup solar water heater, but not if it has a gas backup. If we want to get the tax credit we have to switch our tank over to electric (which can be done) but the cost of installation will be about $9,000. With the credit it would run around $5,000 to $6,000. But that quote was on a normal roof. When I mentioned that we have a slate roof the green guys started to stammer a little. They wanted to make sure they warned me that the cost would be significantly higher. They would need to come look at it to see what needed to be done...and they could do so in 2 weeks.
The good news is that they can attach my gas water heater to solar panels and reroute the backup through our current gas line at any time. That means that we can get our water heater replaced and then later on down the line spring for a solar upgrade. We can still get the tax credit because we're upgrading to solar.
So we're no more green than we were before. But instead of spending around $8,000, which is my own guess (based on the words significantly more expensive) we're only out $95. If we'd asked for cash instead of a fix we might have received $800, but it would have taken 3-4 weeks to get our water back and cost an additional (approximate) $7,200. Did I mention we have a bunch of other projects we're supposed to be working on?
And still I feel a bit guilty. I was completely ready to rough it for a month. After watching No Impact Man (lame as I feel the guy is sometimes) I was ready for some radical. But practical me wasn't up for the challenge, especially considering how long it takes for us to get anything done around this house.
2 comments:
Everything's a balance. My husband starts talking about solar panels (or solar shingles) every couple of months. And I remind him that were 10 years into a 15 year roof. I like the idea of solar, but I dont' want to have to re-do it when our existing roof will need replacing soon after. I'm also hoping someone will come out with mass-marketed WHITE roof shingles appropriate for a suburban house. If our roof was flat, we could just paint it, but that's not a reasonable option for a pitched roof that can be seen from the street.
And now you have me worried about the water heater. Ours is 10 years old, and I have no idea how long it is supposed to last. Though for that we probably aren't talking solar, but possibly tankless (or a "hybrid" that has a smaller tank).
A tankless water heater was our original backup plan. If solar was too expensive we were headed in the tankless direction. Unfortunately my husband wasn't around when the plumber came by or we might have ended up with something different. I realized that I just didn't want to mess with coordinating all the work. I realize now that it's better to make a choice about the water heater BEFORE it dies. Not all houses are plumbed the same way, but we had to turn off a valve to the kitchen sink and bathroom tub to shut off the hot water (and stop the leaking). Time was of the essence or I probably would have made different decisions.
Most water heaters are rated for 7-15 years, although 10 is the normal number for a tank to give out. You may be due soon, or you might be lucky, it depends on the quality of your tank.
I wish we'd worked out all the details before now, like knew a plumber who could install what we wanted, knew the delivery time for what we wanted, etc.
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