How to fit an inline water heater

In the current ecological climate (not to mention the current recession), may people are having to find ways of both saving energy and reducing monthly bills. One simple solution is to replace an old water tank with a inline ‘tankless’ water heater. This simple task is sure to cut energy bills in half. Here is a guide to their installation.

How they work

The most significant advantage to inline water heaters is that they only heat the water when required. In other words, while your current ‘tanked’ heater labours away to keep a significant amount of water hot at all times, the inline version will not waste energy keeping water hot that may never be used. Hot water on demand Therefore, whilst you are sleeping, the pennies are mounting up on your energy bills as your heater quietly goes about heating water oblivious to your slumber. Your new heat-on-demand style inline heater on the other hand, will join you in rest, waiting until you to instruct it to heat the water. This will be done instantly and so, there will be no need to wait until you can jump in the shower.

Removing the old tank

First, you will need to shut off the water supply (the main valve is often under the kitchen sink). Then, you can proceed to drain the tank by loosening the spigot underneath. You will need to attach a hose to the spigot and then run the other end of the hose to a sink or toilet until the tank is empty. You can then remove all the tanks fixtures and rip the tank out.

Installing the inline heater

The installation of the new inline heater is a fairly straightforward task. First, you need to bolt it into place, attach the power vent and wire it in. Follow the wiring instructions that come with the heater here, or alternatively call someone in who has experience with wiring. Sweating joints Then, you will need to connect the copper pipes. These will need to be joined using a so-called ‘sweating joints’ technique which involves soldering the joints together. Again, if you have no soldering experience, you may need to call in someone who does.