special water heater?

[casey jones]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to all this but this doesnt seem right. I'm selling my condo and there seems to be an issue with my water heater. the plumber came out to look at it and said it's leaking, which means it's failing/going to fail soon. he gave me a quote on a new one, which will be aprox $3000. the reason it's so expensive is because it's this special kind of water heater that's connected to the AC, filters the water, etc... I cant find anything online about this to price shop. what kind of water heater is this? The brand is A O Smith if that helps. anyone heard of this?

Thank you all for your help in advance!

also. if this helps, it's a gas water heater, brand is A.O. Smith and i'm not sure how old it isalso. if this helps, it's a gas water heater, brand is A.O. Smith and i'm not sure how old it is

[poorplmbr]

there should be a rating lable on the heater ....a model # would be most helpful

[HayZee518]

a water heater is a water heater PERIOD. a tank that heats water. what adds to the price is the add-ons that accomplish what you said i.e. filters water etc. why it's tied into the A/C is beyond me!

[LazyPup]

We would need the model number or even better, a photo of the unit to be sure, but I doubt that there is anything really special about your water heater. Furthermore, while you water heater may be connected to your AC unit it is very doubtful that it is filtering the water.

What is more likely is that you have a conventional gas water heater which is augmented with a "Heat recovery unit" on your AC system.

In a conventional AC system heat is absorbed by the evaporator unit in your air handler by boiling low pressure liquid refrigerant into a gas. It is then conveyed to the the outdoor condensing unit where the low pressure gas is compressed to a high pressure gas and fed into the condensing coil. Outdoor air then passes through the coil and condenses the high pressure gas back into a high pressure liquid which is returned to the evaporator to repeat the cycle.

An AC heat recovery unit has is a small self contained heat exchanger unit that has both a water coil and a refrigerant coil and a small water circulating pump. A refrigerant line is then connected to the output of the AC compressor and run to the heat exchanger, through the heat exchanger coil, then returned to the AC condensing coil. A water line is then connected to the bottom of the water heater by teeing off the drain valve port. The colder water from the bottom of the water heater is then run to the recovery unit where is passes through the water coil in the heat exchanger and is returned to the top of the water heater by teeing into the water heater supply line.

In this manner the water in the heat exchanger absorbs heat energy from the hot refrigerant which would normally be blown off into the atmosphere during the condensing process. This gives us a twofold advantage. 1. The water is heated by energy which we would normally be wasting into the atmosphere and 2. By absorbing energy from the hot gas before it enters the condensing coil it effectively reduces the operating head pressure of the AC unit, thereby reducing the operational cost of the AC.

It must be noted that the AC, heat recovery unit and water heater are all three totally self controlled and are in no wise dependent upon the other components therefore if you have a heat recovery unit it does not require any special type of water heater.

While the price that you were quoted is not uncommon in the industry today, I would be hard pressed to see how they can justify that cost.

Typically an A.O.Smith 50gal gas water heater retails for about $350 and even with the heat recovery option any competent plumber should be able to make the change out in under 2 to 2.5 hours.

I would strongly urge you to contact numerous plumbers and get bids on your change out. In addition, understanding that you are in a condo you may have another avenue. Most condo's have a superintendent or building maintenance person that takes care of the common areas of the structure. You might try contacting them to see if they would do this as an after hours side job.

If you could post a couple photo's of your present water heater I would be glad to review it and see if there are any special needs for your change out.