(good) plumbers are awesome

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our water heater died last week. I had called a plumber before it did rupture, as I saw it leaking. I set up an appointment and they came today. The said they would be here between 8:00-8:30AM. Well, they came just after 8:00. These guys are great, they had done some minor stuff for me in the past.

Also, when I replaced my jet pump, with my friend Denis (formerly of Sudbury, Ontario), for my well, I needed some fittings that I could not find anywhere and they had them. They practically gave them away. Another time, I was renovating my bathroom, with my friend Pete from Osgoode, I again needed some impossible to find fittings for the plumbing. These guys had them and charged me a nominal fee for some and gave the rest for free.

Anyway, these guys were organised, polite, tidy, they are the real deal. They even took their galoshes off going in and out of the house so they would not track snow in. Even after I told them not to worry about a bit of wet.

I asked them if they could help change out some foam board that I placed under the original water tank, pressure tank, and jet pump. No problem, Once the old water heater was removed, they lifted up the pressure tank and jet pump, let me wipe up the water and crud, and we put the foam in place. They put in the foam under the heater for me. 

I also asked them if they could put in a bypass to the electrically powered hot water tank they were replacing as I have a tempering tank (or a pre-tank). This pre-tank cycles water through my geothermal ground-source heat pump which heats and cools the house. What the heat pump does is it cycles the water through a built-in waste heat energy recovery system in the heat pump and uses that waste heat to heat the well water before it gets to the electrically powered hot water heater. This heated water first cycles into and is stored in that pre-tank.

On the weekend I learnt the water is significantly warmer in that pre-tank than I previously thought. Even though the wife had arranged for us to all shower at the neighbours to save freezing our junk off in a cold shower at home, I ran out of time to do that. I jumped into the shower at home and braced myself for a body numbing shower before I went to my Scouts Canada Jamboree planning meeting that night. It brought back memories of my former service in the Army and travelling in Russia.

Well, the cold water would not cycle with the hot water line shut off. The shower has one of those single valve taps. I guess because the hot water line was dry it somehow could not build pressure. So, the wife turned on the hot water line so I could shower anyway. (I would clean up the additional water in the basement later.) So, it fed water to the shower from the pre-tank. It was quite warm. Not hot, but comfortable. Wow. Bonus. Nothing was going to freeze and fall off.

A couple of days later I had a eureka moment. If something happened to that electrically powered water heater at a later date and there was a bypass to the electric tank, the water could feed directly from the pre-tank. I asked the plumbers if they could do that. A quick glance at the two tanks. Yup, no problem. Just need to put in three shut-offs. Good thing I decided not to replace the tank myself, I would have only put in two shut-offs, thinking that would suffice.

The reasons I decided not to replace the heater myself:

№7: I would have to get a new propane torch to solder the fittings, as mine is crapped out. A cost of at least $70.00, with fuel, for the one I would get.

№6: I have to pick up the new water heater, load it onto my truck, unload it, and get it in the basement myself.

№5: I have to remove the old water heater, get it out of the basement, and dispose of it myself.

№4: I have to pick up the new water heater, load it onto my truck, unload it, and get it in the basement myself.

№3: I have to remove the old water heater, get it out of the basement, and dispose of it myself.

№2: I am not a professional plumber, and as I want to do something a bit funky with adding extra shut-offs, I may make some mistakes.

№1: I am not a professional plumber, I may make some mistakes.

These guys were done before 10:30AM. Less than two-and-a-half hours. The last time I had that tank replaced, just after we moved in here, by the plumbers I hired that time (a completely different company), it took the better part of a day. And, there were four of them. And, I helped them. And, they could not get the tank up the stairs on their own. So, I got behind the tank and took the brunt of it to carry it up.

These guys? This time? Très bien! Two thumbs up!! Who are these guys? H O Wright & Sons Ltd. Located in beautiful, not quite downtown, North Gower, Ontario. I will never hesitate to call upon their services or to recommend them. Once I find someone who does a great job, I pass it on. Just like if I end up with someone who does not do a good job at all, I pass it on.

Anyway, once they cleared out, I wiped up a bit of the extra water in the basement, set up the dehumidifier to dry out that corner. I also flushed out all the water taps in the house, hot and cold, including the lines to the washing machine. Past experience has shown me that when you shut off your water and turn it back on, a bunch sediment and crud will flush through your lines. I wrecked a bunch of t-shirts in the wash once because of that. Not this time. And tonight, once we cycle to the lower cost electricity period, or Hydro as we call it in Ontario, I will run the "Clean Washer" cycle on the washing machine as well.

Now, to take a long scrubby shower, it has been nearly 72 hours since I have bathed. Mmm, stinky. Then off to get replacement air filters for the heat pump and salt for the water softener.

the work completed, excuse my mess (you can see my crappy torch on the pre-tank on the left

the bypass valves, set to fill the electric water heater

the bypass valves, set to, well, bypass the electric heater and run directly from the pre-tank