When is a 29 gal. hot water heater not a 29 gal. hot water heater?

[Carol]

Question for anyone that may know a thing or two about home improvement.

The previous owners installed a new HW heater and a new boiler in January, 2009. Both are natural gas. They installed a top quality boiler, which was wonderful to see.

My HW heater, according to the specs on the mfr. label, is a 29 gallon heater, natural gas. This is not a surprise. When I had the home inspection done, my home inspector pointed out that Rheem's label on the unit decribes the HW heater as a 29 gallon, but the plumbing company's label describes the heater as a 40 gallon.

I don't have an issue with fact that I have 29 gallon heater. That's plenty of capacity for me. However, I am a little bit concerned about the plumbing company that installed the heater. The paperwork from the installation says that this is a 40 gallon heater. Also of concern, the installation paperwork states the precise make and model of boiler that was installed, but just describes the water heater as "40 gallons, natural gas, with standing pilot", no reference to the make and model.

Am I correct in believing that the former owners were charged for a 40 gallon heater but only received a 29 gallon? Or is there some fuzzy math that I don't know about?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

interesting.....

 

[Archangel M]

Could be as simple as a mis-mark on an inspection form.

 

[Carol]

Indeed. Work wasn't done by a fly-by-night operation either, it was done by one of the biggest plumbing companies in the state.

 

[Ken Morgan]

No idea.
Imperial gallons vs. US gallons??

 

[jks9199]

I know it's the last thing you want to hear -- but you might want to get a plumber (NOT the install company) to look at it. That mis-match doesn't make sense. 40 gallons for an apartment style condo is pretty big; 29 to 30 is reasonable. (I'd have to look, but I'm pretty sure my town house doesn't have a 40 gallon HWH.)

It's not likely to cause any real problems for you, but you want to know the accurate numbers for any future sale of the condo or replacement of the HWH.

 

[Carol]

By my untrained eyes...its too skinny to be a 40 gallon heater. Its a Rheem Fury 22V30F, which Rheem (and plumbing suppliers on the web) says is a 29 gallon heater. That's plenty for one or two people and as you say...certainly in line with an 800 sq. ft. condo. I'm not even sure a 40 gallon would fit in my utility closet.

My concern is ongoing maintenance of the overall heating system; the former owners put in a Weil-McLain Gold boiler at the same time, February 2009. That's a damn expensive boiler, and one that I intend to maintain so it lasts as long as possible. They recommended that I call the installers for the maintenance needed on the unit, but now that I see the paperwork for the installation, I have doubts about how they do business.

 

[jks9199]

There are two main advantages to dealing with the installer for maintenance. IF (and only if) you get the same guys who did the install for repair work, they might know specific quirks of the job. It's also possible they noted the quirks in the company records... though I'd say that's even more unlikely. The other advantage is that you know that they're a dealer for the manufacturer, and that they get updated technical info. (Kind of like a car dealership gets the updated maintenance info on their makes, while you have to hope an independent shop keeps up on them.)

Find a plumber you can trust, and have them do your maintenance work. If it's the big company that installed it, great. If it's not... no big deal. If you want to, confirm that they're an installer for the manufacturer.