New Water Heater – Botched Job?

[kris]

A plumber replaced my water heater a couple days ago. I now notice that the water supply is hooked up to the hot outlet of the heater and the cold inlet of the heater outputs the hot water. The pipe attached to cold feels hot and the pipe attached to hot feels warm. It seems to me this is backwards. Is it harmful or does it make no difference? I havent been able to reach the plumber by phone yet, but it would be nice to have some advice before I do anyway. TIA. —Mick

[Mick SpencerParticipant]

: A plumber replaced my water heater a couple days ago. I now notice that : the water supply is hooked up to the hot outlet of the heater and the : cold inlet of the heater outputs the hot water. The pipe attached to : cold feels hot and the pipe attached to hot feels warm. It seems to : me this is backwards. Is it harmful or does it make no difference? I : havent been able to reach the plumber by phone yet, but it would be : nice to have some advice before I do anyway. TIA. : —Mickrun hot water somewhere, this will give you a more definite feel of the pipes. athough not neccessarly harmful, it will give you much less hot water. if the cold water inlet dip tube was moved over to the other side them it would be alright, but the markings h&c should be changed to avoid confusion

[Mick SpencerParticipant]

: A plumber replaced my water heater a couple days ago. I now notice that : the water supply is hooked up to the hot outlet of the heater and the : cold inlet of the heater outputs the hot water. The pipe attached to : cold feels hot and the pipe attached to hot feels warm. It seems to : me this is backwards. Is it harmful or does it make no difference? I : havent been able to reach the plumber by phone yet, but it would be : nice to have some advice before I do anyway. TIA. : —MickSince hot water rises, puting cold in from the top starts the cooling down of the water a lot fast, it will reduce the amount of hot water available, and the reheating starts sooner than before which means in the long term your heating costs will increase a little.DISCLAIMERAll advice is given with-out seeing the job, and hence all advice MUST be taken as advice with limited knowledge on the exact situation. NO responsibility can or will be taken. And yes, I am a licensed plumber with my own business in Brisbane Australia

[Mick SpencerParticipant]

If that was the way the previous one was connected,(and it was correct for the piping in the wall), and the plumber moved the dip tube to the left hand opening, then it is correct. Otherwise it is an improper installaton.: A plumber replaced my water heater a couple days ago. I now notice that : the water supply is hooked up to the hot outlet of the heater and the : cold inlet of the heater outputs the hot water. The pipe attached to : cold feels hot and the pipe attached to hot feels warm. It seems to : me this is backwards. Is it harmful or does it make no difference? I : havent been able to reach the plumber by phone yet, but it would be : nice to have some advice before I do anyway. TIA. : —Mick

[Author]

Posts