DIY guideWater heater
Tank, tankless or off the boiler? Identify your water heater
A tall tank, a box on the wall, or a tank piped to the boiler: what each looks like, and where its label is.
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It's usually in the basement, a utility room or a closet, near the furnace or the boiler.
A tank about as tall as a person, pipes on top: a tank heater. A vent pipe on top means it burns gas; none, it's electric.
A box about the size of a suitcase on the wall, with pipes below: tankless. It heats water only as it runs.
A tank with no burner of its own, piped to the boiler, or no tank at all: the boiler heats your water too.
On the tank's side, or the box's front or side: a sticker with the model and serial. Photograph it.
A company's sticker on it can mean it's rented. Note the company's name: they may service it.
Water at its base, rust on the tank or its pipes: ask Handyman for a plumber. A gas smell: leave and call the gas utility from outside.
What you need
- A flashlight
- Your phone
Call a pro if
- Water at its base, or rust on the tank
- No hot water, or it runs out fast
- You smell gas near it: leave, and call from outside
Handyman says: Leaking? I'll find a plumber.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
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