Buying a house


  #1  
Old 07-24-02, 07:32 PM
PacketRat
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Buying a house

I have a question for anyone who can answer.. I'm in the process of buy a house built in 1976. The water heater has a 5 ft tall metal mini tank on the cold water side input. So the water goes from street to metal mini tank then hotwater tank. Only thing on the tank is input and output of water and at the bottom a drain valve of some sort. I asked the realtor what it was and they said it was a device to preheat street water to room temp before going into water heater. Question I have is how come I can't find anything on th web about this.. ?? somthing old somthing new or just plain nuts..

Thanks
PacketRat
 
  #2  
Old 07-24-02, 10:35 PM
Mike Swearingen's Avatar
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Cool

Where do you live?
I've never heard of this, either. Of course, I live in the South.
 
  #3  
Old 07-25-02, 09:17 AM
Davef15
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Not just plain nuts, just probably not worth the effort it took to put it in. The idea is that the large tank would absorb heat from the surronding area and "warm up" the water before it hits the water heater, thereby saving energy. You don't say where you are located but in our area, water delivered to the house from the municipality can be as low as 40 degrees F in the winter. Left sitting in this tank overnight, usually in a basement that is 65 degrees, the water should pick up some heat from the basement. Problem is, the cold has to go somewhere - to the basement - and the furnace has to make up the heat. So, its a case of either way, you pay. I would leave it until it rusts out or, if it bothers you, remove it. The energy savings, if any, are absolutely minimal.

Another possibility is that someone was starting to mess around with a solar collector and either gave up and never finished or had one installed but removed it - all except for the tank.

No big deal - don't let this influence your buy decision.
 
  #4  
Old 07-25-02, 11:00 AM
PacketRat
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Thanks for the quick answers btw I'm located in the nothern ohio area.. this tank had me kinda wondering.. other then the tank the house is in great shape.
 
 

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