Monday, December 26, 2005

What I did on my Christmas vacation


Christmas has come and gone. The last thing I bought on Saturday [drum roll please], was a new 40 gallon, gas-fired hot water heater. With the help of my son, we wrestled it into the car, brought it home, and lugged it to the basement. It replaces a hot water heater I installed about 17 years ago. Here is a photo of my handiwork.

Since I sweated connections on to the cold and hot water pipes the last time, it took only about an hour and a half to take out the old heater and put in the new one (except for the vent to the chimney). Then I went and bought new vent pipe. It took more than I thought to assemble the 2 foot section. (my previous experience had been with 4 inch or larger vent pipe, and clearly that makes a difference). However, by just after lunch, we had hot water again. The old water heater has gone to the dump…oh, excuse me, transfer station. Next Monday, we replace the attic stairs. Stay tuned. This is all possible because son #2, home from college, wants stuff to do! His help has been invaluable.

Yes, the furnace behind the water heater is on the list. However, that is not a job I think I want to tackle on my own. For that I plan to hire help. We'll try to limp through this heating season, although the state's incentive of no sales tax between 11/25 and 4/25 may push us over the edge. The water heater had no sales tax, and 6% of $400+ is money. For the furnace it would be more!

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