I'm not a plummer

[Hilltop366]

A pipe inside a pipe is a good plan!

Our camp has a small well with a hand pump at the sink, the line is sloped back towards the well so in late fall I just disconnect the line at the elbow in the well and remove the vertical line with foot valve and the rest drains back to the well. It never seems to want to come apart at the elbow so I end up cutting it and replacing a short section, it would be easier if I used a different fitting at the elbow maybe a pitiless adaptor.

[Jeff]

This is the heater we are going with. Similar, but bigger than the one I have on the polebarn.  Ive decided to go with 3/4 direct buried pex as the supply line and bury the pvc too as a future conduit out to the well house. There is already power buried to it.   The 3/4 is way cheaper and brass fittings from 3/4 to half cheaper and easier to find.

One thing I didnt mention is that the only reasonI am burying the supply line is, because we have to drive over it. This is only going to be seasonal water because the cabin is in a lonely deepfreeze all winter. If we go up in the winter, there is an outhouse.

Atmor 29kW 5.4 GPM Electric Tankless Water Heater at Menards®

[Corley5]

  With your water line project and trail project a mini excavator rental for a weekend would be pretty handy  ;)  Trench your water line in deep, place corduroy  in your mud holes and bail dirt from the sides to cover it   
  It's a three season place now but for the future   

[Jeff]

There are no rental places close, i have a half ton truck. This is the east end of the u.p. i would have 4 hrs just in getting and returning anything, and as always there is the money issue.

[Corley5]

  I've pulled one with my 1/2 ton from Petoskey and back.  Pick up one in the Soo Saturday afternoon and return it Monday morning when they open.  They aren't too bad $$$ wise to rent.
  I've been redoing things around here that if they'd have been done differently 40 years ago they wouldn't require it now.  That's my reasoning behind new projects.  Do it with a view to what may come.  One of my big peeves is when my Grandparents had a new 4" deep well put in during the  mid 80s it was put at the end of the lane where the old rod well, pit, pressure tank and stock tank are 200' feet from the house.  It should have been put in by the house so the pressure tank could have been in basement.  No sawdust covering the well pit lid to keep it from freezing.  The water lines were there to fill the stock tank next to the well house and no 200' foot run of buried wire to short out.  One of my summer projects this year is too install a new pressure tank in the basement, new 200' water line and wire to the well, plug the old well and fill in the pit.  There are numerous reasons this project needs to be done now.  If done 40 years ago...
  Anyway that's an example and kinda explains where I'm coming from on improvement projects  ;D ;)   
 

[21incher]

Wow that's some  water heater. Never seen an appliance that used 3 seperate power inputs to obtain  the 120 amp @240 volt input. I thought  the NEC would  only allow one input per appliance for safety reasons.  

[Magicman]

The 13kw that I installed is the largest water heater that uses only one 240v circuit.

[Al_Smith]

A couple comments .Black PVC in a roll has worked fine for pump  supply lines as far back as I can remember plus it's inexpensive . If you get freezing water or scald somebody in the shower when the pump cycles chances are you either have too small of a pressure tank or the tank is "water logged .Meaning the air bladder might have collapsed .
I'm not certain how point of use water heaters would work. If I installed one I'd go with 240 volt .The way my L shaped house is laid out the kitchen sink is the farthest point away from the water heater which is 40 gallon fast recovery. Takes a long time to get hot water .It's either that or a return loop with a recirc pump . Point of use in the long run probably is cheaper all things considered .
Now as far as winter storage. If you plan the plumbing in such a way as to have a drop below the water tank you could blow it out with compressed air then flood it with rv anti freeze most likely .If it will work on a travel trailer it will work on a cabin .
For hot water lines I've never used Pex at any time .Pvc is not a good hot water line but CPVC is .
As a side comment when I worked for a small plumbing concern in HS it was all copper lines and cast iron drains .Things have  changed a lot since the 1960's . ;)

[trimguy]

@21incher my understanding is that it is consecutive. 1 circuit comes on , if it doesn't meet demand , then next circuit also kicks in and same with the third. I haven't hooked it up yet so I'm not sure.

[Jeff]

Well, I'm commited now! The 20 gallon electric will have a cabinet built for it. The shower controls will mount beside the shower, which is pushed into the wall that is the back of a closet in the other room. I gained over 4 inches as that wall also had 1" cedar on it. You can still reach the latch on the window and open it, so its staying. The shower head will somehow mount above the stall. No additional holes in that stall, although it was designed for it.


 

 

 

[Raider Bill]

Can you mount the heater up high off the floor.?
Only 20 gallons you better have them watch a you tube on taking a navy shower.

[Jeff]

Why off the floor? 
 This is a compromise to get space. We were taking two showers with 2 gallons  of water in a pail with 2 gallons heated up and poured in setting in a tub and thendipping with a solocup.  This will be better  imsure

[Al_Smith]

You can take a shower with about gallon and half of water . We did same when I was on the nuke subs .The frequency was about once every 7 days .Old habits die hard because even today it takes me about five minutes from the time I walk into the bathroom until I'm out .Must be okay because she never says I smell like a goat but she does mention I'm stubborn as a mule . :D

[Walnut Beast]

20 gal. will be fine. Some RVs have a 6 gal. water heater and two people can comfortably take showers 

[Jeff]

The squeezing two and frow has commenced, 



 

[21incher]

Just pick up a low flow  shower head and you will never run out. You can get them down to 1 gpm that still give a good shower. Now is when your  weight  loss really pays off. Probably  would  have been a tight fit through  that hatch last year. 

[Ljohnsaw]

Why off the floor?

If you put it up as high as possible, then the area under is available for a vacuum or brooms.  Or maybe a linen closet?  If it is short enough, maybe mount it under the sink?

My sister had a 30gal. tank in her 1bd/1bath town house.  She wanted more space in her laundry closet so I pulled that out and put in a much smaller unit up on a shelf.  I can't remember if it was a 20 gallon or 16.  She is really happy with it. She now can store her vacuum in there instead of the front coat closet.

[Don P]

Never a bad idea to put a drain pan under one.

[Jeff]

Drain pan is to big, I got one, but I don't like it. Im plumbing an overflow into the crawlspace. There may or may not be a sink over top.  Holy crap I had to buy 50ft of 8-2 wire. It aint just lumber.

This was exit one today. I was in and out 3 times.

Squeezing out of the crawlspace. - YouTube

[Al_Smith]

Speaking of electrical stuff .A 2 pole 60 amp  Square D  breaker set me back almost 25 bucks or about twice the normal price . >:( That was on the Geo-unit because it was tripping out at 18 amps .I have no idea why breakers go bad ,just happens sometimes .

[Al_Smith]

Now that that tunnel rat action .Take it from me it doesn't get any better as you get older .Voice of experience here . ;)

[47sawdust]

It does my heart good to know there is such a brotherhood of crawl space vets.
I knew a home weatherization crew that had to cut one of their co-workers out with a sawzall.

[Walnut Beast]

Once you wear a good headlamp you will never use a flashlight 

[Tom King]

I'm not sure of the legitimacy of this.  You look perfectly clean coming out of there.

[Jeff]

@Tom King check out the earlier video link from when I first went in there. It was not what i expected!