The gas instant water heater has once again been going “boom” on ignition. It’s hydro-powered, which means when a hot tap is turned on in the house the flow of water through the heater driver a small water turbine which generates a spark to light the gas. Obviously that hasn’t been happening correctly. We called in a plumber who serviced the unit ($220 thank you very much) but it hasn’t solved the problem. Now he doesn’t respond to our calls.
We have decided to replace the unit with a different type of gas instant water heater. This version will require 240V to ignite the gas. That means I need to install a 240V electrical outlet near the heater. You can see I have already drilled the hole in the brickwork and inserted the drawer cable.
Jan has also asked if it would be possible to install and extending awning on the end of the pergola which would provide shade over the pool on hot days.
My initial thoughts are it would require a box steel member between the posts and some type of vertical steel member to limit the twisting forces created by the extended awning. Something like this
Now to the part where I’ve probably erred in my judgement. I’ve been considering what to do with the surplus limestone blocks.
Eventually I decided they would be used to construct a length of lawn kerbing between the front lawn and the path in front of the house. The tops of the blocks will be a ground level providing a mowing strip and (I hope) with them 250mm into the ground the grass roots won’t reach the path.
I’ve ripped out the old plastic edging and repositioned the lawn water reticulation sprinklers before digging the trench.
Now comes the part where I have created unnecessary work for myself. I went to the local garden supplier and borrowed one of their courtesy trailer whilst asking for some ‘brickies sand’. Whilst my back was turned one tractor bucket load of sand was dump into the trailer. I thought “That’s a bit much!” Then I went to get a bag of cement and whilst I was away a second bucket load was added to the trailer. Now I have a mountain of sand on the front lawn.
Jan asked what I was going to do with all the surplus sand. So I told her I’d probably have to dig a hole and bury it!
8 comments :
Isn't this when you tour the neighbourhood looking for families with children to see if they want to build themselves a sand pit for the little darlings to play in?
No retro-fit option to convert existing gas heater to mains ignition?
Thought you were making Jan a sandpit..... Guess the guys on sales were getting paid on commission.
Dave the existing gas heater can't be converted to 240V ignition
As for the sand... Brickie Sand has a high clay content making it useless for a sandpit. In the end I decided to dig a hole. Actually I increased the width and depth of the lawn kerbing trench.
The one down side to your new system is that you need electricity to have hot water, so no hot water when the power is off.
Hi Catherine,
Correct.... But I have kept the 240V suitcase generator we had on the boat :-)
We retrieved our 2200i Honda generator from the van a week ago, when the power went out for 4 hours. It easily ran the fridge and a power circuit. We hoped the hot water would stay warm enough for our showers, but didn't have to test it out.
A good generator Catherine. It should be able to continuously power a max load of approx 1600 Watts.
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