for guys who have natural gas hot water heaters.

[Hairy Mark]

mine started to use alot of gas and was running my bill up. i figured that i would need to buy a new one. i talked to our hvac guy and he said that i should check what they call the drip tube. it is a tube that connects from the cold water inlet at the top of the tank and extends to near the bottom of the hot water tank. usually when your heater starts using a lot of gas it is because the tube breaks off at the top of the tank and then your cold water falls directly on to the hot water. not good. instead of spending $500 for a new tank it was $20 dollars and about a hour of my time. pulling what was left of the orginial tube out was a real pain but worth it. just letting you guys know.

 

[Ollie]

mine started to use alot of gas and was running my bill up. i figured that i would need to buy a new one. i talked to our hvac guy and he said that i should check what they call the drip tube. it is a tube that connects from the cold water inlet at the top of the tank and extends to near the bottom of the hot water tank. usually when your heater starts using a lot of gas it is because the tube breaks off at the top of the tank and then your cold water falls directly on to the hot water. not good. instead of spending $500 for a new tank it was $20 dollars and about a hour of my time. pulling what was left of the orginial tube out was a real pain but worth it. just letting you guys know.

ok, you just peeked my interest.
How do you access the tube?
As in where is it and what do you have to remove to check it??
My gas heater is 10 years old. Works great, but I am a big one for maintenance so if it is easy to check, why not.

 

[Skinner]

I just bearly had to replace mine too. Lucky for me my brother-in-law used to work on them. Gave me a heads up.

 

[GODEEP]

hmmm. mine is propane, but our gas consumption has been rediculous lately. Im gonna check that out. thx..

 

[Tsnow]

Mines not doing too bad. 30% and last filled up in dec. i think... only 3.5yrs old tho. bout 500. a year on propane.

 

[dragon12]

The dip tube is a tube that directs the incoming cold water to the bottom of the tank to be heated. If it is missing, the cold water will fill the top of the tank and will be the first to be drawn out when you turn on the hot water. Usually you will get luke warm water at best when the dip tube has fallen into the tank, or deteriorated. To check it, remove the cold water supply from the top of the tank and it should be a long tube inserted in the cold side nipple. If you remove the nipple the dip tube should be attached to it.

Word of advice, do this on a weekday. Disturbing a plumber on the weekend could be the key to a elevated service charge

 

[ouch]

Going to have to check that out. thanks

 

[BigAl]

Missing dip tubes are usually not a big problem but a lot of manufacturers had a problem with a bad batch of tube 6-8 years ago. The plastic tubes would become brittle and would start to flake off. Usually the customer would complain about low water pressure in a sink and about running out of hot water to soon. The flakes (white or light green)from the tube would end up in the areator of the faucet. This can happen in NG, propane, or electric heaters. If you replace the tube make sure to flush the heater for 20-30 seconds then let it settle and repeat several times. Al