Can I Install a water heater myself?

It’s a very common question that new water heater owners always ask, “Can I Install a water heater myself?” We want to say that if you have any idea about the installation process of the water heater or you have already done this before and now you have decided to install a water heater yourself to save your money or to test your plumbing skills, then we don’t want to stop you. But if you have never done this, we suggest you, call a professional for safety. Because safety comes first.

For this, we want to discuss the whole installation process and the precautions that should be taken while installation in the following articles.

 

How to Install an Electric Water Heater?

As you know that in the previous article, we suggested to you if it is possible, you should always take the help of a professional. But for those people who don’t want to expend any more, we will discuss the whole process of installing an electric water heater.

Installing an electric water heater is not as difficult as you think, the most important thing in the installation process, you will understand that you should have some basic plumbing and electrical work ideas. If you don’t you should hire an expert from any reputable heating company. But if you are interested in taking challenges then you can do it yourself.

Before starting the installation process, you need some tools and supplies to install your water heater.

Here is the list of Tools and Supplies Which are needed to install a water heater:

• Voltage detector
• Wrench & Screwdriver
• Dielectric Connectors (optional depending on plumbing fittings)
• Tubing (PIPE) Cutter
• Flexible Hoses (recommended)
• Pipe Dope or Plumbers Tape
• Sandpaper cloth (optional)
• Soldering Flux with torch & solder wire

How to Install your Electric Water Heater Yourself (Step by Step)

Step:1 (Disconnect the Electricity supply to your Water heater)

• At first turn off the electricity to your water heater at the circuit breaker panel
• Check the wiring of your water heater with the help of a voltage detector

Note: Always check properly that your water heater is not receiving any electricity after turning it off at the circuit breaker panel, otherwise it may harm you.

Step:2 (Empty the Tank)

• Open a hot water faucet and allow it to run until the water is cold
• Now turn off the cold water supply to the water heater
• Connect a hose to the water heater’s drain valve. Open the valve and drain the tank outside
• If you closed the hot water faucet, open it again as well as the T&P valve. By this method, the water will be drained faster and allow the air into the tank.

Step:3 (Cut off the Electrical supply)

• Now disconnect the electrical wires from the top of the water heater
• Also, ensure that you turned off the circuit breaker at the breaker box first
• Check the wires again with a voltage detector to ensure it disconnected or not
• Cap the wires off and label of them to avoid any further confusion (you can also take a picture)

Step:4 (Detach the Plumbing)

• Disconnect the water supply (hot or cold) pipes
• If it is required cut the pipes with a pipe cutter and leave as much of the pipe as possible
• You can also remove the discharge pipe from the T&P valve
• If the pipe is not damaged, you can reuse it again on your new water heater

Step:5 (Replace the Old Water heater)

• After empty the tank, remove the old water heater
• Move the new tank into place (it is recommended that set the new tank into a drain pan
• check that your electrical supply will easily reach the tank
• From preventing any mistakes, double-check these things

Step:6 (Prepare the Plumbing Lines)

• If your old water heater used copper piping and you have cut the pipes and want to reuse it, you will need sandpaper cloth to prepare the pipes for your new water heater.
• Rub the sandpaper on the ends of the pipe for a brighter shine

Step:7 (Connect the Electrical Wiring)

• Remove the cover of the junction box to access the electrical wires
• Attach the ground wire to the green ground screw
• Attach all the wires by wrenching them with wire connectors
• If you have taken the photo of the previous wire connection, you can use that as a guide and connect the wires in the same way. You can also follow the label tags.
• Replace the junction box cover

Step:8 (connect with water supply lines and turn on the Water)

• Attach the hot and cold water supply lines
• Also, ensure to connect the cold water pipelines to the cold water inlet on the water heater
• If you want to reuse your old water heater’s copper piping, but it’s recommended to use flexible hoses instead of the older one to make the connections. Because it provides safety even in earthquakes.
• Connect the flexible hoses to the nipples on the water heater
• It may require to line the threads with plumbers tape
• You are recommended to use dielectric fittings to connect the flexible hoses to the hot and cold water pipes. These types of fittings reduce the corrosion between the metals.
• For preventing the leakage, properly check the flexible hose attachments
• At the nearest faucet, turn on the hot water tap and turn on the cold water supply line at your water heater
• If you don’t find any leakage, you can continue the process of water filling into the water heater tank
• After fill-up the tank, water will start to flow out from the hot water tap

Step:9 (Attach the Temperature & Pressure Discharge Pipe)

• Connect the discharge pipe to the T&P Valve, for this use a ¾” male copper fitting
• After that paint pipe dope onto the outside of the fitting and the inside of the valve fitting
• Then attach the fitting to the T&P valve and tighten up
• Clean the fitting and the end of the pipe and paint soldering flux on the inside of the male fitting and the outside of the pipe
• Then connect the pipe to the fitting
• For connecting to the pipe, you can use Solder and a torch

Step:10 (Switch on the Power and Supply Hot water lines)

• After filling up your water heater tank with water, you can turn on the circuit breaker panel at the main power box
• If you get that your water heater is not getting the power after turn it on, you should turn off the circuit breaker panel before checking the electrical attachments.

Caution: if you turn on the power before the tank is filled, it can cause the electric components to dry fire, if they are not completely submerged in the water and ruin the electric heating element, So always be sure to turn on the power, the tank should be filled

Step:11 (Supply Hot Water Lines)

• For eliminating the air in the tank and plumbing attachments, open the hot water tap to run freely for a few minutes until it stops sputtering
• it may take a couple of hours until your water heater heated completely
• it is recommended to set the temperature to the 120 degrees Fahrenheit
• you could have to wait for a couple of hours, check the discharge pipe if it is dripping, the pressure may too high

Note: in this article, we also suggested you replace your old water heater and then installing a new one. If it is your first purchase of a water heater and you have no old one, you can ignore steps 1 to 5.

We hope this article will helpful for you to understand the function of the water heater and also the installation process.