Salter
Jan 22, 2013, 10:32 PM
All right so I was timed out (I guess?) twice now so this really is going to be the shortest version ever.
Our natural gas water heater died (small leak that prevented pilot light from staying lit). Our water heater also supplies our central air ac/ heating system (found that out the hard way the first time the pilot light went out, but not realizing that it was a leak and not wind that caused the pilot to go out).
Almost 2 days later a company came and installed our new gas (natural) water heater (same size and specs as the previous heater).
Within an hour after install we had lots of hot water, so we turned the heat back on. 2 hours later we were still freezing (and realized that only cold air was blowing through the vents). We shut that off (thinking maybe the new tank hadn't had enough time to heat up enough water or something). I should note my husband and I are mid 20's first time home owners and no absolutely nothing about water heaters and central heating and other standard knowledge things standard homeowners probably know.
One of the guys that came to give us an estimate tried to explain the way our heating system worked (something about water from the tank going through coils that hat blowers that blew air over the coils that caused the air to heat up... or something along those lines).
My question is, could there be air in the system that is preventing the water from running through these unseen coils? If so, is there a way I can bleed them on my own? My husband and I were both too busy to call today, and I will try to call them tomorrow but as it took 1.5 days to get the water heater installed I'm not sure how long it will take them to come back and check out the heating system (or how much they are going to charge us). We will pay what we have to but as college students and my husband with a part time job we don't have a very large income to just throw around at everything.
Are there other things I should be looking for? Testing for? Any tips or tricks that would help us in this situation?
The good news is that we are not expecting snow this week and that we should have low 30's at night and high 50's during the say so it's not really an emergency that we don't have heat. We do have enough blankets, and hats and a gas fireplace that can keep us warm enough as long as we keep ourselves restricted to the living room. I just REALLY miss my bed and would really like us to be able to work at our office desks without having to wear our winter jackets.
Any and all information and or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
Our natural gas water heater died (small leak that prevented pilot light from staying lit). Our water heater also supplies our central air ac/ heating system (found that out the hard way the first time the pilot light went out, but not realizing that it was a leak and not wind that caused the pilot to go out).
Almost 2 days later a company came and installed our new gas (natural) water heater (same size and specs as the previous heater).
Within an hour after install we had lots of hot water, so we turned the heat back on. 2 hours later we were still freezing (and realized that only cold air was blowing through the vents). We shut that off (thinking maybe the new tank hadn't had enough time to heat up enough water or something). I should note my husband and I are mid 20's first time home owners and no absolutely nothing about water heaters and central heating and other standard knowledge things standard homeowners probably know.
One of the guys that came to give us an estimate tried to explain the way our heating system worked (something about water from the tank going through coils that hat blowers that blew air over the coils that caused the air to heat up... or something along those lines).
My question is, could there be air in the system that is preventing the water from running through these unseen coils? If so, is there a way I can bleed them on my own? My husband and I were both too busy to call today, and I will try to call them tomorrow but as it took 1.5 days to get the water heater installed I'm not sure how long it will take them to come back and check out the heating system (or how much they are going to charge us). We will pay what we have to but as college students and my husband with a part time job we don't have a very large income to just throw around at everything.
Are there other things I should be looking for? Testing for? Any tips or tricks that would help us in this situation?
The good news is that we are not expecting snow this week and that we should have low 30's at night and high 50's during the say so it's not really an emergency that we don't have heat. We do have enough blankets, and hats and a gas fireplace that can keep us warm enough as long as we keep ourselves restricted to the living room. I just REALLY miss my bed and would really like us to be able to work at our office desks without having to wear our winter jackets.
Any and all information and or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.