From: "Roger W. Norman"

And I said this about 15 times on this thread.

I found a good picture.

But I'm glad to have you saying the same thing, Tom. Your electrical
knowledge has been a real plus on this newsgroup.

I'm a plumber. I only know enough about electricity to let the electricians do
that work. Oh, and one other thing: "Always use a tester or VoM". --TP

Roger W. Norman wrote:
Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

Silly, that's what the gas line is for. Electricity is too expensive to
waste heating water.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Roger W. Norman wrote:
Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

Silly, that's what the gas line is for. Electricity is too expensive to
waste heating water.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Roger W. Norman wrote:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

I beg to differ based on experiences several years ago taking a hot
shower in a pitch dark house that had been without electricity for
3 days. I developed a little ritual that involved using the flash
light to get to the shower, then showering in total darkness, then
turning on the flashlight again once I was done.

- Logan

Roger W. Norman wrote:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

I beg to differ based on experiences several years ago taking a hot
shower in a pitch dark house that had been without electricity for
3 days. I developed a little ritual that involved using the flash
light to get to the shower, then showering in total darkness, then
turning on the flashlight again once I was done.

- Logan

Tom Paterson wrote:

From: Pooh Bear

Over here ( UK ) the gas pipe to the heater will be copper ( as is the water
too
).

The gas entering my home starts off as a steel pipe though - and then is
converted
to copper inside the property.

Never seen any examples over here of the 'orange discolouration'.

Your copper gas lines must be different material from water lines (USA spec):

Copper water tube is a seamless, almost pure copper material manufactured to
the requirements of ASTM B 88 €“ Standard Specification for Seamless Copper
Water Tube, of three basic wall thickness dimensions designated as types K, L,
and M. Type K is the thickest and type M is the thinnest with type L being of
intermediate thickness. All three types of tube are manufactured from copper
alloy C12200 having a chemical composition of a minimum of 99.9% Copper (Cu)
and Silver (Ag) combined and a maximum allowable range of Phosphorous (P) of
0.015 % - 0.040 %.

This stuff, when used with flare fittings for gas connections to water heaters
etc., does get orange especially where the copper was stressed to form the
flare, though they might take some years to fail. Leaks in older plain soft
copper connectors are "usual" (more than common); the flares are seen to be
orange and/or black and crumbly upon disassembly ("hydrogen embrittlement").
Coated corrugated copper lines and all-stainless steel flexi lines (still flare
ends on half union fittings) have replaced plain soft copper flare connectors,
I believe at least since the 1984 Uniform Code. --TP

Clearly very different to here.

We use the same copper pipe for water and gas. Optionally, water may be run in
plastic pipe.

Don't use 'flared' joints either.

Graham

Tom Paterson wrote:

From: Pooh Bear

Over here ( UK ) the gas pipe to the heater will be copper ( as is the water
too
).

The gas entering my home starts off as a steel pipe though - and then is
converted
to copper inside the property.

Never seen any examples over here of the 'orange discolouration'.

Your copper gas lines must be different material from water lines (USA spec):

Copper water tube is a seamless, almost pure copper material manufactured to
the requirements of ASTM B 88 €“ Standard Specification for Seamless Copper
Water Tube, of three basic wall thickness dimensions designated as types K, L,
and M. Type K is the thickest and type M is the thinnest with type L being of
intermediate thickness. All three types of tube are manufactured from copper
alloy C12200 having a chemical composition of a minimum of 99.9% Copper (Cu)
and Silver (Ag) combined and a maximum allowable range of Phosphorous (P) of
0.015 % - 0.040 %.

This stuff, when used with flare fittings for gas connections to water heaters
etc., does get orange especially where the copper was stressed to form the
flare, though they might take some years to fail. Leaks in older plain soft
copper connectors are "usual" (more than common); the flares are seen to be
orange and/or black and crumbly upon disassembly ("hydrogen embrittlement").
Coated corrugated copper lines and all-stainless steel flexi lines (still flare
ends on half union fittings) have replaced plain soft copper flare connectors,
I believe at least since the 1984 Uniform Code. --TP

Clearly very different to here.

We use the same copper pipe for water and gas. Optionally, water may be run in
plastic pipe.

Don't use 'flared' joints either.

Graham

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt in
warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One "paper"
sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt in
warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One "paper"
sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

in article , Logan Shaw at
wrote on 11/17/04 1:14 PM:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

I beg to differ based on experiences several years ago taking a hot
shower in a pitch dark house that had been without electricity for
3 days. I developed a little ritual that involved using the flash
light to get to the shower, then showering in total darkness, then
turning on the flashlight again once I was done.

- Logan


The original post must have meant electric heating systems. I had a
similar experience as above - we were out power for ten days due to an ice
storm, but the gas appliances worked fine. Thank God we continued to have
hot water, because that and the wood stove were the only things keeping us
warm. We also could cook by lighting the stove with a match.

Our hot water radiator heating system is actually gas-fired, but depends too
much on electricity to make it run and respond to the thermostat. I was
unable to bypass the system to light it.

Carlos

in article , Logan Shaw at
wrote on 11/17/04 1:14 PM:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

I beg to differ based on experiences several years ago taking a hot
shower in a pitch dark house that had been without electricity for
3 days. I developed a little ritual that involved using the flash
light to get to the shower, then showering in total darkness, then
turning on the flashlight again once I was done.

- Logan


The original post must have meant electric heating systems. I had a
similar experience as above - we were out power for ten days due to an ice
storm, but the gas appliances worked fine. Thank God we continued to have
hot water, because that and the wood stove were the only things keeping us
warm. We also could cook by lighting the stove with a match.

Our hot water radiator heating system is actually gas-fired, but depends too
much on electricity to make it run and respond to the thermostat. I was
unable to bypass the system to light it.

Carlos

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt
in warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt
in warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

In article writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

In article writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100735378k@trad
In article
writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.

I've taken them apart. They indeed are based on a bimetalic thermocouple or
thermocouple stack (thermopile). They activate a sensitive solenoid that
operates the gas valve.

http://hearth.com/what/gas/howgasworks.html

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100735378k@trad
In article
writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.

I've taken them apart. They indeed are based on a bimetalic thermocouple or
thermocouple stack (thermopile). They activate a sensitive solenoid that
operates the gas valve.

http://hearth.com/what/gas/howgasworks.html

Carlos Alden wrote:

Our hot water radiator heating system is actually gas-fired, but depends too
much on electricity to make it run and respond to the thermostat. I was
unable to bypass the system to light it.

Chakaal's boiler uses electricity for control, but also to run two little
quarter-horsepower circulating pumps. Which makes you think that it is
just 400W or so until you realize how nasty a load the motors are. I suspect
it will probably run off a 1KW inverter in a pinch although I haven't tried
it.

My gas furnace has a 1 HP blower motor, which is way too much to deal with
on an inverter. And I donated my generator to a bunch of WWII re-enactors...
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Carlos Alden wrote:

Our hot water radiator heating system is actually gas-fired, but depends too
much on electricity to make it run and respond to the thermostat. I was
unable to bypass the system to light it.

Chakaal's boiler uses electricity for control, but also to run two little
quarter-horsepower circulating pumps. Which makes you think that it is
just 400W or so until you realize how nasty a load the motors are. I suspect
it will probably run off a 1KW inverter in a pinch although I haven't tried
it.

My gas furnace has a 1 HP blower motor, which is way too much to deal with
on an inverter. And I donated my generator to a bunch of WWII re-enactors...
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Arny Krueger wrote:

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt
in warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.

Heating water in the USA sounds *astonishingly* complicated !


Graham

Arny Krueger wrote:

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

I live in Nashville. Been in this house for 14 year & 3 gas water
heaters. Replaced the original a few years after we moved in. Home
Depot, don't remember the brand. 5 year warranty. Kept the receipt
in warranty folder. 4 years, 2 mos. later it fails.
HD replaces it w/GE 40 gal. Replaced it once after 3 years & am
getting ready to do so again.

Do you have a dielectric coupling in the system?


Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.

Heating water in the USA sounds *astonishingly* complicated !


Graham

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100735378k@trad
In article
writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.

I've taken them apart. They indeed are based on a bimetalic thermocouple or
thermocouple stack (thermopile). They activate a sensitive solenoid that
operates the gas valve.

http://hearth.com/what/gas/howgasworks.html

Now *that* actually sounds not dissimilar to my old gas water heater.

It opens the main burners automatically on demand for hot water.


Graham

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1100735378k@trad
In article
writes:

Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

My gas water heater has no electrical connection to the outside world.
Any electricity involved with its operation is self-generated. There's
a temperature sensor (it's call a thermocouple in the book, but I've
never taken one apart) that holds the pilot valve open that I think
may be electrical, or maybe it's just a heat pipe.

I've taken them apart. They indeed are based on a bimetalic thermocouple or
thermocouple stack (thermopile). They activate a sensitive solenoid that
operates the gas valve.

http://hearth.com/what/gas/howgasworks.html

Now *that* actually sounds not dissimilar to my old gas water heater.

It opens the main burners automatically on demand for hot water.


Graham

?? either you sent that one too quick or i'm missing something -- most
of the heaters here in st louis are nat gas.

chris deckard
saint louis mo




"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message ...
Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

--

?? either you sent that one too quick or i'm missing something -- most
of the heaters here in st louis are nat gas.

chris deckard
saint louis mo




"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message ...
Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

--

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.


You might have misunderstood me. They are on the inlet side of the tank.
In from street, hits 2 filters, then the heater.
The reason I started using the whole house filters originally was the
taste (heavy chlorine). So I decided to add the extra sediment filter
before the carbon. I've wondered if the filters could somehow be
compunding the problem, but I will never understand the
science...Anyway, this has been a very interesting thread.

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater are
the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are supposed to be
used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the hot side
of the heater.


You might have misunderstood me. They are on the inlet side of the tank.
In from street, hits 2 filters, then the heater.
The reason I started using the whole house filters originally was the
taste (heavy chlorine). So I decided to add the extra sediment filter
before the carbon. I've wondered if the filters could somehow be
compunding the problem, but I will never understand the
science...Anyway, this has been a very interesting thread.

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

There are gas powered water heaters that use no external electricity.
The tiny amount of power needed to operate the thermostat is provided
by a thermocouple heated by the pilot light. Newer ones actually have
a small generator in the water flow, and only turn on when the water is
running.

--Dale

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical connection
because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

There are gas powered water heaters that use no external electricity.
The tiny amount of power needed to operate the thermostat is provided
by a thermocouple heated by the pilot light. Newer ones actually have
a small generator in the water flow, and only turn on when the water is
running.

--Dale

From: Pooh Bear

[thermocouples, gas WH]

Now *that* actually sounds not dissimilar to my old gas water heater.

It opens the main burners automatically on demand for hot water.

The thermostat has a sensor in the tank. When the water temp falls below the
setting, the "main" valve opens, allowing gas to flow to the burner. The pilot
flame lights the burner, which runs until the set temp is reached again. The
pilot flame thermocouple "safety loop" is there so that the burner lights off
instead of an unlit pilot allowing the passing unburned nat. gas into the room
(ka-boom).

There's an "ECO" cutoff in the probe, too, which will shut off the gas if it
gets too hot. Along with the T&P valve, the object is to prevent "runaway"
(stuck on) burners from running the temp up until the tank ruptures.
Steam explosion, no good. Water heaters flying like rocketships, I've seen it
in "plumber training films". --TP

From: Pooh Bear

[thermocouples, gas WH]

Now *that* actually sounds not dissimilar to my old gas water heater.

It opens the main burners automatically on demand for hot water.

The thermostat has a sensor in the tank. When the water temp falls below the
setting, the "main" valve opens, allowing gas to flow to the burner. The pilot
flame lights the burner, which runs until the set temp is reached again. The
pilot flame thermocouple "safety loop" is there so that the burner lights off
instead of an unlit pilot allowing the passing unburned nat. gas into the room
(ka-boom).

There's an "ECO" cutoff in the probe, too, which will shut off the gas if it
gets too hot. Along with the T&P valve, the object is to prevent "runaway"
(stuck on) burners from running the temp up until the tank ruptures.
Steam explosion, no good. Water heaters flying like rocketships, I've seen it
in "plumber training films". --TP

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater
are the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are
supposed to be used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the
hot side of the heater.

You might have misunderstood me. They are on the inlet side of the
tank. In from street, hits 2 filters, then the heater.

I've got that.

The reason I started using the whole house filters originally was the
taste (heavy chlorine). So I decided to add the extra sediment filter
before the carbon. I've wondered if the filters could somehow be
compunding the problem, but I will never understand the
science...

Your use of filters is just fine.

However, there still might be a benefit to adding a dielectric coupling on
the output side of the hot water heater.

Anyway, this has been a very interesting thread.

"murph" wrote in message

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

Copper back to water meter. The only thing between meter & heater
are the 2 whole house filters I mentioned. The housings are PVC. One
"paper" sediment filter & one carbon activated filter for chlorine.

The filter bodies are good dielectric isolators, but they are
supposed to be used only on the cold side of the water heater.

You might want to put a dielectric isolator into the piping on the
hot side of the heater.

You might have misunderstood me. They are on the inlet side of the
tank. In from street, hits 2 filters, then the heater.

I've got that.

The reason I started using the whole house filters originally was the
taste (heavy chlorine). So I decided to add the extra sediment filter
before the carbon. I've wondered if the filters could somehow be
compunding the problem, but I will never understand the
science...

Your use of filters is just fine.

However, there still might be a benefit to adding a dielectric coupling on
the output side of the hot water heater.

Anyway, this has been a very interesting thread.

"Dale Farmer" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical
connection because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

There are gas powered water heaters that use no external
electricity. The tiny amount of power needed to operate the
thermostat is provided by a thermocouple heated by the pilot light.
Newer ones actually have a small generator in the water flow, and
only turn on when the water is running.

Agreed.

"Dale Farmer" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Roger W. Norman" wrote in message


Yes there is. All water heaters have an active electrical
connection because no water heater would heat water without it.

You never heard of gas water heaters?

There are gas powered water heaters that use no external
electricity. The tiny amount of power needed to operate the
thermostat is provided by a thermocouple heated by the pilot light.
Newer ones actually have a small generator in the water flow, and
only turn on when the water is running.

Agreed.

In article writes:

Heating water in the USA sounds *astonishingly* complicated !

1. When the rain barrel is sufficiently full, gather a small pile of
wood, some smooth rocks, and a tub. Fill the tub half full of water.
2. Cut two sticks
3. Rub sticks together to make a fire
4. Ignite wood pile.
5. When wood is burning nicely, pile rocks on top.
6. When rocks are heated, carefully transfer them to the tub of water.
The tub should not be roughly 3/4 full
7. In a few minutes, enjoy the hot water.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

In article writes:

Heating water in the USA sounds *astonishingly* complicated !

1. When the rain barrel is sufficiently full, gather a small pile of
wood, some smooth rocks, and a tub. Fill the tub half full of water.
2. Cut two sticks
3. Rub sticks together to make a fire
4. Ignite wood pile.
5. When wood is burning nicely, pile rocks on top.
6. When rocks are heated, carefully transfer them to the tub of water.
The tub should not be roughly 3/4 full
7. In a few minutes, enjoy the hot water.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

In article writes:

Now *that* actually sounds not dissimilar to my old gas water heater.
It opens the main burners automatically on demand for hot water.

When I lived in an apartment in Japan (new housing, 1970), we had one
gas water heater in the kitchen and another in the bathroom. There was a
pilot light and a small tank. Opening the faucet activated the burner
which heated the water as it flowed. They worked great, and they were
very inexpensive (you could buy one for about $20 in a department
store). But the flame was pretty much open.

When I got back to the US, I looked into getting a water heater like
that for my upstairs bathroom but found that they were illegal in the
US because of the open flame. There were (and probably still are -
Arny will point to a line, I'm sure) fancy ones intended for mountain
cabins and such but they were very expensive. It was cheaper to waste
water waiting for the hot water to get through teh pipes.

Incidentally, in the Japan apartment, the bathroom water heater had
real plumbing going to it, but the gas in the kitchen came out of a
two-spigot fixture that looked like what we had on the work benches in
high school chem lab. Gas was connected by a rubber hose, and water
was connected with what looked like a piece of garden hose with
standard connections. The "hot water tap" was on the bottom of the
water heater.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo