Speaking over a loud hissing noise, he explained that there was no hot water and that the water heater was making a loud noise. It turned out that the water heater had sprung a leak and extinguished the gas pilot light. We needed a new one.
A man from the gas company came out and recommended a new instantaneous gas water heater rather than the storage system that we had previously. 5 stars instead of 2 apparently. The down side was that it couldn't go in the shed at the side of the house (according to the installation instructions), and the guy recommended putting it on the back wall next to the kitchen window. Surprisingly, the unit was only about the size of a large briefcase. They suggested the back of the house because people steal them. At $2,000 each, I'm not surprised.
I came home the next day to find the unit installed.A problem then manifested itself. I found myself choking on the gas fumes. You see, when it is heating water, it fires its exhaust out horizontally almost 10 feet (3m). If you stand or sit on the decking at the back of the house, all you can smell are the gas fumes. A point that the salesman failed to mention.
I could just imagine sitting on the decking in summer, enjoying the outdoors - maybe a nice barbequeued steak, a glass of cabernet merlot, and a lung full of gas.
Being a bit of a soft touch myself, I got Karyn to give the gas company a call the next day. The salesman then rang me to say that they'll come and move it to the side of the house, but that we should leave it at the back because:
- it isn't a gas smell, just a "new" smell
- the gas exhaust isn't toxic because it's Natural Gas
- people steal the units
"Oh, but that bracket's ugly"
"But if the unit is on the side of the house we won't see it"
"Oh".
So they came and moved it.
Here is where they repositioned the unit at the side of the house, complete with an ugly security bracket.What, you can't see the ugly security bracket?
Here it is - underneath the unit at the back (with a padlock on).
