Originally Posted by tht

It may also depend on the type you have. I have hot water and heating combined in a single GV90+ gas boiler, so hot water tank is only to keep the water hot not heat it directly, there is a loop of hot water through it. I think it’s called an “indirect water heater”.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

In all the water heaters I have ever seen/ owned (at least half a dozen or more, several of both gas and electrical heaters, in NC), I have never found a single one with an anode rode. Perhaps more sigificantly, I have never seen a new one for sale that has an anode rod either. The top of the heaters, gas or electric, is invarably a smooth steel surface with two threaded ports to hook up the pipes. I suspect that the availabilty of heaters with anode rods depends on the local market, perhaps linked to the corrosiveness of the water there.

I had a water heater replaced last year that was 27 years old (in my experience water heaters round here typically seem to last 25+ years); it had rusted through at the bottom. A new HE gas heater cost $3k installed, and being high efficiency it allow the plumber to vent it through the garage wall so we could get rid of the ugly stovepipe chimney through the roof. A few months later the roofing contractors who we had hired to replace the entire roof, pulled out the two stove pipe chimneys (the other was the similarly redundant vent for the original gas furnace in the attic, that we had replaced three years earlier with an HE furnace that vented through the attic wall, specifically so that when the time came to replace the roof that the stovepipe chimney could be removed, of course as well as it being more efficient). The roofers then replaced the underlying sheathing boards that had had the holes for the stovepipe chimneys cut through them, so it is like stovepipe chimneys were never even there!

Originally Posted by Pulaski

I am familiar with that type as something very similar to what you describe is very common in the UK, though I was not aware that is was common in the US, though I hear that common house heating systems in New England are quite different from most of the US.

Originally Posted by ddsrph

You may want to double check if your water heater is electric which only electric have anode rods. ....

Originally Posted by strat

For schools, you mentioned stressful commutes, what do you mean by this? Also what time do children go to school/ finish in Houston? I guess stressful depends how comfortable you are driving in traffic here. I found (retired) it stressful, my wife, not so much. Easy because everyone’s going the same way and the roads are wide, but lots of cars. The main routes into Houston from here are west park and i10, both are heavy traffic during the usual commute times, tho there is a park and ride to the city center… coming down from woodlands, it would likely be i45, similar story… my son attends junior high, they start around 08:55 and finish 16:05. He’s a keen swimmer, so after school he attends a swim club most days…. He’s also a saxophone player and guitarist, so when I mention spending and kids activities, those are the types of things yours may participate in….

Regarding Salary, we are not people who go out and spends loads to be honest, maybe on a weekend we will go out and do stuff as a family but if we could get a pool in the garden then I think the kids would rather stay home and swim all day long

You mentioned its incredibly hot there now, we have been checking the weather and can see its not 40 during the day. What are the winter months like? This year is unusual, it’s always hot but we’ve been in triple digits on and off for a few weeks now, and no rain, humidity is sort of high, so I makes it tough to stay outside for long, I even cut the grass in stages, because it’s too hot to cruise through and finish it all in one go. Winter does get cold, but last few years we’ve seen these odd weeks of really cold. It’ll drop to -10f or something for a few days and kill off all the plants… but in general it’s over with quite quickly.

on utilities, 2700 sqft home… maybe, gas, 40-200 $/month, summer to winter, elec 350-60 $/month, summer to winter, water 60$/month, depending on if you’re using sprinkler etc….

Originally Posted by tht

I had it put it in before we moved in as part of oil to gas conversion. It had a separate 35 year old oil boiler (water radiators, which are constant heat vs forced air that goes on and off and dries the air more) and separate oil water heater. It is high efficiency so not sure how common it is here. I mainly went that route as I could free up space for a laundry and it’s proven tech vs the newer tankless water heaters which have less history.

Originally Posted by Perry_1990

yea I just got back from Orlando last week and been to Orlando 15 times.

Originally Posted by ddsrph

You may want to double check if your water heater is electric which only electric have anode rods. I did a quick check and all Rheem and AO smith electric water heaters have anode rods. My new house has a Rheem which I installed and under a plastic cap on top is a anode rod with a large Allen head for removal. Gas water heaters have no need for anode rod. There may be brands of electric water heaters without anode rods but according to what I read online they all do.

Originally Posted by ddsrph

I do want to correct above misstatement. Both gas and electric tank type water heaters have sacrificial anodes. Some newer lined or stainless steel tanks could be an exception.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

That might explain some of my observations, as I think some of the water heaters I have seen have had a glass liner.

Originally Posted by Perry_1990

yea I just got back from Orlando last week and been to Orlando 15 times.

Originally Posted by steph0scope

That’s the point we are making. Gas, chain restaurant/fast-food and hotels are about the only things that are cheaper here than the UK. Trust us. We live here and we’ve lived in the UK. Many of us have family there and go back regularly. We were back in the UK just last month and we’re amazed at the prices we saw on TV adverts for mobile phone services, internet, car insurance, and I thought my eyes were deceiving me with the prices when I accompanied my mother on her Tesco shop. A really good quality bread for just over a pound that would be closer to $7 here.

And although gas/petrol is cheaper, you’ll use more of it when you live here so it’s not really a saving. We have nothing that we can walk to from our house and no bus services. To go to a restaurant, grocery store, dentist, cinema, bank, even an ATM involves a drive of at least 10 miles each way.

Originally Posted by steph0scope

That’s the point we are making. Gas, chain restaurant/fast-food and hotels are about the only things that are cheaper here than the UK. Trust us. We live here and we’ve lived in the UK. Many of us have family there and go back regularly. We were back in the UK just last month and we’re amazed at the prices we saw on TV adverts for mobile phone services, internet, car insurance, and I thought my eyes were deceiving me with the prices when I accompanied my mother on her Tesco shop. A really good quality bread for just over a pound that would be closer to $7 here.

And although gas/petrol is cheaper, you’ll use more of it when you live here so it’s not really a saving. We have nothing that we can walk to from our house and no bus services. To go to a restaurant, grocery store, dentist, cinema, bank, even an ATM involves a drive of at least 10 miles each way.

Originally Posted by Moses2013

The OP should probably also consider that he is already just below the top 5% of earners in the whole UK and 75K is a massive salary. Depending on spending habits, location and house prices he might not feel that way, but it would be interesting to compare how much you need in Houston to be under the top 5% of earners.