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It’s even worse now in Canada — not smart devices, but water heater rentals. These companies charge astronomical rates per month for a rental, or a large “contr

It’s even worse now in Canada — not smart devices, but water heater rentals. These companies charge astronomical rates per month for a rental, or a large “contract buy out fee”. They give kick backs to developers so almost all new builds in Ontario will have them.

ohyeshedid 5y ago
Ahh, the Culligan/Water treatment/softener business model.
hedora 5y ago
I suppose their lawyers figured out that people would just recycle them and stop paying. If so, I suggest installing a water softener with an anti-backflow device but not installing a bladder pressure relief tank between it and the water heater. Also buy a whole house leak detector / shutoff valve. If the resulting water heater tank rupture doesn't lead them to breach the maintenance side of the contract, look into over-softening the water so the sacrificial anode fails every 6-12 months. (Edit: In case it wasn't clear, this is a great way to do unbounded amounts of damage to your house, so don't actually do this.)
Scoundreller 5y ago
I think it’s a regional thing, big in Ontario and Saskatchewan, unheard of elsewhere. Always look into buyout terms. Though replacement heaters these days are lot more expensive than pre-covid :(
LeonM 5y ago
Could be worse. I live in a city that has a centralised heating infrastructure (every building gets a hot water connection), and my apartment came equipped with a heat exchanger that connects to said heating system. I have to _lease_ this heat exchanger from the energy company, and I cannot opt out. The lease is like 50 euros per month, though the MSRP on the unit is only 400 euros or so. Then I still need to pay for actual heat consumption, which is also 3 times more expensive than a gas powered heater that is commonly found in my country.
- namibj 5y ago
  Here the district heating is substantially cheaper than a gas furnace, at least in operation. I believe you have to buy the infrastructure and pay for the pipe that goes from the nearest joint to your building, though. We don't do per-apartment heat exchangers, but rather one per building, typically with shared hot water radiators across all units in the building. Heat consumption is either estimated by a air/radiator temperature difference integrator on the radiator, or an electronic flow meter+temperature differential sensors on the unit's connection to the central hot water loop.

ohyeshedid 5y ago

Ahh, the Culligan/Water treatment/softener business model.

hedora 5y ago

I suppose their lawyers figured out that people would just recycle them and stop paying. If so, I suggest installing a water softener with an anti-backflow device but not installing a bladder pressure relief tank between it and the water heater. Also buy a whole house leak detector / shutoff valve. If the resulting water heater tank rupture doesn't lead them to breach the maintenance side of the contract, look into over-softening the water so the sacrificial anode fails every 6-12 months. (Edit: In case it wasn't clear, this is a great way to do unbounded amounts of damage to your house, so don't actually do this.)

Scoundreller 5y ago

I think it’s a regional thing, big in Ontario and Saskatchewan, unheard of elsewhere. Always look into buyout terms. Though replacement heaters these days are lot more expensive than pre-covid :(

LeonM 5y ago

Could be worse. I live in a city that has a centralised heating infrastructure (every building gets a hot water connection), and my apartment came equipped with a heat exchanger that connects to said heating system. I have to _lease_ this heat exchanger from the energy company, and I cannot opt out. The lease is like 50 euros per month, though the MSRP on the unit is only 400 euros or so. Then I still need to pay for actual heat consumption, which is also 3 times more expensive than a gas powered heater that is commonly found in my country.

namibj 5y ago
Here the district heating is substantially cheaper than a gas furnace, at least in operation. I believe you have to buy the infrastructure and pay for the pipe that goes from the nearest joint to your building, though. We don't do per-apartment heat exchangers, but rather one per building, typically with shared hot water radiators across all units in the building. Heat consumption is either estimated by a air/radiator temperature difference integrator on the radiator, or an electronic flow meter+temperature differential sensors on the unit's connection to the central hot water loop.