" Water heating is a big expense for homeowners today, and in an energy wise home, we're going to be using an A.O. Smith water heater. With me today is Chris Hopkins from A.O. Smith. You guys have been in the water heater business since like 1936----"

" True."

" And tell me what about this water heater that we're gonna be using in this home, we're using 2 of them, makes it energy efficient."

" Well, we have 2 inches of foam installation. We have built-in heat traps to stop the heat escape through the piping."

" Tell me about those."

" Well, they're specially designed because they're not really checked out. They got little bulbs in them that prevents the heat's exit."

" This is our plumbing pipe."

" Yes, the top pipe. It prevents the heat from exiting when it's in idle. When the water's flowing, it flows freely. So that's basic trap to stop the heat escape."

" So tell me about the durability of this water heater. "

" Well, with proper maintenance, it can last for many, many years. We have heaters out there that have been installed since 1953."

" Wow."

" They're a long-lasting heaters. You have to drain them occasionally after recheck of the anode rods, which is your sacrificial protection inside, but they'll last a long, long time flowing water."

" This water heater has a glass lining."

" Yes, it's a special glass lining sealed to the inside of a tank at 1600 degrees. It's not breakable. A lot of people would say it's breakable. We've been doing glass linings for probably 50 years. We have remixed the glass linings for a lot of our competitors."

" Tell me about the burner that's found here. Anything special about the burner?"

" Burner on these units is different than what we're using of the rest of the country because in southern California, we have to be meet low in oxygen climate, so we have a special flame spreader on the top of it. It's all stainless steel so they'll last longer, of course. Whether it lowers the nitrous oxide in the vents----"

" Okay."

" to meet the local codes."

" What about the energy factor in this unit?"

" This is an over 0.60 energy factor. The energy factors are determined by GAMA-The Gas Plant Manufacturing Association, and their energy factor is a lot like miles per gallon in a car, so if you contact GAMA, you can vary at different products."

" Chris, tell me about the important steps in installation that we should be looking out for."

" Well, no. 1, you need to"

" and in California here, that has to be drained outside. In some areas, you can drain it with floor drains."

" And of course, worth quite a protection."

" yeah, in California asleep, that's a big must, yeah. Every water heater has to be scraped and strapped with 2 straps, and they have to be coated through. So there's, that's basically it. Now in some areas, if the current water pressure is too high, when water heats up, it expands, so in some areas where you've"