Direct Energy Tank rental in new (old) house

[conforf]

I just bought a house and it looks like the water heater is a rental from DE. I would prefer to buy my own, as it seems it will pay itself off in ~5 years. Do i need to call them to come remove the unit? Or will they start billing me once i take possession of the home? Worst case, i may just rent for one year.

Also, if the previous owners had their natural gas billed through DE, how do I ensure i dont take over their account? Do i call Enbridge and ask to sign up?

[mason]

If you decide not to rent, I believe you can just contact them and they'll come and remove the unit. Then you can buy a new one and have it installed.

How old is the tank itself? One option I considered when I did my basement reno was to buy out the unit from Reliance. The equipment is depreciated and after a certain number of years you can purchase it outright. Now depending on how old it is, it might not have much life left in it vs buying a new tank.

In my case, the tank was about 13 years old and worth about $30. I had to move the tank to a different spot in the basement and that was going to cost about $200. Reliance offered to replace the tank and move it at no cost... provided I keep renting.

so there are a few options.

[corbro]

direct energy charges 75 bucks to pick up the old tank ... yes it pays for itself in 5 years but you have to pay for any repairs once it's out of warranty which depending on the make and model can get pretty costly also alot of the newer tanks last only 10-15 years... i work in the hvac industry and alot of the newer power vented tanks we installed the unitrols (gas valve/board/temp sensor) lasted 1-2 years which is fine when its under warranty but they run upwards of 3-400 bucks out of warranty