First of all, thank you for your response and good idea! as they say, great minds think alike, using the y connector with an open ended hose is how i relieve the pressure now(i failed to mention that in the post) and it does serve to save me a trip back to the other end of the hose. the problem is that the water pressure at my house is so strong that i have had hoses burst during lunch breaks, and a couple of times when i'm just catching my breath or doing something else for a little while. it seems like a spring loaded pressure release valve is what im looking for, that way i dont have to worry about it. just something that gets to a certain psi and lets go of some water untill the psi comes down. i worry about hoses breaking all the time and still, every summer, i break a hose or two. im always in the yard and eventually, without fail...i forget and boom! i just want something that works without my being there, so its worry free...and i can buy cheap hoses. my yard is 325 feet deep and i have one spigot. can u think of anything else? thanks again.

Dave, Sounds like you may be confused between a PRV (pressure reducing valve or pressure regulating valve) installed at the water service entrance and the T&P (temp & pressure) relief valve installed on the WH. A PRV is installed at the service entrance to lower the street pressure to an acceptable PSI for the houses plumbing. Depending on water conditions they go bad and need to be replaced from time to time. They are usually set to around 60 psi. A T&P relief valve on the WH is a safety device and is installed so the water heater doesn't explode if pressure problems arise. When these T&P valves leak they MUST be replaced and with EXACTLY the same specification part or maybe... BOOM. The expansion tank should be check annually when you drain your water heater. You do drain your WH annually don't you?. To do that you put an air gauge on the air valve. If the bladder has failed then you'll get water out of the air valve. If you don't get water then you must drain all the water from the tank, which usually requires removal, and the air bladder needs to be pressurized to what the water pressure is when the tank is empty.

One of my pet peeve's has been people who post on forums seeking assistance, asking for help, but then, once they find the answers necessary to solve their problem, don't bother reporting the solution leaving the string the dangling! It’s as though they don't realize that a public forum is not solely for their use or benefit but also (arguably more so) to serve others that will be searching for the same information about the same issue, possibly, for many years to come. I realize we’re all more motivated to write when pressured by those problems that need solving but, considering the time spent and efforts made by others kind enough to generously offer their assistance, taking a few minutes to post a solution once found is the least one can do. I didn't get back to this as soon as I would've liked to but I’ll not be one of those people so back to my story and its exciting conclusion. They've recently been replacing the main gas lines in our area. I didn't immediately see any connection but it seemed too much of a coincidence that these previously nonexistent leaks and drips should randomly begin to occur very near the same time that construction began. I talked to one of the guys which lead to talking to some of the other guys which eventually lead to speaking with the guy in the water department. What I learned is that the waterline in this area is, more or less, a loop supplied on both ends. In the event that, while excavating to install the gas lines, some sort of damage is done to the water line that necessitates an emergency shut off, they shut off the supply on one in advance so that, if needed, they could immediately stop it by shutting off the other side. This apparently caused an increase in the water pressure of the loop. He (the guy from the water department) opened up the other end and our pressure here dropped from 148 down to 120, apparently still considerably higher than normal or is desirable, but low enough to make a difference. All leaks have stopped. So, to answer my own original questions, higher than what is considered normal water pressure —but not necessarily in excess of its stated psi rating —will or can cause flow from a pressure relief valve. Also (I was previously unaware of this) other fittings, valves etc. throughout the house plumbing are only designed to withstand up to a certain pressure. As for me, I suppose I still need to install a pressure reducing valve but I don’t need to install one today. In the meantime, I may be able to pressure wash the house without a pressure washer!

#1 You can scootch the pan under the water heater (given if you can lift the water heater) so that the T&P pipe fall within the pan. And you might want to remove the door casing they put on the flat to hide the drywall edge with something smaller (like a screen mold or Fry Reglet bead of some shape) so the pan can move and the new 3/4" discharge pipe will clear it. P.S. Since you have many interactions on this forum, you should change your username from the default "HU-" to something we can remember, it actually does help understand because sometimes we remember other recent threads you have.