The preemptive water heater

[rayinpenn]

It’s a power vent 50 gallon 13 year old machine. The Mrs. and I don’t want to deal with a leaky or failed machine.

We’ve decided to replace it -they come tomorrow...
Anyone else fix it before it failed?

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I called my roofer today and gave him the go ahead. Universal Builders will never set foot on my roof again $2,500 is a small price to pay for some tranquilly.

 

[HarveyS]

Great idea. I did that in my home in 2005. I was being sent overseas and was renting the home. Heater was only 7 yrs old, but I changed it anyway so as not to deal with it when overseas.
Not so lucky on my next home when we returned to states. Heater failed after ~8 yrs. and wiped out the wood flooring in the finished basement. Oh, and it was a weekend. Oh, and we had a house full of over-night guests. We got it changed that day but paid a premium.
Yes, it is a good idea to change it proactively.

 

[badatmath]

I did that last time and plan to again. Mine is in a bad spot and would cause a lot of damage if it were to leak. It is a lot cheaper to get a new one than to do the repairs and get a new one.

 

[travelover]

I replaced mine after 22 years because I was sure my luck was running out. I installed the new one in a pan with a pipe leading to a floor drain just to hedge my bets in the future.

 

[OldGrady]

Going on 25+ years. I keep saying next year.

 

[rayinpenn]

Going on 25+ years. I keep saying next year.

I’m not sure power vents ever last that long..

It was years ago we lived on the 2nd floor of a condo. I walked downstairs off to work half asleep and stepped into 3 inches of Luke warm water. The windows were fogged and I realized I was in a sauna ... the heater blew in the middle of the night...

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We recently preemptively did ours in December. It made it to 13 years too.
We have a family friend that we use that did maintenance on our radiant floor heating system in the spring and he didn't get around to the water heater until December. Obviously it wasn't an emergency and I'm sure if it failed, he would have come right away.

 

[Jerry1]

I’m having some other work done this spring where the gas line will be adjusted (re-routed) and tied into. This is a good idea thread. I’ll check the age of my water heater and if it’s even close, I’ll replace it while they’re out there anyway.

 

[brewer12345]

We are up to 8 years and I am getting nervous. Too early?

 

[W2R]

In my former home, the hot water heater closet was outside. When it broke, it dumped all the water it contained onto the concrete floor of that closet, from where it seeped outside into the yard.

But here in my dream home, it is inside, in the laundry room and just two feet from the beautiful hardwood floors of my den.

I don't really recall how old the hot water heater is, but it wasn't new when I moved in and I have lived here four years by now. I should probably have it replaced at some point soon.

 

[travelover]

We are up to 8 years and I am getting nervous. Too early?

Do you mean about the water heater or is there something else you'd like to tell us?

 

[aja8888]

Ours is 21 years old. I'll get to it in a year or so, or maybe next summer.

 

[Midpack]

Depends on where it is. If it’s located where a leak would be an issue, I’d replace proactively. If it’s in a basement or garage, you could wait until it fails as replacement in kind is pretty easy.

 

[CRLLS]

I preemptively replaced my water heater at 27 years old. Only a short time after the 26 year old well tank exploded.

 

[Popeye]

In my former home, the hot water heater closet was outside. When it broke, it dumped all 40 gallons onto the concrete floor of that closet, from where it seeped outside into the yard.

But here in my dream home, it is inside, in the laundry room and just two feet from the beautiful hardwood floors of my den.

I don't really recall how old the hot water heater is, but it wasn't new when I moved in and I have lived here four years by now. I should probably have it replaced at some point soon.

You can decode the serial number from the nameplate and get the month / year manufactured on some of them. Others even list the date outright. Take a quick look.

 

[RobbieB]

Mine last 9 years. Really all of them. It's spooky.

 

[samclem]

+1 to using a pan with a pipe leading to a safe(r) spot.

Also, a water alarm costs about $10. Cheap insurance, change the batteries when you change 'em in the smoke detectors.

I'm using a powered anode rod in my present water heater rather than the sacrificial anode that comes with the WH (and is often the thing that limits the tank life). I'm hopeful the tank will now live a long time.

 

[Winemaker]

My 8 year old warrantied power vent tank's electronics died at 7 years, 10 months. They shipped me the new electronics overnight and I installed. I'm on year 4 with the new electronics.

 

[FlaGator]

Mine last 9 years. Really all of them. It's spooky.

Similar to my experience.

When I lived in AZ, it was the calcium, magnesium and other minerals in the water that killed them. In South FL, it was apparently the tannins.

Hoping my tankless last longer......

 

[Katsmeow]

Yes, we just replaced our water heater. In our case, the existing gas water heater needed to be moved due to some remodeling. It was an older heater that was in the house when we bought it. It was functioning. But since we were moving it, we elected to replace it with a hybrid hot water eater which we are very happy with. This had the advantage of removing the last gas appliance in our house (we do still have a gas line to the pool heater). We had replaced our furnace with a heat pump a few months earlier.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I am seriously contemplating going with a tankless water heater when I replace it. I know there's upfront extra installation costs and maybe an electrical upgrade, but I'd like to get off the water heater tank treadmill where there's always the possibility of a major leak at a bad time (as if there's ever a good time).

Maybe a good way to blow some dough.

 

[compounder]

Flirtin' with Disaster here... My home has 2 - 40 gallon heaters both turn 30 this year. It's probably time

 

[Bamaman]

Don't think that hot water heaters are no maintenance. They need to periodically be cut off (gas or electric), drained and the sediment flushed out. Then they need refilled with water before cutting the heat source back on. It's an easy job so often overlooked.

I have a 50 and a 60 gallon electric hot water heaters. We do have a spa tub, but I really see no need to have two heaters so large--waste of money.

And remember that hot water heaters only fail on holiday weekends when the house is full of people.

 

[wmc1000]

We had our 7 year old water heater replaced when I noticed water on the tile floor under the unit. 2 years later I found that we had no hot water. Went to check on water heater and found out it wasn't working because the insulation and bottom of the burner were wet. Since the new one had an electronic ignition it was shorted out. Replaced under warranty but just goes to show that age isn't necessarily the determining factor. New one doesn't have the electronic ignition so I check it regularly now as a precaution, Also I have always drained a few gallons out a couple of times a year.

We do have a water softener and I have read that it can cause additional wear on the anode in the water heater tank.

 

[Midpack]

I am seriously contemplating going with a tankless water heater when I replace it. I know there's upfront extra installation costs and maybe an electrical upgrade, but I'd like to get off the water heater tank treadmill where there's always the possibility of a major leak at a bad time (as if there's ever a good time).

Maybe a good way to blow some dough.

A traditional water heater lasts about 12 years; a tankless water heater lasts about 20 years.

I’m a little tempted by tankless water heaters, but they don’t last forever either. My current water heater is only 3 years old and it’s in the garage where a leak-failure is an inconvenience and nuisance but not a big deal. Where your water heater is, is a big factor. And installation costs can be reasonable or very expensive, case by case. e.g. I have an electric water heater, so tankless will probably be quite expensive.