Does Anyone Proactively Replace Appliances/HVAC?

[John Galt III]

I hear ya. DS and DDIL live in Des Moines and theirs failed in the dead of winter, of course. For a few weeks they lived with space heaters. I was up visiting in that time and it was OK but not ideal. DS was wondering aloud with his insurance coworkers about whether they could save $$ by just using space heaters. They pointed out that he'd never hear the end of it if he, a claims adjuster, ended up with a house fire due to the use of space heaters.

I had to use space heaters for a few weeks during winter. Surprisingly, the electric bill was about the same as when using the heat pump. I keep it down around 62 in the winter.

 

[RenoJay]

I’m doing a kitchen remodel. My ovens died (which finally got me to do it) but I’ll be replacing a working (yet horribly loud to the point I never use it) dishwasher.

 

[Dean56]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

My water heater was 20 years old too. Working fine and no issues, but I decided to have it replaced before it started leaking. You really don't want to push your luck with an older water heater. You don't want to wake up to a flooded house.

 

[Romer]

I replaced a working HVAC that was 18 years old. The AC was a SEER 10 when installed and likely operating around a 6-8.

What made me decide is the Tac Credits for installing a Heat Pump and a High efficiency furnace (96%). Those State and Federal Tx credits made it the same price as the lower level 80% Furnace and 16 SEER AC.

The rates for Gas also contributed along with my wanting to use less electricity in the summer to help cover a future EV under my current Solar production

Several factors led me to replace a working system. I would rather do it at my choosing then in middle of a deep freeze or high summer heat

Everyone's situation is different

Although I do tend to do preventive maintenance on my vehicles replacing parts before they go out

 

[harley]

I'm a if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it kind of guy. But DW is more proactive. So she usually starts agitating to replace something, and I argue about it. By the time I give in, it's close to time to replace it anyway. It's not a fun process, but it's working out pretty well.

We just replaced the coils on 2 of our HVAC zones. That definitely needed to be done. We replaced our dishwasher after I made a few repairs, but it was in the continually breaking down mode. Got a few other items (water heater in particular) heading towards replacement, but I'm holding out for a little while longer.

 

[6miths]

No. Although did replace the working dryer when its partner died. Almost 20 years old in a house with 4 active kids so they had a good life.

 

[wrigley]

I've replaced my HVAC system and water heater when they were both working just fine. I was living on borrowed time!

Mike

 

[USGrant1962]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

New water heater is scheduled to be installed on Wednesday. Large (75 gal) gas water heaters are expensive! BTD.

 

[Dean56]

New water heater is scheduled to be installed on Wednesday. Large (75 gal) gas water heaters are expensive! BTD.

What brand water heater did you go with? I had a AO Smith (gas) installed 5 years ago and am very happy with it.

 

[Walt34]

I had a AO Smith (gas) installed 5 years ago and am very happy with it.

I had one of those too at about the same time you did. No issues. One thing that I did notice is that it came with a brass ball drain, not one of those cheap plastic ones that'll probably break the third time you use it.

 

[NXR7]

My BIL had a finished basement and a few days before Thanksgiving they noticed the carpet was wet around the water heater. They were having a lot of people over for the holiday so they did not want to deal with it; they just put some towels around it. The next day the towels were getting wetter faster.

You guessed it; the bottom literally fell out on Thanksgiving morning and they had no idea how to shut the water off.

Our GE water heater had a 12-year warranty, for whatever that's worth, and it's 14th birthday is on the 9th so we're going to proactively replace it this summer.


We came home on our 7th wedding anniversary after being gone a few hours and my wife was still in the garage. I walked into the house and thought I heard water running. Rut roh.

I opened the (unfinished) basement door and it was raining down there. The original rubber hose to the washing machine had developed a pinhole leak at the bend and was spraying a fine stream of water about 15'. The hose was about 8 years old (no quick shut-off valves in a house this old).

Even though it was a tiny hole and not a whole pipe and even though it could not have been spewing for more than two hours, wow, what a mess.

So now I use the steel-jacketed washer water hoses and change them every 5-6 years.

I can only imagine the mess if the water heater had a big leak.

 

[orbops]

I live in a subdivision in Phoenix that was built around 1998. All the homes were built with 7 year water heaters in the garage. Around year 6, just about every water heater in the subdivision burst. We decided to replace our water heater proactively.

My boss had a home where the water heater was inside his home. It burst and caused over 5K of water damage. He wished he had proactively replaced his water heater.

 

[bevette]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

My friend's water heater is over 40 years old and is still going strong. I guess they don't make them like they used to.

 

[mwilson]

Surprised to see no mention of tankless water heaters?
Less risk of leaking, and prices like comparable or even less than 75 gal. tanks on HD website.
Installation to replace tank heater was expensive but with longer expected lifetime, less space, and endless hot water it's been a great upgrade. Probably even better idea if you have a second home.

 

[isisdave]

We replaced a 20-year-old dishwasher that worked just fine when DW visited a friend whose new one was very much quieter. It was right next to the TV room, and one of those things you didn't notice until it was changed.

Speaking of TVs, don't most of us change out perfectly good units because new ones are better? And cell phones?

 

[USGrant1962]

What brand water heater did you go with? I had a AO Smith (gas) installed 5 years ago and am very happy with it.

Yea, it is an AO Smith. Competing quote was $600 higher for a Rheem. Current 20-year old one is Ruud, which is now Rheem (don't know if they were the same back then).

 

[FLJim]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

Our winter home in Florida was built in 2003 and the water heater was working fine but when it was 19.5 years old I replaced it. Why? Because they always fail at the worst time, like when we have overnight (winter) guests visiting from up North. Why wouldn't you replace something that has an 8-year warranty and is almost 20 years old?

 

[bl1289]

central AC was 20+ years old. After considering options I left it in place but added a mini-split to the 3 upstairs rooms in parallel. I have been very happy. Most of the time I just run the mini-split in 1 or 2 rooms, but if needed I can still turn on the old central unit. electric bills are way down, and comfort is much higher.

 

[Slater]

Replaced original functioning central ac unit& furnace from 1990, just not as efficient compared to todays units...
Just ditched my samsung fridge with ice maker & water dispenser, with another samsung w/o icemaker & water dispenser in fridge door.....
didnt want to but temps were unsafe at this point, still involved in class action lawsuit with this one, fridge from 2014....
knock on wood, this fridge has been ok!
my GE waterheater is from 2005, still going...
When i researched replacement, everyone I called was recommending Bradford White waterheater....

 

[1242Vintage]

We proactively replaced water heater, HVAC and roof. Maybe could have stretched a couple more years out of the those systems. Just seemed easier to get them replaced on our schedule instead of when they failed.

Cars on the other hand are a different story. Still have old 2004 Toyota in the driveway with 190k miles. We squeeze every ounce of life out of our cars.

 

[Katoslake]

HVAC unit had a coil leak with rust. Cost to repair was $3k-6k provided the parts could be found. Have warranty with American Home Shield. Fast forward, we had a brand new, very expensive HVAC installed today (took 3 techs 9 hours nonstop) . Couldn’t wait for AHS to concede to paying for repairs given it’s > 90 degrees where we live

 

[pdxgal]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

My 22 year old water heater worked fine, or so I thought. No leaks. But when I needed to replace thermocoupler I discovered the burner bar was crumbling. And the was some rust in other places. So I replaced it, reluctantly, and was surprised to suddenly have MUCH hotter water, and more of it. Made me realize the old heater hadn’t been working so well for a while, but decline had been so gradual I hadn’t noticed.
In retrospect I wish I’d been more proactive, as would’ve allowed time to consider alternatives.

 

[pdxgal]

I also replaced perfectly good 25 YO dw with new Bosch to save water, an increasingly precious resource. Reduced noise is nice.

Re phones, I do not want to have to replace mine every few years, but built-in obsolescence leaves me little choice. I curse the ghost of Steve Jobs?

 

[SecondAttempt]

Good question - we just had a service guy point out that our water heater is 20 years old and should be replaced. It works fine, no leaks. Interested in responses.

I think it depends on risk. When I owned a condo in Hawaii they required tank water heaters be replaced every 8 years. This seemed ridiculous until my neighbor's tank leak flooded my unit.

When I lived in Arizona I installed A/C and had them replace the 23 year old water heater at the same time. It was working fine but half the frame was gone. The visible part looked great.

Personally I think it's a personal call. At 20 years old your tank could go at any time. If the consequence is that it floods your garage with no major damage, maybe keep it until it fails. If it would flood your living area, maybe replace proactively.

Mine is 15 years old but in the garage. I am actively pursing replacement this year.

 

[harley]

Made me realize the old heater hadn’t been working so well for a while, but decline had been so gradual I hadn’t noticed.

Sort of the reverse of the frog in the boiling water story.

I think I'm in the same boat. 15 year old water heater, and noticeably less hot water. I'll take your recommendation and do my research now before it goes.