Signs pointing to the retirement of residential water heater

I know we have some plumbers amongst us. I thought I'd ask.

In 1998, I installed a gas hot water heater with a glass tank. The unit says "12 year" on the side of cylinder.

I'd like to proactively prepare to replace it.

My questions:

1) Without waiting for catastrohpic failure, what should I be looking for to tell me it's time to retire the appliance.

2) What's your favorite (gas) hot water heater to install? or What hot water heater have you recently installed that you don't expect to be replacing any time soon?

3) What products or product lines do home owners seem to gravitate towards, which - when you hear the name - make you roll your eyes, or cringe?

4) What do you know about choosing and/or owning a hot water heater that few consumers know, but would benefit from knowing or doing?

Thanks

-Jon

Hey Jon.

The only signs I go by that tells me a water heater is on its way out is the puddle that is forming underneath it or coming from the welds were the water lines enter the heater on the top.
Most of them seem to work great right up until they start leaking. Some leak very very slowly for weeks and others start leaving a large puddle all of the sudden.

If you are going away and it has a few years on it then I would just turn off the water supply.

I use A.O. Smithand Bradford Whitemost of the time.
I personally like both of these models quite abit. They are usually 6 or 10 year warranties. The only difference between the 2 in regards to warranty is the higher cost for the 10 year. The heater is the same either way whether it is 6 or 10 year warranty.

I would not use any of the heaters from Home Depot, Lowes, or Sears.

I have noticed differences in faucets from those places compared with ones I get from a plumbing supply house and even though the model #'s are the same the internals are different.

I am a licensed plumber by trade and self-employed as such. These are just my opinions and I hope it helps.

Thanks, Nate.


I am away from home pretty often and haven't returned to a leak. Perhaps I should turn off the supply at the shutoff valve feeding the unit.

As I recall, it's tough for a consumer to get AO Smith or Bradford White, at least where I live.

The one I have right now is a GE 50 gallon unit with a 12 year warranty. I take a good look at it about once a year: no sign of leakage and it still recovers in very few minutes... I haven't timed it, but I'd have to say it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or so for a recovery.... maybe as little as 10 or 15.

Is it a good idea to flush these things regularly? I don't have any debis in the faucets, but I know the waterheater's tank can't be pristine any more Maybe I should just download the owners manual and take a look.

One thing I do wish: I wish it had a peizo. I think it's one of the last pilot light units.

Thanks again

-Jon

Nate - and others; what realistic suggestions do you make to delay retirement by prolonging the useful life of a water heater?

Thanks!
Tim

I would say if it's not leaking and water heating for your needs are sufficient, I would just let it run it's course. I had the original water heater that came with the house that lasted over 10 years (didn't even bother to check it ) before I replaced it.

Mine is only a 40 gallon unit and it's in one of my kitchen cabinets. I have one of those homes that have a detached garage. My only options were gas heaters from Sears, Home Depot, and OSH because of convenience and costs.

I looked into those tankless water heaters, but they're so expensive I could buy about 10 water heaters (forget the exact number) in my lifetime.

jdcaples said:

Is it a good idea to flush these things regularly? I don't have any debis in the faucets, but I know the waterheater's tank can't be pristine any more Maybe I should just download the owners manual and take a look.

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You might not see any minerals coming out of your faucet, but I'm pretty sure most homes have hard water coming out of their faucets, unless that is you have a water softener.

You're suppose to drain the tank at least every year to get rid of the sediments at the bottom. At the same time you're suppose to stir up the sediments by running the cold and draining.

tegimr said:

Nate - and others; what realistic suggestions do you make to delay retirement by prolonging the useful life of a water heater?

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- Check your water connections so that they do not leak onto the water heater. Once the insulation gets wet, it'll be only time before you have to replace the heater due to rust and bad insulation. I had this happen already. The supply side is usually the one to check because of the temperature variations that it goes through.

- Draining the tank periodically.

- Replacing the sacrificial anode rod.

I can't replace mine because it's inside my kitchen cabinet. I guess I could, but that would mean disconnecting everything like the water and gas line. I can't go bigger than a 40 gallon either.

I think I read somewhere that some states require you to hire a contractor and they don't recommend it for the diy'er.

If it's making popping and banging noises while heating it's probably time to replace it.

Seek, I guess yours is electric.

That bit about draining it every year? I've tried to be scrupulous about that but have discovered that the faucet gets too "set in its ways" to allow me to open it while the hose is attached and your don't want to open it when the hose isn't attached. All the ones I've done, the house turns when you turn the faucet so you've got this hose trying to kink up on you.

Jon, I hope that Seattle requires you to use earthquake strapping on your water heater. If they don't, I hope you do it.

BaywoodBill said:

Seek, I guess yours is electric.

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It's gas. Something a matter?

sikwan said:

It's gas. Something a matter?

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No Kidding! All the under-counter ones I've ever seen were electric. Just a bad guess on my part.

BaywoodBill said:

No Kidding! All the under-counter ones I've ever seen were electric. Just a bad guess on my part.

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Every person I've encountered about remodeling our kitchen looked at me as if I was crazy with having a gas water heater in my kitchen.

I wonder about all the new homes built in the last decade or less with detached garages. Where do they put their gas water heaters? Sounds like a code violation.