Replacing water heaters?

[Dela]

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is a rule of thumb as to when to replace a hot water heater? Our hot water heater is a 50 gallon, propane heated tank, it's been here for about 13 years, and is working fine. But I have heard, when they break, they usually leak, or worse burst and cause a flood, and I have also heard that anything over 10 years, you are just taking the risk that this could just happen at any time.

I was thinking of just replacing it now in a preemptive move to avoid any bursting problems.

Anyone have any thoughts or experiences? Did you wait until it broke to replace it? Does it really flood the basement if it breaks? Or just kind of leak a little?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[library girl]

My water heaters have always been in the basement, on concrete or tiled floors not too far from a drain so we just let them go 'til they die.

We have replaced two water heaters in this house and two in our other one. None have ever burst - they just all started leaking at the bottom. Some had small leaks (water pooling around the water heater) and one was a small gush from seam near the bottom. The water went down the drain and on the floor around the area, but it did not flood the basement. We attached a hose to the spigot near the bottom and drained the heaters and then installed new ones.

I guess depending on where your water heater is located in your home would depend on whether you wanted to replace it before it dies its own death. Also, whether you are handy or not. DH is very handy so we always do it ourselves, but it is messy and a pain. Water heaters never seem to go at 10 am on a Monday so you could be without hot water for a while until you can get a new one installed.

 

[Dela]

Thanks Lori! We have problems replacing light bulbs (seriously) so handy we are not . Good to know they don't just burst and flood, I have to go down to the basement and see if there is a drain nearby too.

 

[chefkate]

My DH is a plumbing contractor....Here's what he says....

"When it gets over 10 years there is more likilhood of the interior glass lining to be deteriorating, depending on your water hardness. The bigger thing is that sediment builds up in the bottom of the water heater and cuts down on efficiency and the amount of hot water you have. Doing a thorough flushing of the water heater can help eliminate sediment. It is not a bad idea if your WH is 13 yrs old to start looking into new models that are available. Chances are a new WH will burn much more efficiently and have different safety measures built in which your existing WH doesn't have"

Hope that helps!
And if you live in Michigan or Wyoming or along the highway somewhere in between, we can get one of his guys to replace it for you!

 

[syzygy314]

Ours went bust one morning! Went to get in the shower and only had cold water. Went downstairs to check and it had dumped water all over the basement floor! Of course, we didn't even know how old ours was as we bought our house from someone who had no idea. No real damage was done because our basement is unfinished, but they can do some real damage depending on how they go!

I would just have someone come out and give it a check up and go from there.

 

[Dela]

Thanks again, great info!! And if I lived out that way I certainly would have done exactly that!

ETA: Just shared all this with DH, we are going to go the safe route, and buy a new one this weekend.

 

[carly]

If you find yourself faced with replacing a water heater in the next 2 years be sure and check out the Federal Tax Credit Program for Energy Efficiency. There is a 30% credit up to $1,500 for a waterless water heater, energy efficient window replacement, new insulation or HVAC replacement, etc. These water heater units are usually the priciest but at 30% off could save you money in the long run.

 

[dorothyrd]

We have replaced water heaters twice. The first one dumped water, the second one ceased to heat. Our water is very hard, and the life of them is not good here. It is better now as the town is treating the water differently.

A waterless heater is great, but very, very expensive. We looked at them a few years ago and decided new windows was a better effeciency deal. It would have taken us 15 years of use to get the extra money back in saved water costs.