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Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

We usually wait until there's a problem before we replace.   Ironically, we just replaced our water heater on Saturday.   My husband went downstairs on Friday to empty the dehumidifier and found a crack in the top of the water heater!   All we could think of was the TV commercial for Farmers Insurance where the water heater shoots out thru the roof of the house.   We still had hot water, and had noticed no problems.  Our water heater sits beside a drain in our basement, so a leak would not damage anything.   Our old water heater was about 17-18 years old.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....


@hockey mom wrote:

Our water heater is 26 years old. We never even had to open the door to look at it. My husband is on vacation next week so we decided to have it replaced before it starts to leak. I called my plumber and he couldn't believe we got so long out of it. He suggested a commercial one over a residential one that you would get in the home improvement stores.  I hope we get another 26 years out of the new one.


@hockey mom   Please tell  me the difference between a commercial and a consumer model water heater.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

I know they recommend flushing them out every so often.....we never have and never would. I wonder how many people actually do flush them out?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,519
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

The water heaters we had when we were using our iron well water, were drained and flushed twice a year in an effort to prolong the glass lining of the water heater.   There would always be several inches of iron sludge to flush out.   We also had to replace heating elements more often due to the iron.  Our water heaters last longer now that we have public water.  

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Frequent Contributor
Posts: 89
Registered: ‎05-15-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

It was explained to me that the commercial water heaters have an extra rod inside that takes the ions out of the water that causes the heater to rust faster. The brand we are getting is a Rheem. They use this type in public places and it will last longer.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,382
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....


@Nightowlz wrote:

No. We have replaced it in 2007 when it was 22 yrs old. It went out when DH was in the shower & no hot water. LOL!!! Our hot water heater is in the garage.

I would never buy a house with the hot water heater or the plumbing in the attic. That's just crazy.

We did replace our AC before it went out. LOL!!! I don't like to be hot. It's getting that time again since they said is should last 7 yrs & we installed it in 2000.


@Nightowlz  You'd have a hard time finding a place to live in the South as virtually all plumbing is in the attics, not necessarily the hot water heater but the pipes.  Once in a blue moon, they have a hard freeze which breaks pipes, then when they thaw, ceilings cave in.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,640
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

I replaced my water heater in 2012, when my house was about 10 years old (I bought the house in 2006).  I was planning on just having the water heater, which is gas & in my garage, drained & flushed, but there was so much sludge & crud in the bottom of it that when he opened the drain, nothing came out.  The water here is hard enough to chew, so it didn't surprise me. 

 

I replaced the 40 gallon that was here with a 50 gallon, since it was the same price.  The new one (an AO Smith) came with a 10 year warranty where the outfit that installed it comes out & drains & flushes it annually & checks the anode & replaces it if needed.  When they put the new one in, I went out with a black Sharpie pen & wrote Installed:______ on the tank in big letters, so I & any future owners if I sell the house will know at a glance the age of it.  The guy just came & flushed & drained it a couple of weeks ago for the annual servicing & he said it looks good, but the anode is starting to look like it might need to be replaced in a year or so. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,169
Registered: ‎11-15-2011

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

I think that the price to replace an old water heater is small compared to repairing the damage a small water leak can cause in just a short period of time!

They do not always start leaking with a large visable stream of water!

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,495
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

We had our house built and use a very large water heater due to having a jacuzzi.  When the house was 5 years old the heater did not leak but totally emptied out and we had just finished the basement where the heater was.  We had a flood and it ruined everything including tons of boxes we had stored.  We had to have a company come and get all the water out of the basement and then dry out the basement.  We were told that the hard water sediments caused it.  So we had a new one installed. 

 

Five years later the heater started to leak again and this time we caught it in time.  So once again we had it replaced.  We then had a water softener system installed to see if that makes a difference.  We were told that the new ones last about 7 years.  They certainly do not make them like they use to.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 20,019
Registered: ‎08-08-2010

Re: Do you replace your water heater before it starts to leak....

Our current water heater is an electric 80 gallon, that we had installed about 20 years ago. It sits in  the laundry room, near a drain, so a slow leak would be noticed early and we'd be able to just get it replaced then without much fuss. I don't know if they can spring a hard and fast leak, as that might be more of a problem as our family room is right next door and carpeted.

 

I hesitate to replace anything appliance wise, until absolutely necessary, because NOTHING is made like it used to be. If you have something that is 20 plus years old, it has to be better than anything you are going to replace it with. And I remember 20 years ago, the stuff we were buying wasn't any match for the things made 20 years before that. Pretty soon, stuff will be so poorly made, we'll be replacing it all annually!