Re: Do you replace your water heater before it sta... - Page 3

scotnovel · ‎12-31-2013

@Kachina624 wrote:
@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.

I live in the South (TN) and mine and all of my neighbors and friend's heaters are in the garage and our pipes are under the house (and well insulated). When I lived in TX, in both houses there, water heater was in the garage - pipes under the house in both. And, not to be inconsistent, when I lived in Ohio - it was the same!

Big Sister · ‎05-15-2010

When my water heater is installed I use a black marking pen and write on the front of the heater the date it was installed. So I always know how old it is. I think mine is ten years old so I may have it changed out before it leaks.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
@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.

I'm in the south. I'm in Ok. We have no plumbing in the attic. They built some new base housing several years & installed the plumbing in the attic. The builders I guess did not know it got that cold here in the winter. When winter came the pipes froze & they all had a big mess. Hope we don't have this problem when we retire & move to Fl or SC to look for a house. DH says all houses on slabs should have the plumbing installed in a hallway type location so when you have a leak you can get to it instead of cutting out walls to get to it as we have done. Each time we had a leak in the plumbing in the wall I knew it. I could hear it. DH would cut a hole in the wall & sure enough a small pin hole leak in the copper. It's a pain when you have a leak. We cut out all the wet drywall & replaced it after we set a fan in that area to dry out. We don't want any mold. Now with the newer smart meters ours has a faucet symbol on it. If you have a leak it will show it dripping water. I guess some people have had leaks from all the earthquakes. We check our meter every once in a while to see if shows a leak.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@Zhills wrote:
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!

You are so right. We have only had 1 go out since living in this house. It was not leaking when it went out. It would no longer heat the water. DH was in the shower & all the sudden cold water. LOL!!! He started yelling at me wanting to know what I was doing.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@Big Sister wrote:
When my water heater is installed I use a black marking pen and write on the front of the heater the date it was installed. So I always know how old it is. I think mine is ten years old so I may have it changed out before it leaks.

We still have the paperwork on the one we installed back in 2007. We have all the papers/owners manuals on everything we have ever bought that we still own. Not to mention I still have all our tax returns since we got married in 76. LOL!!!

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

I think a lot depends on where it is located in the house. If it is in the basement or grage I would wait til it leaks but if it is inside your home in a closet or up in the attic space it would be much more expensive to wait so I would replace before it leaks.

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

@scotnovel wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
@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.
I live in the South (TN) and mine and all of my neighbors and friend's heaters are in the garage and our pipes are under the house (and well insulated). When I lived in TX, in both houses there, water heater was in the garage - pipes under the house in both. And, not to be inconsistent, when I lived in Ohio - it was the same!

I live in Ohio and mine is in the basement. I honestly don't know anyone whose hot water tank is in the garage so that is interesting. If they have a basement, it's in the basement. If they have no basement, it's in the laundry room.

My best friend had a split level, no basement and her's is in her laundry room. It didn't start to leak, it basically just emptied while she was at work. She came home to a flooded downstairs. It ruined the floors in her entire downstairs.

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

Nah, we usually wait until it's decided to leak all over the floor!

My husband doesn't believe in replacing anything until it's been proven that it's flatlined for sure and for good.

KathyPet · ‎03-09-2010

I just replaced one with a Rudd model that has a alarm built in so if a leak occurs the alarm sounds. What a great idea!

sunshine45 · ‎03-09-2010

our water heater was replaced a couple of years ago. it wasnt leaking, but the hot water was not lasting long enough AND it began making a lot of "popping sounds" inside of the tank. it was going on almost 18 years of having the same water heater. we bumped up to a larger tank and bought a rheem when this began happening.

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