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[scotnovel]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@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.

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@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.

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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]

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]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@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.

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@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.

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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]

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@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!

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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]

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@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.

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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]

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]

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@scotnovel wrote:

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@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.

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@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.

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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!

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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]

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]

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]

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.