21 Year Old Water Heater

[Anonymous]

Would you replace it before it dies or wait until it does?

We put an addition on and went from a 2 bed 1.5 bath house to a 4 bed room 3 bath house and the tank is only 40 gallons but it kills me to throw out something that still works.

[Anonymous]

Replace it. It will eventually fail and you have no idea how catastrophic the damage will be. You could get lucky and it just leaks out the bottom and drains. Or, it could leak from top spewing water all over your basement, flooding everything..ask me how I know this. Lifespans of water heaters are usually 10-12 years.

Call local independent plumber. They’ll source water heater from plumbing supply house and install. If I had to take guess, it will be about $2100. That’s if nothing outlandish like attic install or 30 story condo.

[Anonymous]

Where is the tank located?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is the tank located?

Basement with easy access, wide steps and floor drain but no idea if it's actually clear enough to accommodate 40 gallons coming at once.

[Anonymous]

Are you serious? That thing is a miracle.
Replace it asap.

[Anonymous]

Wait until that unicorn 🦄 dies.

God speed.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely replace it now!! We put ours off a bit thinking that we would get it done and the damage to the house was thousands not to mention being without water until it was fixed, etc. etc. Do not take the chance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you replace it before it dies or wait until it does?

We put an addition on and went from a 2 bed 1.5 bath house to a 4 bed room 3 bath house and the tank is only 40 gallons but it kills me to throw out something that still works.

I gotta ask what did that addition cost you?

I'd also wait until it dies before replacing it. They can do that replacement same day.

[Anonymous]

I had a 15 year old 50 gallon Bradford water heater that still was functioning perfectly. I figured I would wait until it died. Would have cost $2K to replace.

One day, with no warning at all, there were 2 inches of water in my basement. I was away at the time. It occurred during a big storm, and the power was out, so there was no way to hook up a pump to get the water out. Fortunately my boyfriend checked my basement during the storm and found the water, but he had to buy the last $1K generator at Lowe's to hook up a rental pump from HD, which didn't work. Called the plumber who came with a truck and drained and replaced with a new Rheem water heater. Then the mold guys came with giant fans and tore up and removed my wet basement floor. Whole cleanup process cost $6K all in, not covered by insurance bc heater was at end of life. Still need to replace basement flooring.

If boyfriend had not happened to check house after the storms, two inches of water would have sat in my basement for four days (worse, actually, bc boyfriend turned off the water main also) until I got home and it would have been catastrophic damage.

Don't wait to replace it.

[Anonymous]

Mine lasted 28 years and it was still working fine when I decided to replace it. You are not seeing any water drops or leaks, are you?

[Anonymous]

Our HW heater is approaching 20yrs and stories like the earlier poster prompted me to buy a new HW heater this week with install scheduled for early next week. The stress of a catastrophic HW heater failure and damage to the basement is not worth the risk of deferring an expense.

[Anonymous]

Replace, our last one leaked and it sucked. Get a 70 gallon.

[Anonymous]

Ours just died after 27 years. No leaking but the pilot light went stay on. The biggest downside is that we are now in a rush to replace so we’re not really price shopping on the replacement — a week of cold showers is plenty!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HW heater is approaching 20yrs and stories like the earlier poster prompted me to buy a new HW heater this week with install scheduled for early next week. The stress of a catastrophic HW heater failure and damage to the basement is not worth the risk of deferring an expense. [/quote

Some will last longer than others. Newer hot water tanks do not seem to have as long a lifespan as the older ones. That said, I usually expect a hot water tank to last 10-15 years. If it were mine, I would get some quotes now for a replacement and then replace it.

If a hot water tank fails, the spilt water can make quite a mess. Cheaper to replace a little bit early than it would be ato pay for cleanup and repairs after one fails.

[Anonymous]

Why does a water heater flood when it fails? It doesn't just stop making hot water?