Water heater - replace now or wait for it to die?

[kaylie]

Thoughts? Ours is 20 years old so in theory, it's on it's last leg. The water takes a couple of minutes to warm up, but we can each get through a shower without it going cold. The only reason we're planning to replace it is that we know it's old, but otherwise it wouldn't occur to us to do it.

Should we wait it out and see if we can get more time out of it or just do it now?

[aweilba]

Well... I'd at least start putting some money away to get a new one. You can look around for some good deals, and if you find one before the old heater dies, pick it up if the price is right. I know when the water heater at my parents' house died, it sucked because we had to take cold showers for 3 days until someone could get there to install it.

[auntie]

Do you have gas or electric? A newer model could be considerably more energy efficient. Are you heating well water?

Have you tried draining your heater to see if you have sediment in it? If this is the case, it might work better after.

When we had a well, about a third of the old water heater was filled with sediment and the elements themselves were coated in mineral deposits- it made for an inefficient and expensive proposition.

We had our old water heater custom made with a special sacraficial rod to attract the mineral deposits and keep the elements clean. It's been a long time, but it took about 6 weeks to be built and delivered.

[magdala9]

If it goes suddenly, can you stand having no hot showers? My parents coped without a hot water heater for two days because they could shower at their gym and their house was heated by wood stove.

[kaylie]

Dec 22, 2012 9:52:32 GMT -5 auntie said:

Do you have gas or electric? A newer model could be considerably more energy efficient. Are you heating well water?

Have you tried draining your heater to see if you have sediment in it? If this is the case, it might work better after.

We're on electric with public water service (switching over to gas isn't an option in our area). I was thinking about getting it serviced, but honestly with it being that old I'd rather put that money towards a new one, KWIM?

We'll probably just replace it since I don't want to risk having it go suddenly. I was mostly wondering if there would be clear signs that it was about to go, but it doesn't sound like it. We've got the money but H's bonus took a hit this year because of the economy, so I was hoping we could put it off another year.

[Deleted]

Ours is 24 years old and we're waiting for it to die. Might as well squeeze as much as we can out of it.

[auntie]

I replaced my current one at about 23 years; it had started to leak a bit at the base. If it's a basic electric, most plumbers could swap that puppy out in a day.

Lucas did mine, All Season can also do same day.

[SusanBAnthony]

Ours went whole our house was on the market and we were living out of state. Luckily it was a slow leak and was caught by someone at a showing. Otherwise our just remodeled finished basement might have been ruined. It was older, about 20 years, but we had no indication it would die until it developed the leak. It annoys me so much that it would cost as much to patch the leak than to buy a whole new one. It was gas and pretty efficient. Oh well, the new owners are enjoying it now. In your case, I would replace it as soon as I could comfortably do it financially, but I wouldn't rush too much. A few days of sponge baths or cold showers doesn't bother me. Wouldn't hurt to get a few quotes now, though, so that if it suddenly goes you already have a company and model picked out and priced.

[housegeek]

I would think about it just for the energy efficiency start saving?

[lys]

Getting a new high efficiency water heater would be worth it just for the savings on your utility bills,

[FishChicks]

As a point to consider, our three year old Whirlpool water heater died last summer (not covered under warranty since we bought the house two years ago and therefore aren't the original owners), and our four year old American water heater died this Christmas weekend (not covered under warranty because the house became a rental property when we bought our new place). As far as I'm concerned, these new ones are all pretty low quality. You might want to keep going until your old one finally goes.