Legal Bill

The anode is there for a purpose. You can take it out and look at it and see what's left. A new one costs about $40.

Everyone has different water conditions so the life of your HWH may be due to soft water conditions or other anomalies. I'm glad your WH has lasted for 20 years. But I wouldn't erect an alter.

Scooterboy

I was waiting for someone the use the term "hot water heater". My boss hates when I mistakenly use that term to describe a water heater. He claims you are heating cold water not hot water. "Why heat hot water? It is already hot."

fltsfshr

My wife informed me that the new water heater looks so good.........it's time to remodel the laundry room. Damnit.

We're going with one of the lighter 50 shades of gray. If I work this right, my handyman will have it all painted by the time we get back from deep sea fishing.

Thought I had it made until I found out I'm reorganizing all the laundry room cabinets we've both been sticking stuff in for years.
I started going through them yesterday.

It was full of
What is that for?

I could use this for something someday.

Ouch Who put that in there?

I wondered where that went.

and best of all.
Hey look what I found!


Spring is Coming

fltsfshr

Lainey

We've been in our home for 30+ years and we've gone through a few water heaters. The last one failed before warranty was up, so we received a free replacement, except for the plumber's charges.

Rick does not mess with natural gas, and does not care to do plumbing. For us, it's cheaper to call the plumber than have the house blow up from a gas leak.

SheDrivesIt

Usually, but depending upon which house and which plumber, things could go the other way.

Ryuu

been considering replacing my water heater with a couple of those instant on demand water heaters... the regular water heater always seems to run out of hot after you lather up.. I figure after 10 yrs here... time to make some adjustments... still on hold til other matters are sorted.. but.. that's the direction I will look into, when and If I win...

CitadelBlue

The average price for one of those on demand heaters is about $4K installed ($1K for the unit an $3K to install it) . My daughter (in Knoxville) was able to find a certified guy - (1one man company) that did it for $2K. I was there for the install and the guy did it right. Even at $2K, though, I'm not sure its worth the money.....

tof

So my twenty year old water heater connections all look fine, there are no obvious leaks, and no smell of gas. Should I worry?

(I love natural gas...Too bad the ozone layer hates it.)

skunkworks

I had my gas fired hot water heater replaced in late February after 15yrs and 4mos of operation. Its tank was drained yearly. It still had its original anode rod that I inspected and reinstalled after ten yeas of usage.

I had considered a tankless model for its replacement but decided against it due to the expensive installation costs and their hot water delivery issues. Generally, my wife and I shower at the same time and the tankless version, from what I had read, couldn’t sustain hot water delivery with Colorado’s very cold water as input. I did though install an Energy Star rated unit that appears to consume much less energy. I’m hoping for another 15+ years of service from this HWH, too.

gary

Conedodger

How long is the typical annode? I'm under the impression that I don't have enough ceiling height in my basement to remove it.