"Trail Blazer" wrote in message
oups.com...
My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?

Just think about going away for the day while the water is pouring onto your
floor starting 5 min after you leave. Look at the warranty that you get
with a new gas water heater today---7-10 years (and you have to be on the
threshold of a failure with one 25 yrs old). I've had two heaters fail,
fortunately I was home both times. The first time I went outside because I
thought someone turned on my outside faucet the because running water noise
was so loud.
MLD