On Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:17:09 -0500, wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jan 2015 12:34:31 -0800, Jennifer Murphy
wrote:

It looks like our water heater might be on its last legs. before I order
a new one, I thought I'd check out what the plumber told me.

What is the life expectancy of a good quality water heater?

How good is your water? Gas or electric?
In a place in the North East with a good city water system a water
heater can go 15 or 20 years. Down here in Florida with bad well water
I feel lucky to get 7 or 8
Gas usually lasts longer than electric but electric is easier to fix
as long as the tank is good.
Use dielectric fittings on the pipes and jumper around them. The steel
tank will react to copper pipes. Some water heaters have them already.


Those that don't aren't really water heaters. They are just
water-heater-ish pieces of junk.

A decent water heater has dialectric fittings and 2 anodes, as well as
a brass sediment or drain valve. A good water heater also has a
"turbulator" type inlet pipe that swirls the water around the tank as
the water comes in. Generally any tank with those features is worth
taking home. Any without, you may as well just leave at the store and
go looking elsewhere.

The last couple of years the mid-high line Rheem Rudd manufactured
units are pretty decent.
GSW used to be real good, but since they closed the Fergus Ontario
plant I don't see them up here any more.

What is a good quality water heater? Does the brand/model make that much
difference?

The heater is installed in an unheated basement room in a mild climate
(rarely under 40F and seldoim under 50F). Does having it wrapped in an
insulating pad matter much?

It probably helps a little


Anything else I should know before deciding on a new heater?

Safest is to get it permitted and inspected. Some guys just throw them
in without an inspection and you are really not sure what you are
getting unless you know what to watch for.

Thanks so much