In article ,
"Mark Jerde" wrote:

We have lived in this house 8-10 years. The natural gas water heater is the
same as when we moved in. One major benefit it has is it is pilot-light
enabled -- it doesn't require electricity. I have taken many hot showers by
candle light when the power has been off 2+ days here in Maryland USA.

What I DON'T want to have happen is come home one day to a flood of water
coming out of the utility room from the water heater after a catastrophic
failure.

Is it a "normal, good" practice to replace a water heater after a certain #
of years, whether or not it is still working fine?

Thanks.

-- Mark



I don't think it is normal practice, but that is exactly what I'm about
to do now. My last hot water heater lasted 8 years, then one day I woke
up and my basement was flooded. It's now 8 years later, and I don't
want to go throught that mess again.

Biggest reason for being worth it:
Since lots of stuff was ruined, we called the insurance company who paid
the claim. My deductible was almost as much as a water heater would
cost, plus after they paid, they raised my rates, plus they only pay for
the damage. You still have to pay for a new water heater.

Overall, it's cheaper to replace every so many years. You decide when
it's convenient to replace, instead of having to replace it within a few
hours after it bursts, and dedicating the next few days to cleanup.

Of course, some people's water heaters just fail, don't bust and flood a
room, and last 15+ years, but with the quality of local water, it
differs for each person. I will say this, and that on my street where
all the houses were built within 8 months of each other, I saw a lot of
AO Smith (we all had these) water heaters left for trash pickup around
the same time. All our water heaters lasted about the same time.

Best of luck to you.

Steve