"Michael Baugh" wrote in message
.. .
Then be on the lookout for a leak. It should start out small.
That will be the time to replace it.

With all due respect, I wouldn't count on this.

Unfortunately, water heaters sometimes fail catastrophically with no
warning. One of my neighbors across the street came home after a 3 hour
Xmas shopping trip to find the first floor of his house under 2 inches of
water due to the sudden failure of his water heater. It was a real drag
because he had just cashed out most of his equity in a refi to do about $50K
of refurbs and updates to his home (new hardwood flooring...the whole bit).
His homeowner's insurance covered the damage (less his $1500.00 deductible),
but he was expecting to have a lot of family come and stay over for the
holidays. Needless to say, this put a damper (no pun intended) on his
Christmas. He was not a happy camper.

I live in South Texas and we have a problem with lime and other hard water
deposits. As a result, water heaters don't last very long here, unless you
really stay on top of keeping them flushed and the anode(s) replaced as
needed.

I don't know the average life span of a water heater in Maryland. Your
water heater may be just fine, or it may be a ticking time bomb. IMHO, if
you have *any* doubts about it's condition, just replace it. The cost will
most likely be less than the deductible on your homeowner's policy - not to
mention the peace of mind of having dealt with it *before* it turned into an
emergency.

FYI, here's one of my favorite sites regarding water heaters. Lots of good
info here.

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/