"Yargnits" wrote in message
oups.com...
I posted a few days ago about my high gas bills and I still haven't had
any luck tracking the cause. Since my main suspect is the water heater
I contacted AO Smith and asked them how old the water heater was. They
said it was made in 1973 so it's the original one installed in my
house. I also sent them some pics of the water heater and the flame
and they said that the flame looks too big and colorful. They suspect
the gas pressure to be too high and that I should have the gas company
come check it.

It will like pulling teeth to get them to come out so I'd like an
opinion from the knowledgeable people here. Should I just replace the
30 year old water heater or pursue the pressure? It's got a glass tank
so it will probably live for quite a while yet and if it is the
pressure the new water heater will have the same problem. That is
unless they're putting regulators in them now.

Pressure in residences where I live is about 11 ounces. Less than a pound of
pressure.
High pressure, I would go "all in" against that. Utilities are controlled
by the state and they would have no reason to provide you more than the
equipment is designed to handle. You mentioned before that the previous
owner had the meter replaced? Not likely that the utility installed another
one that is mis-calibrated.

1973 water heater, just replace it.