The subject of this posting is basically a question of risk aversion.
I am sure that gamblers and people with low risk aversion are more
willing to say that I should wait to replace my water heater while
others who worry like I do, would be quick to say replace.

Basically, about 6 months ago I purchased a 23 yr. old home with a 13
yr. old electric hot water heater (no natural gas in my area). I was
told by the home inspector to budget for a replacement. For some odd
reason, while returning home after a Sunday trip this past weekend, I
started to think about the hot water heater and how much life it had
left.

I don't smell any odd smells or hear any odd noises and the hot water
appears to be heated and recovered quickly. No complaints at all.
However, my hot water heater is installed in a 2nd story utility closet
with a 1.5 inch high drip pan and nothing but sub-floor to spill onto
once overflowing the drip pan. I have read and been told that water
heaters sometimes just stop working, sometimes develop a small leak,
and sometimes decide to burst and drop all their load at once.
Although I have homeowner's insurance to cover any water damage caused,
it is a hassle I don't necessarily want to deal with AND there is
always the deductible anyway. I have purchased an automatic water
shut-off to stop additional flooding if a leak should ever occur but
that doesn't account for the 50 gallons of water already in the tank.

In my research, I have found a decent $278 Whirlpool with a 9 yr.
warranty and pretty good energy efficiency. Lowe's charges $194 for
installation.

Does anybody have any opinion regarding whether or not I should go
ahead with the replacement or should I wait to see a leak or lapse in
operation of the heater?

Your local utility may offer a HWH at a discount in return for being
able to shut it off during peak local usage time. It's genearrly a good
deal.

Mine cost $150 about 8 years ago...


HankC


wrote:
The subject of this posting is basically a question of risk aversion.
I am sure that gamblers and people with low risk aversion are more
willing to say that I should wait to replace my water heater while
others who worry like I do, would be quick to say replace.

Basically, about 6 months ago I purchased a 23 yr. old home with a 13
yr. old electric hot water heater (no natural gas in my area). I was
told by the home inspector to budget for a replacement. For some odd
reason, while returning home after a Sunday trip this past weekend, I
started to think about the hot water heater and how much life it had
left.

I don't smell any odd smells or hear any odd noises and the hot water
appears to be heated and recovered quickly. No complaints at all.
However, my hot water heater is installed in a 2nd story utility closet
with a 1.5 inch high drip pan and nothing but sub-floor to spill onto
once overflowing the drip pan. I have read and been told that water
heaters sometimes just stop working, sometimes develop a small leak,
and sometimes decide to burst and drop all their load at once.
Although I have homeowner's insurance to cover any water damage caused,
it is a hassle I don't necessarily want to deal with AND there is
always the deductible anyway. I have purchased an automatic water
shut-off to stop additional flooding if a leak should ever occur but
that doesn't account for the 50 gallons of water already in the tank.

In my research, I have found a decent $278 Whirlpool with a 9 yr.
warranty and pretty good energy efficiency. Lowe's charges $194 for
installation.

Does anybody have any opinion regarding whether or not I should go
ahead with the replacement or should I wait to see a leak or lapse in
operation of the heater?

In article .com, wrote:
The subject of this posting is basically a question of risk aversion.
I am sure that gamblers and people with low risk aversion are more
willing to say that I should wait to replace my water heater while
others who worry like I do, would be quick to say replace.

Basically, about 6 months ago I purchased a 23 yr. old home with a 13
yr. old electric hot water heater (no natural gas in my area). I was
told by the home inspector to budget for a replacement. For some odd
reason, while returning home after a Sunday trip this past weekend, I
started to think about the hot water heater and how much life it had
left.

I don't smell any odd smells or hear any odd noises and the hot water
appears to be heated and recovered quickly. No complaints at all.
However, my hot water heater is installed in a 2nd story utility closet
with a 1.5 inch high drip pan and nothing but sub-floor to spill onto
once overflowing the drip pan. I have read and been told that water
heaters sometimes just stop working, sometimes develop a small leak,
and sometimes decide to burst and drop all their load at once.
Although I have homeowner's insurance to cover any water damage caused,
it is a hassle I don't necessarily want to deal with AND there is
always the deductible anyway. I have purchased an automatic water
shut-off to stop additional flooding if a leak should ever occur but
that doesn't account for the 50 gallons of water already in the tank.

In my research, I have found a decent $278 Whirlpool with a 9 yr.
warranty and pretty good energy efficiency. Lowe's charges $194 for
installation.

Does anybody have any opinion regarding whether or not I should go
ahead with the replacement or should I wait to see a leak or lapse in
operation of the heater?

13 years is a reasonable life expectation for an electric heater.
I'd plan on replacement fairly soon; very soon if there are any
signs of leaks or corrosion. But I'd also shop around for a good
deal -- even wait for a promotion. I would also:

1. Check to see if you need a permit -- it's required in some
cities around here.

2. Check to see if the advertised installation service from
Lowes is actually available. Again, around here, they often
can't deliver on the installation service -- the local
plumbers are not willing to do the job for the price Lowes
is willing to pay them.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Risk aversion is similar to paranoia. Sit tight and wait for it to fail,
while thinking about far more important things.

In article , "Charles Schuler" wrote:

Risk aversion is similar to paranoia. Sit tight and wait for it to fail,
while thinking about far more important things.

Like planning those drywall repairs he'll need in a year
or few...

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wrote in message
oups.com...
The subject of this posting is basically a question of risk aversion.
I am sure that gamblers and people with low risk aversion are more
willing to say that I should wait to replace my water heater while
others who worry like I do, would be quick to say replace.

Basically, about 6 months ago I purchased a 23 yr. old home with a 13
yr. old electric hot water heater (no natural gas in my area). I was
told by the home inspector to budget for a replacement. For some odd
reason, while returning home after a Sunday trip this past weekend, I
started to think about the hot water heater and how much life it had
left.

I don't smell any odd smells or hear any odd noises and the hot water
appears to be heated and recovered quickly. No complaints at all.
However, my hot water heater is installed in a 2nd story utility closet
with a 1.5 inch high drip pan and nothing but sub-floor to spill onto
once overflowing the drip pan. I have read and been told that water
heaters sometimes just stop working, sometimes develop a small leak,
and sometimes decide to burst and drop all their load at once.
Although I have homeowner's insurance to cover any water damage caused,
it is a hassle I don't necessarily want to deal with AND there is
always the deductible anyway. I have purchased an automatic water
shut-off to stop additional flooding if a leak should ever occur but
that doesn't account for the 50 gallons of water already in the tank.

In my research, I have found a decent $278 Whirlpool with a 9 yr.
warranty and pretty good energy efficiency. Lowe's charges $194 for
installation.

Does anybody have any opinion regarding whether or not I should go
ahead with the replacement or should I wait to see a leak or lapse in
operation of the heater?


The heaters I've had fail just started to drip a little water. Put a
water sensing alarm in the drip pan and quit worrying. If you
live in an area with really corrosive water, it might be another
matter.

You could pull out the anode. If it's completely gone, then
your heater would be more suspect. If it's significantly gone,
replace the anode, which helps keep the heater from
corrodeing.

Bob

I repolace mine BEFORE they fail!!!

Less mess and hassle this way. Plus the cost is minimal when divided by
number of years in service.

I would replace the tank but more importandly add a drain line from the
drip pan so a leak at any time doesnt cause a disaster.

today a claim on homeowners may bring you higher rates and the
deductible hurts.

think of it add a drain, and ignore the tank till it fails. a drain
line should be pretty cheap/ take watewr to washtub or basement floor
if the space is unfinished

wrote:
The subject of this posting is basically a question of risk aversion.
I am sure that gamblers and people with low risk aversion are more
willing to say that I should wait to replace my water heater while
others who worry like I do, would be quick to say replace.

Basically, about 6 months ago I purchased a 23 yr. old home with a 13
yr. old electric hot water heater (no natural gas in my area). I was
told by the home inspector to budget for a replacement. For some odd
reason, while returning home after a Sunday trip this past weekend, I
started to think about the hot water heater and how much life it had
left.
..

Well, I would suggest starting by talking with your neighbors. Ask them
how long water heaters are lasting for them. In some areas a 13 year old
water heater would be a record in other areas it would still be a youngster.

While catastrophic failure is possible, remember that it is possible
with a brand new one as well. Most of the time they start leaking slowly
for a while so if you take a look around every week or so, you should catch
any likely problems.

Of course if you have the money and it makes your feel good, it is not a
bad idea and in reality you likely don't have a lot of lie left in it.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

Well - I appreciate everyone's comments. I talked it over with the
wife and we decided to go ahead and get a energy efficient 9 yr.
warranty 50 gallon heater. I am also going to look into putting a
drain in but we will see about that. THe way I look at it, if the
heater breaks and does cause a problem, I am going to have to pay for
the heater and more through the deductable on damage repairs. If it is
just a trickle in the near future, I will have to replace anyway. And
finally, we are only planning on staying in this house for another 3-4
years so by the time I sell, at least a selling point will be that the
water heater is newer and more efficient and we will be less likely to
have to give a credit or buy a home warranty for the next buyer.

I tend to be that guy that takes out good coverage amounts in insurance
in lieu of saving the few extra bucks in premium or does a lot of
preventative maintanence on my car. I think it serves my personality
and piece of mind to just buy now before potential problems can occur.

Then again, if the builder who built this house thought of putting the
water heater in the crawlspace or putting in an additional utility room
on the back of the house, I probably wouldn't care until it broke.

I always thought that 13 years would be considered old for a gas water
heater, but not necessarily hot so old for a electric one?

wrote:
I always thought that 13 years would be considered old for a gas water
heater, but not necessarily hot so old for a electric one?

I agree that electric ones generally have a significantly longer life.
In my experience, 13 years is typical for gas, more like 20 for
electric. Asking neighbors what their experience has been is a good
idea, as a lot depends on local water. Since he has an automatic
shutoff and only intends to stay there another 3 years, I'm not so sure
I'd do anything. While it's true they can fail with a sudden
significant leak, I think once the automatic shutoff turns off the
incoming water relieving the pressure, the chances that the leak is
going to be so bad that enough water comes out to overflow the pan and
cause major damage is quite small.

wrote:
wrote:
I always thought that 13 years would be considered old for a gas water
heater, but not necessarily hot so old for a electric one?

I agree that electric ones generally have a significantly longer life.
In my experience, 13 years is typical for gas, more like 20 for
electric. Asking neighbors what their experience has been is a good
idea, as a lot depends on local water. Since he has an automatic
shutoff and only intends to stay there another 3 years, I'm not so sure
I'd do anything. While it's true they can fail with a sudden
significant leak, I think once the automatic shutoff turns off the
incoming water relieving the pressure, the chances that the leak is
going to be so bad that enough water comes out to overflow the pan and
cause major damage is quite small.


Average life expectancy for electric water heater is 13/14 years:
http://www.demesne.info/Home-Mainten...Expectancy.htm