If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
|
Posted by Trail Blazer on March 26, 2007, 5:45 pm
My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?
|
 
| |
Posted by Kicking Bird on March 26, 2007, 5:58 pm
> My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
> with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
> until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?
>
Unless the flood it will cause when it fails is a problem, it's probably not
dangerous.
But if you've got 25 years out of it, it doesn't owe you anything. I'd do a
pre-emptive replacement. The main reason is so you can do it on your terms
and time table and shop around for a good one and a good installer-- not
rely on some plumber you frantically call on a Sunday when it fails...
|
|
Posted by Nancy Young on March 26, 2007, 6:03 pm
> My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
> with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
> until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?
I have no idea if it's dangerous, but in my experience when
water heaters go, they don't just stop making hot water, they
spew water all over the place. That may not be true with newer
models.
If it was up to me, I'd replace the thing before I had a big water
cleanup on my hands. Other people might have a different
opinion/experience.
nancy
|
|
Posted by on March 26, 2007, 7:08 pm
> My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
> with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
> until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?
It's definitely earned its keep -- time to get a replacement. BUT --
what sort of furnace do you have? Is it old, too? Are they vented out
the same chimney? This may make a difference -- I've learned the
painful way that the new water heaters require more combustible air
(which they pull from the room they're in unless they are direct vent)
-- and, if like me, your furnace is old, too -- they will compete with
each other. And if the water heater is vented out/up its own chimney
-- and that chimney is on an outside wall -- it could spell trouble in
the form of poor draft and condensation.
|
|
Posted by MLD on March 26, 2007, 7:23 pm
> My gas hot water heater is 25yrs. old and works fine but looks its age
> with a little rust around the bottom, should I replace it soon or wait
> until it actually fails. How dangerous is it?
>
Just think about going away for the day while the water is pouring onto your
floor starting 5 min after you leave. Look at the warranty that you get
with a new gas water heater today---7-10 years (and you have to be on the
threshold of a failure with one 25 yrs old). I've had two heaters fail,
fortunately I was home both times. The first time I went outside because I
thought someone turned on my outside faucet the because running water noise
was so loud.
MLD
|
Page 1 of 2 1 2 > last >>
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Heat limit switch on Sears water heater | November 4, 2006, 8:44 pm |
| tankless water heater vs. small water heater. | October 14, 2006, 10:36 pm |
| hot water heater leak and tankless water heater? | October 28, 2006, 6:42 pm |
| Bag Limit | June 29, 2007, 3:54 am |
| How do you test a fan/limit switch? | November 25, 2005, 10:53 pm |
| Forced Hot air limit switch | December 28, 2006, 10:57 am |
| FAN LIMIT CONTROLS, USED AS FIRESTATS | March 29, 2008, 11:55 am |
| Limit Switch for home furnace | September 4, 2005, 8:09 pm |
| Island Vent - Distance Limit | February 5, 2008, 12:11 am |
| Underground Conduit Bend Limit | March 21, 2008, 1:40 pm |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap