Water Heater

J

JL-CG

Active member
Hi all,

We purchased a home last year where the water heater looked to be 10+ years old (I'll need to confirm exactly how old it is). We were hoping that the thing would break down during the one-year warranty period, but we had no such luck. Although the water heater still appears to be in acceptable working condition, I've recently noticed it making some weird noises, which could be a sign of it breaking down.

We are now looking to replace that old water heater in the next few months and wanted to see if anyone had any referrals for an honest vendor/contractor who could do that work for us. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for a water heater, that would also be greatly appreciated. We considered tankless, but, as I understand it, it will require more work and cost to install. Lowes and Home Depot also have "Hybrid" water heaters, so if anyone has any experience with those, I'd appreciate your feedback as well.

Thanks in advance!
 
Making "noises" is common in the water heaters and not necessarily a sign of problems.
You may just need to flush it, which is an easy DIY job for ANYONE. Doing this can double/triple the appliance's expected lifetime.

However, if there are signs of leaks (drips, oxidation, or corrosion) it's a pretty sure sign that you're on borrowed time and should replace it before you have a catastrophic failure and replacement is costly.

I have a couple of plumbers to recommend, so feel free to PM me if you have interest.

Rheem water heaters have been great in my experience. Make sure you get one that is appropriately sized for your usage (40 gallons is fine if it's just 2 of you, but you will probably want larger if you have a large household).

Hope this helps,
-IrvineRealtor
 
I continue my Home Warranty on resale homes for this reason.

On a resale home we bought years ago, there was a noted recall on our water heater that I had to find and tell the home warranty service about (the plastic pipe was breaking down and sending white plastic pieces through my plumbing). They replaced it, the only thing was we had to pay a disposal fee but that was much less than buying a water heater and having it installed.

The home warranty is good for random plumbing issues, electrical etc... esp because multiple jobs will be covered by one visit fee as long as it's the same trade. We had an internal and external light fixed under one visit fee even though they had to come out twice because they didn't have the parts.
 
Home warranty policies typically exclude any items impacted by electrolysis, which includes any form of oxidation such as rust, especially in plumbing.  YMMV so make sure you read the fine print. 

We had a water heater burst like a dam earlier this year, which started a flood downstairs, but thankfully we were home and caught it quickly before it reached our brand new carpet.    Replaced it with a 12 year warranty unit from Lowes, and we're pretty happy with it.  Our gas bill dropped from about $30/mo to $20/mo, on average.  I see Rheem recommended by pros a lot, but we're DIY'ers so took what was readily available with the best warranty.   

Flush monthly for longevity, as IR stated, and make use of anti-hammer devices on washing machines and dishwashers to reduce the shock on all water lines.  My wife was doing laundry when our heater imploded, and I'm sure the solenoid closing was the last straw for it.  I am honestly surprised that water hammer arrestors are not required by code, especially for in-slab plumbing.
 
Water heaters are usually covered under home warranties... like I said, they replaced mine and it was a defect I had to search for to prove to them (10 year old admission by the manufacturer).
 
IrvineRealtor said:
Making "noises" is common in the water heaters and not necessarily a sign of problems.
You may just need to flush it, which is an easy DIY job for ANYONE. Doing this can double/triple the appliance's expected lifetime.

However, if there are signs of leaks (drips, oxidation, or corrosion) it's a pretty sure sign that you're on borrowed time and should replace it before you have a catastrophic failure and replacement is costly.

I have a couple of plumbers to recommend, so feel free to PM me if you have interest.

Rheem water heaters have been great in my experience. Make sure you get one that is appropriately sized for your usage (40 gallons is fine if it's just 2 of you, but you will probably want larger if you have a large household).

Hope this helps,
-IrvineRealtor
Click to expand...

Hi all - I checked the water heater and it looks like it was put in in 1996, making it 19 years in age. It is a Rheem 40 gallon gas water heater. Although it still is in good functioning order, I wonder if it is worthwhile to just have it replaced soon rather than risk a failure.

I also tried flushing the water heater yesterday. Unfortunately, the pressure relief valve at the top of the water heater is broken such that I cannot open and close it. Thus, I could not even flush the water heater!
 
The TP valve is a safety feature to prevent a home-razing explosion, on the off-chance that the temp sensor malfunctions.  You should make sure it is in good working order.
http://tinyurl.com/krbcy5q

There should be a hose spigot drain near the bottom of the heater (where sediment would accumulate) for flushing. 

irvinehomeowner said:
Water heaters are usually covered under home warranties... like I said, they replaced mine and it was a defect I had to search for to prove to them (10 year old admission by the manufacturer).
Click to expand...
Not sure what a product recall has to do with normal coverage, but if you have a great warranty company, please share.  Neither of the warranties on the 2 homes I've owned would cover a rusted tank.
 
We use American Home Shield, but that incident was about 7 years ago so I'm not sure if today it would be covered, but it's better to have a chance than not at all.

The tank wasn't rusted, an internal pipe in the tank was made of PVC I think and as it broke down, the material would end up in our faucet filters that I would have to constantly clean out. I did a web search, found out it was something that was an issue with our particular model and AHS replaced the water heater.
 
RibEye said:
IrvineRealtor said:
Making "noises" is common in the water heaters and not necessarily a sign of problems.
You may just need to flush it, which is an easy DIY job for ANYONE. Doing this can double/triple the appliance's expected lifetime.

However, if there are signs of leaks (drips, oxidation, or corrosion) it's a pretty sure sign that you're on borrowed time and should replace it before you have a catastrophic failure and replacement is costly.

I have a couple of plumbers to recommend, so feel free to PM me if you have interest.

Rheem water heaters have been great in my experience. Make sure you get one that is appropriately sized for your usage (40 gallons is fine if it's just 2 of you, but you will probably want larger if you have a large household).

Hope this helps,
-IrvineRealtor
Click to expand...

Hi all - I checked the water heater and it looks like it was put in in 1996, making it 19 years in age. It is a Rheem 40 gallon gas water heater. Although it still is in good functioning order, I wonder if it is worthwhile to just have it replaced soon rather than risk a failure.

I also tried flushing the water heater yesterday. Unfortunately, the pressure relief valve at the top of the water heater is broken such that I cannot open and close it. Thus, I could not even flush the water heater!
Click to expand...

Maybe you should consider changing it.
 
I have a tankless water heater for the first time - does it take a few mins for the hot water to kick in, especially upstairs? It's rather annoying and I wouldn't know sine I've always had the older water heater tanks.

Just want to make sure this is normal and not some problem with our brand new tankless water heater. thx
 
Paris said:
I have a tankless water heater for the first time - does it take a few mins for the hot water to kick in, especially upstairs? It's rather annoying and I wouldn't know sine I've always had the older water heater tanks.

Just want to make sure this is normal and not some problem with our brand new tankless water heater. thx
Click to expand...

Once we press the button, it takes about 30-60 secs to get hot water from my tankless heater. 
 
bones said:
Paris said:
I have a tankless water heater for the first time - does it take a few mins for the hot water to kick in, especially upstairs? It's rather annoying and I wouldn't know sine I've always had the older water heater tanks.

Just want to make sure this is normal and not some problem with our brand new tankless water heater. thx
Click to expand...

Once we press the button, it takes about 30-60 secs to get hot water from my tankless heater.
Click to expand...
The "button" bones is referring to is usually on new home builds and is most commonly found in the master bathroom.

It flushes the cold water out of the hot pipes so that the hot water from the tankless will reach that area faster.

Did they tell you about such a feature during your walkthrough?
 
irvinehomeowner said:
bones said:
Paris said:
I have a tankless water heater for the first time - does it take a few mins for the hot water to kick in, especially upstairs? It's rather annoying and I wouldn't know sine I've always had the older water heater tanks.

Just want to make sure this is normal and not some problem with our brand new tankless water heater. thx
Click to expand...

Once we press the button, it takes about 30-60 secs to get hot water from my tankless heater.
Click to expand...
The "button" bones is referring to is usually on new home builds and is most commonly found in the master bathroom.

It flushes the cold water out of the hot pipes so that the hot water from the tankless will reach that area faster.

Did they tell you about such a feature during your walkthrough?
Click to expand...

Oh no they didn't, I wasn't aware of some button like that. Ok will go back to them and ask. Thanks!
 
eyephone said:
RibEye said:
IrvineRealtor said:
Making "noises" is common in the water heaters and not necessarily a sign of problems.
You may just need to flush it, which is an easy DIY job for ANYONE. Doing this can double/triple the appliance's expected lifetime.

However, if there are signs of leaks (drips, oxidation, or corrosion) it's a pretty sure sign that you're on borrowed time and should replace it before you have a catastrophic failure and replacement is costly.

I have a couple of plumbers to recommend, so feel free to PM me if you have interest.

Rheem water heaters have been great in my experience. Make sure you get one that is appropriately sized for your usage (40 gallons is fine if it's just 2 of you, but you will probably want larger if you have a large household).

Hope this helps,
-IrvineRealtor
Click to expand...

Hi all - I checked the water heater and it looks like it was put in in 1996, making it 19 years in age. It is a Rheem 40 gallon gas water heater. Although it still is in good functioning order, I wonder if it is worthwhile to just have it replaced soon rather than risk a failure.

I also tried flushing the water heater yesterday. Unfortunately, the pressure relief valve at the top of the water heater is broken such that I cannot open and close it. Thus, I could not even flush the water heater!
Click to expand...

Maybe you should consider changing it.
Click to expand...

Yup, that was the intent of the post. I will PM irvine realtor for his recommendations, but if other folks have recommendations for plumbers or water heater brands, that would be greatly appreciated.

I also appreciate the thoughts and comments re tankless, but my wife will need convincing.
 
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