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On-line advice says residential gas water heaters last about 8 to 12 years. I have lived here for 12 years and my neighbor says my water heater was 5 to 10 years old when I bought the house. So the water heater may be 20 years old. It still works fine but I wonder if I should get it replaced while I have time to find a good plumber rather than waiting for it to fail and have to use the first available plumber? Thanks for any advice, especially from plumbers.

On-line advice says residential gas water heaters last about 8 to 12 years. I have lived here for 12 years and my neighbor says my water heater was 5 to 10 years old when I bought the house. So the water heater may be 20 years old. It still works fine but I wonder if I should get it replaced while I have time to find a good plumber rather than waiting for it to fail and have to use the first available plumber? Thanks for any advice, especially from plumbers.

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[–] • 14 pts

Is it in a pan so that if it starts leaking it won't trash your house? I would leave it. The newer ones are more "efficient" and therefore take twice as long to heat the water. Your water heater will probably outlast a brand new one anyway. And when the time does come to replace it, you don't need a plumber. Take pictures of the old setup. Disconnect everything and put the new one in and re-hook it just like it was. Use new supply lines, hand tight plus a quarter turn. Always use a new gas line as well. Do NOT use thread tape on any gasketed fitting. And do use the right thread tape for your gas line, yellow.

[–] • 4 pts

> Do NOT use thread tape on any gasketed fitting.

I didn't know this. I always figured the extra seal is a bonus. Granted, I'm no plumber and have little knowledge of the field. I know the necessary drop for pipes to flow and that's about it. Outside that all I know is shit rolls downhill, paydays on Friday, and don't bite your fingernails.

[–] • 2 pts

Extra is bad, in this case.

[–] • 1 pt

Ugh, I bite my fingernails all the time.

Taping gasketed fittings can lead to leaks.

[–] • 7 pts

I would replace it immediately. I just went through replacing my entire water system under duress. It's not fun. I had to replace a 1 HP well pump at 400 feet, then the associated pressure tank. And because everything was over 20 years old, my septic pump died and my 275 gallon fuel tank. I won't tell you how much this all cost, but it wasn't cheap.

Consider too, the logistics of getting all this equipment is becoming harder and harder, not to mention more expensive by the day. People who can actually do the work are becoming more scarce as Pfizer is ensuring they die suddenly.

Don't wait.

[–] • 7 pts

give it a solid clean and drain all that sediment and shit out of it. And replace the sacrificial rod. Boom. Like new.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

This is the right answer. If the sacrificial rod is stuck then replace whole unit. But the new one will take up more space than the old one so be sure to measure.

Also get an ro water filter because the inside of the copper pipes in your home are leeching into your water supply.

Happens when you don't maintain anode rod, which , nobody really does. So the inside of your tank is rusting and corroded and as is all your copper pipes, which you drink out of. Think about that.

[–] • 1 pt

Why would you drink water from the water heater? Use the cold tap which never has water from the heater.

[–] • 0 pt

Would you bath in Flint Michigan water?

[–] • 7 pts

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It might last another 20 years.

[–] • 6 pts

Consider an on-demand tankless water heater. I would never go back to a tank. Way cheaper to operate and you never run out of hot water.

[–] • 1 pt

This. Tankless is the way to go

[–] • 4 pts

I love the "not broke don't fix" comments, they don't have to deal with the shit when it does break and you have no hot water in the winter.

[–] • 4 pts

It's actually 5-10 for box store units. If professionally installed and a unit sold to professionals it's 10-15. Electric units go sooner than gas units because of how they are built. If you are on borrowed time, and the heater is a place where leaks will cause damage, replace sooner than later. If it's in the garage and the garage floor simply gets wet, you can ride it out until failure.

[–] • 3 pts

What you should do is plan on replacing it and get quotes for replacing it then add 15% to the quotes and save up enough to replace it in two years.

[–] • 2 pts

I'd leave it, they're not hard to replace

[–] • 2 pts

Can't believe nobody has mentioned this. They can last longer if you replace the sacrificial anode rod at the top every 10 years. Also I've heard you should empty the tank yearly with the valve on the side.

[–] • 2 pts

It needs to be replaced since it's so old, and guaranteed no routine maintenance has ever been done on it, so it's a mess of corrosion inside ready to burst.

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