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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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[–] • 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.