A Water Heater's Age Tells You More Than Its Symptoms

Ask a plumber what is wrong with a water heater and the first question back will be how old it is. Age is the strongest predictor of failure there is, better than the noise it makes, better than how the hot water feels, better than how the outside of it looks. A young heater with a bad part is worth fixing. An old heater with the same bad part is a repair you may end up paying for twice, because the tank keeps its own schedule regardless of the new component.

The second thing worth knowing is that tanks usually fail by leaking rather than by bursting. The dramatic version is rare. The common version is a slow seep at the bottom that shows up as a damp ring, a rusty stain, or a floor that is wet in one corner, and it starts on whatever day it chooses, which is often a day nobody is home. Utah's hard water speeds the whole process along by packing sediment into the bottom of the tank.

What Sends People Looking for a Water Heater Plumber

• No hot water at all — Could be ignition, a thermostat, an element, or a heater that is simply finished. Which one depends heavily on the age of the unit and what it was doing beforehand.
• Hot water that runs out early — Often sediment, since scale settles into the bottom of the tank and occupies space that used to hold water. Sometimes it is a dip tube or a thermostat. Sometimes the household simply outgrew the tank.
• Rumbling, popping, or kettling — That noise is water flashing to steam under a layer of hardened sediment. It is the sound of a tank working harder than it should, and here it starts early.
• Water pooling underneath — Trace where it starts. A fitting, a valve, or the drain can be repaired. If the tank body itself is weeping, no repair is worth doing, because the tank failed.
• Rusty or foul-smelling hot water — Discolored water on the hot side that runs clear on the cold side points inside the tank. A spent anode lets corrosion reach the lining, which is a countdown.
• The relief valve dripping — The temperature and pressure valve is a safety device doing its job. It drips for a reason, whether heat, pressure, or a failed valve, and each wants a plumber.

How the Repair-or-Replace Call Gets Made

1. Start with age and location — How old the unit is, and where it sits. A heater in an unfinished basement beside a floor drain is a very different risk than one in an upstairs closet over finished ceilings, and that changes what is worth spending.
2. Find where the water starts — Fittings, the drain valve, the relief line, and the tank itself all leak differently and leave different trails. This single question decides whether you are buying a part or buying a heater.
3. Check what the hard water did — Sediment depth, anode condition, and how the valves feel say a great deal about what the tank has been through. A flush helps a tank with life left in it and does nothing for one that has none.
4. Repair, replace, or rethink — If replacement is the answer, it is worth asking whether the same type of heater in the same spot still fits the house, or whether a different size, a different location, or a tankless unit makes more sense.

What it costs

There is no honest flat number here, because two heaters that look alike can be very different jobs. The drivers: whether you are replacing a component or the whole unit, the size and type going in, and how hard the old one is to get out. A heater in a basement beside a drain is simple. One up a flight of stairs, in a tight closet, or in an attic isn't. Venting, combustion air, expansion, and drain pan requirements can add work that has nothing to do with the heater. Emergency replacement costs more than a planned one.

Questions people ask