When should I replace a hot water heater?

The gas hot water heater in my house is 11 years old (stand alone since I have a hot air furnace).  I have been told that the normal life expectancy is ~10 years (true or false?).  At the moment, it seems to work just fine for my needs.  The only issue is that it does not produce quite enough hot water to completely fill my large tub, but we virtually never take a bath, so that is not a reason to replace it. If it is true that they only last ~10 years, should I proactively replace it or wait for it to fail?  Are there warning signs before it fails?  I would rather not have a catastrophic flood in my basement one day, but I also do not want to replace a perfectly fine unit before I have to do so.

200line

in Plumbers and Plumbing 13 years and 5 months ago

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jockdeboeraia | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Here it is: look under floodstop http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/shpsearch.aspx?source=bing&kw=floodstop&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=bing_watermanagement

200line | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Thanks for all the suggestions.  This is extremely helpful.  It is in the celler, so I don’t see it every day, nor is there a drain nearby.  It sounds like I should start thinking about a replacement.  I have thought about putting in an alarm, but it is one of those projects I have never gotten around to.

200line | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Thanks for all the suggestions.  This is extremely helpful.  It is in the celler, so I don’t see it every day, nor is there a drain nearby.  It sounds like I should start thinking about a replacement.  I have thought about putting in an alarm, but it is one of those projects I have never gotten around to.

jockdeboeraia | 13 years and 5 months ago

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You could hook up an alarm and auto shut off valve.

shahnandersen

in Plumbers and Plumbing 13 years and 5 months ago

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You never know when it will go.  Could be 5 years, could be 20,  Do you know if it had a ten year warranty?  If it had a shorter warranty, you are on borrowed time.  The difference is not the length of the warranty, but rather the effectiveness of the sacrificial anode rod it came with.  If it had the 10 year warranty, I’d just buy a water alarm to detect a leak as soon as it starts (tomorrow or five years from now).  And make sure you have a plumber to go to and an idea of the size of the heater you want, so that you can get the replacement done quickly if it starts to leak.

BHS | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Do you have a working floor drain near the water heater? if my basement or another floor was going to flood for sure if it broke I’d be more proactive. Also The heater not allowing you to fully fill a tub might not be an indication that a failure of the tank is near. The tank may just be undersized compared to the tub in question, and/or your water temp setting may be low. Unless it’s a change from the past, that is.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Also, if you have one that leaks while it’s still under warranty, tell them it’s a single family house.  They won’t honor the warranty if it’s not.

Goatcrapp | 13 years and 5 months ago

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For me- waiting until it leaked proved to be costly…  it opened up overnight, and the basement had 2 feet of water by morning.  Just sayin.

BobMarvin | 13 years and 5 months ago

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I’ve lived in my house long enough to be on my 4th  hot water heater.  The only one that lasted much longer than 10 years was the Serval model that I found in my house when Ibought it in 1974\. That one had been installed in 1950 (according to a hang tag) and lasted until c. 1977 or 8\. It had a monel metal tank and must have been really expensive. Only one  of the A.O. Smith heaters I’ve had since lasted (slightly) LESS than 10 years, which was great because I got a new one through the warranty.These have all been VERY much less costly to operate than that old Serval.   I’ve always waited for the old heaters to actually leak. They’re located in my cellar and haven’t done any damage, although I oneced came home from a weekend away and found the celler filled with steam from the leaking water heater.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Do you see it everyday or is it in the cellar and you see it maybe once a week?  It will give you warning, maybe only a day or so when it will start to hiss and leak slowly but watch out, in another day it’ll be fully leaking.  One way to tell is if there’s an accumulation of mineral deposits on the top where the supply enters or the feed leaves.  You can also replace the anode dip tube.  Of course you should flush it every year or two but who the hell ever does that???  I never have.