Hot Water Tank Replacement
What to do when your water heater tank bursts and you need a hot water tank replacement
Okay, not the most exciting topic to talk about, but someone’s got to start the conversation. Especially when your hot water tank bursts and water is spewing all over the place. I don’t know about you but nobody in my circle is talking about hot water tank replacements…… You can thank me later.
What to do when you are considering a hot water tank replacement
Look at options
For the last 16 years we have relied on two 40 gallon water tanks to keep the house happy with warm water. We have never had a problem with the ones that our builder installed but a few years ago we talked about replacing the current one’s or putting them on a timer to save on energy costs. Sadly, neither of those options happened before they needed too. Look at options sooner than later.
Your water heater won’t last forever
They say that regular maintenance will extend the life of your water heater, although we never had to do anything to ours. One of them just busted at the seam. The life expectancy of a tank is 8-12 years and ours was 16, it was just a matter of time before I would be having to suck up water from the storage room carpet.
The life expectancy of a hot water tank is based on the location, brand of the unit, quality of installation, maintenance schedule and water quality.
Be prepared if it leaks
Our hot water tank burst actually started as a slow leak that I discovered when I went into our storage room one day and my toes were squishing. Initially we didn’t even think it was the water tanks, until the squishing water was hot. Time to think about those options that we talked about years ago.
Do your research before you show up at the store or order online
Since my hubby had already done some of the research and I was looking to free up some much needed space in the storage room, we went with this tankless hot water heater. Oh my, talk about freeing up additional space. The Eemax unit, which is able to heat 3 showers and 2 sinks simultaneously should also reduce my monthly electric bill considerably. The reviews say that the unit is 99.8% energy efficient so I’ll follow up later this month to give you an update on that.
My hubby is pretty handy and was able to install the unit in a couple of hours. We already had dedicated electrical breakers as this requires 3 x 40 amps at 240 volts. You may also need to work with a plumber and electrician to install.
During the last two weeks I have not had any issues with the amount of time hot water comes out of the faucets or sinks, which I have heard is a common complaint with tankless heaters.
Curious if you are currently using a tankless water heater and if you have any opinions or recommendations. Leave them in the comments so we can all share in the conversation.
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grateful
for hot water
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It stinks when that happens. Good choice going tankless. Sorry about all the water
Ours broke in our old house. Funny thing, no water ever leaked out. The strangest thing.
Enjoy your week
Cindy
lucky you! how did you know it was broken?
We had no hot water and our plumber said it was empty. Said we were lucky, very rare
I get so aggravated with our tankless water heaters. I feel as if I waste so much water waiting for it to get hot. Once it’s hot it’s great but don’t adjust it too much or then it’s cold again. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the kitchen sick which it right above the storage room where the heater is located or across the house to the master bath. This is in our vacation home…..if it was my permanent residence I’d be ripping it out! If I’m there for more than a weekend I get so frustrated!
oh no Gina. I actually don’t think I have that much of a delay in getting hot water. I actually turn the shower on then get it so it always is hot. Our kitchen is not directly above or near the storage room so I have always had a slight delay even with the hot water tanks. I get how frustrating it can be though.
I hope the tankless units have improved. My parents had one, they became so frustrated with it taking so long to heat water for showers, they went back to the old tank version. Anxious for your review!
We installed a tankless water heater when we remodeled our 100+ yo farmhouse, 12 years ago. I love the space saving feature and the energy savings, but it does take a little bit of running water to get the hot water to the furthest sink. I don’ t want to go back to standard water heater though.
Pat
I had no idea that tankless was around 12 years ago….see what I mean, nobody talks about that stuff! 🙂 have a great week.
A while ago we thought our hot water tank was shot, but our long-time plumber came and was able to just replace the thermo coupler, and we should be good to go for a while. At that time we asked him about installing a tankless system – he said two things – #1 – The length of time that we plan on living here won’t be enough time to have the savings be more than the price of the system. #2 – The jury is still out on how these tanks will perform over time.
We rented a carriage house in the Adirondacks for vacation last year, and we didn’t care for their tankless system – it took quite a while for the on demand hot water to come out the faucet. One thing I do like is the small amount of space these new tanks take up. I guess we will make a decision on this when and if our water tank does quit for good.
so far so good for us, albeit it’s only been 2 weeks. With 500.00 electric bills ( in the hottest months of the summer) any savings is good enough for me. I’ll have to see if it helps my bill this month. Have a great week.
We knew that our hot water heater was about on its last leg so we were proactive and replaced it before it flooded the garage…we replaced it with another tankless heater (another brand) and loved it and the space it created…it was pricey, but worth it….going forward in the new house we will have the tankless too…I love your thinking, “now what can I do with all that free space” !!!
Hi Shirley, which brand did you have?
I am sure this is on our list soon. We bought a house that is 12 years old with the original water heater so we are running on borrowed time too.
There is no difference in the amount of time it takes for water to get a fixture wether tankless or tank type. You have to displace the existing cold water in the line with hot. When building a house locate the water heater what ever type in a central location to minimize distance for delivery which shortens waiting time and wasted water. You can also have a looped return line for continuous hot water if plumbed when house is built. It is of course energy wasteful but water conscious.
It’s scientifically proven if you replace the sacrificial anode rod in the tank before it is depleted the tank can last indefinitely. The corrosion inside the tank eats away the anode rather than the tank interior. My first water heater last thirty years it was a cheap brand that i replaced anode every five years until i forgot about it and it finally burst. When I replaced the unit so I removed the anode of old unit and found it was completely depleted. Lesson learned
Tim – what is a sacrificial anode rod?
This post is so coincidental. Our water heater failed this past weekend at the lake. We had a houseful for the weekend. A little embarrassing as it was about 92 degrees. A new meaning behind “Go jump in the lake”!
Good luck!
Jane
My hot water heater just busted a leak and flooded my house with 3″ of water, and yes, I cried. All my furniture was ruined and 1 foot of my sheetrock all around the house was cut out and no more laminate flooring. My house looks like a bomb went off in there.
Your article should just say water heaters not hot water heaters. The water is not hot before it enters the storage tank to be heated it so it’s a water heater. As a plumber this is a pet peeve to most of us