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Thread: Hot Water Tank Is Leaking!

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

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    Hot Water Tank Is Leaking!

    I went to the basement to get a can of paint this morning and the floor in front of the hot water tank was wet. It looks like it's leaking from somewhere on the bottom, so I'm assuming this is a terminal situation. I've always told myself that when the tank dies, I'd put in an "on demand" water heater. Checking prices at Lowes and Home Depot have me reconsidering that thought. A new gas-fired water tank starts around $500, a gas-fired tankless heater runs 3X that! Yikes! I'm looking for some advice here, but I'm pretty sure the tankless heater is not gonna' happen. So, given that, what's a good hot water tank, any opinions on that?
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

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  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Check with your local plumbing supply store
    When I priced them they were only about 2x the cost and you could actually realize the return on energy savings
    Local was cheaper than big box
    NRA High Master XTC
    DR# 2125

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    Electrod47's Avatar
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    4 years ago my propane water heater went out. Ordered through my gas company, just like the first one. It was 700 bucks.
    “You should tell someone what you know. There should be a history, so that men can learn from it.

    He smiled. “Men do not learn from history. Each generation believes itself brighter than the last, each believes it can survive the mistakes of the older ones. Each discovers each old thing and they throw up their hands and say ‘See! Look what I have found! Look upon what I know!’ And each believes it is something new.

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  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    i ordered one through the local electric company, cheaper than the stores

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    The on demand water heaters can have thousands of dollars in service calls soon after the warranty runs out. Ask what your plumber has, bet it's a tank.

    I am having issues with the Honeywell electronic control on a tank heater, wild temperature increases. This is the second replacement so Bradford White Customer Service offered me a mechanical thermostat and I ordered that today.

    My choice is a tank water heater with a mechanical thermostat. If you can stay away from the Honeywell/electronic thermostats the water heater may last 30 years.

    Those old Unitrol water heater controls were Bulletproof. Honeywell grabbed the market and ran it into the ground.
    Last edited by Mal Paso; 09-15-2022 at 04:49 PM.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master Half Dog's Avatar
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    My thought has been that; if it’s leaking replace it quickly. It seems that the fewer gizmos equates to a longer lasting unit.
    The sooner I fall behind...the more time I have to catch up with

  7. #7
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    I had a Rinnai installed when our house was built 17 years ago. Other than annual flushing, we had no service calls. Many times both showers, the washer and dishwasher were going simultaneously- no loss of hot water. It got to where it wasn't working right a month ago- so I had it replaced with a current model. It wasn't cheap, but I knew that going in. I'm a fan.

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  8. #8
    Boolit Master


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    If NY requires a power venting on your gas fired water heater, the price goes up a bunch. If you don't plan on selling your house for a while, get an naturally aspirated one. But count on replacing it with one with a power vent when you go to sell. Found that out on a couple houses I sold recently. At 2500 a pop, I lost my sense of humor pretty quick. If selling is in your future within the next five years or so, get an electric. As pointed out in a couple prior posts, your utility company will likely have a deal if you buy or lease an electric water heater from them. Good luck.
    “Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master TurnipEaterDown's Avatar
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    Maybe you already know, so if you do then this was just well meant and made not knowing what you know.

    Best bet to use the insulated (dielectric) couplers when hooking up a new tank. New water heaters have very small anodes now, and many are replaceable.

    8 Years ago in my old house the old water heater (30 something years old) croaked, and I replaced it. I hooked up the new just like the old, and as I had seen many times over the years. Hard coupled, soldered copper to threaded fitting at tank. New one croaked in a year. Got another, and as I was looking for fittings the guy at the plumbing dept said: '...don't forget the dielectric couplers...' at which point I said: 'tell me more'. I used them, water heater was fine when I left the house last year. No corrosion on fittings, no nothing to disappoint.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master

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    The venting is the expensive part.

    We've had one 3-4 years. Like the endless supply and lower utility bill, but I'm not sure I'd get another.
    The enemy of good is better.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy


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    When my electric water heater died I replaced it with a GE GeoSpring hybrid electric unit. It uses a heat pump primarily but has a traditional heating element backup. There are only two of us in the house and we do not have a high hot water demand. It takes longer to recover, but saved us $50 a month on the electric. I have it set to use only the heat pump, but it can be set use only the electric element, or two hybrid modes. When set to the hybrid high demand mode it recovers quicker than my old electric unit. It has been a good performer for over eight years. I also considered an on demand system, but the local plumbing supply did not recommend them since the well water in our area scales them quickly. In one case a unit needed to be replaced in six months. If you have hard water it may be an issue to consider.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    We put a tankless in when we built our house six years ago. We have had zero problems with it. As others have mentioned the venting on a gas heater is expensive, but if you get the high efficiency model like we did you can vent with schedule 40 instead of the double walled metal pipe. We bought ours through the local building supply for 2/3 the price from Lowes.
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TurnipEaterDown View Post
    Maybe you already know, so if you do then this was just well meant and made not knowing what you know.

    Best bet to use the insulated (dielectric) couplers when hooking up a new tank. New water heaters have very small anodes now, and many are replaceable.

    8 Years ago in my old house the old water heater (30 something years old) croaked, and I replaced it. I hooked up the new just like the old, and as I had seen many times over the years. Hard coupled, soldered copper to threaded fitting at tank. New one croaked in a year. Got another, and as I was looking for fittings the guy at the plumbing dept said: '...don't forget the dielectric couplers...' at which point I said: 'tell me more'. I used them, water heater was fine when I left the house last year. No corrosion on fittings, no nothing to disappoint.
    Dielectric fittings are a waste of money, electricity goes right through the water. So said my uncle, Copper and Brass Assn. 50 years ago. The 16-24 inch copper or stainless flex connector pipes used now have Dielectric Fittings on Both Ends anyway.

    Better to get 2 water pipe ground clamps and some 6 gauge bare copper and put a jumper between inlet and outlet pipes. That will neutralize the charge. That's what's required here now.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

  14. #14
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    Like so many other things- it's a 'get what you pay for' industry.

    When I'm trying to figure out something like that, I look at how long they warranty it.
    That's usually a good indicator of quality.
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  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
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    It seems that very little manufactured today lasts very long. Our old gas water heater lasted for 30 years and the new replacement made it 4 years before the Honeywell controller went bad. We were supplied with a new controller under warranty.
    A friend had a tankless system installed and that lasted about 4 years,. I do not know what brand it was, but he did not realize any savings there.
    I figure a water heater is worth the $4 per week it will cost to replace it when it quits working.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master Randy Bohannon's Avatar
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    I wouldn’t have a tank water heater ever again even if you paid me , neighbor put a tankless water in heater 30 years ago, wife three kids later still works like it always has. I put a Rinnai tankless in my house 4 years ago replacing a inefficient tank heater that ate up space in the basement it has been perfect,I have gas stove and boiler heat as well and have never seen a gas bill over $100.00 .

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by centershot View Post
    I went to the basement to get a can of paint this morning and the floor in front of the hot water tank was wet. It looks like it's leaking from somewhere on the bottom, so I'm assuming this is a terminal situation. I've always told myself that when the tank dies, I'd put in an "on demand" water heater. Checking prices at Lowes and Home Depot have me reconsidering that thought. A new gas-fired water tank starts around $500, a gas-fired tankless heater runs 3X that! Yikes! I'm looking for some advice here, but I'm pretty sure the tankless heater is not gonna' happen. So, given that, what's a good hot water tank, any opinions on that?
    I found a smaller one at HD for around $330, just a couple of weeks ago. https://www.homedepot.com/p/EZ-Tankl...2LPG/206712542 isn't the one I was looking at before, but similar. Funny it showed that, as I specified natural gas.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master

    rancher1913's Avatar
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    tankless heaters can be great-----but it depends on the water quality you have. any hardness and you will need to do loads of upkeep, even with good water they require service regularly. the tank do waste a little money and you dont have an unlimited amount of hot water but they are tried and tested. nobody around here will sell or install tankless because of the water quality, and the fact that they dont want to hassle with getting paid under warranty. some areas of the country they work great, do your research, talk to local plumbers.
    if you are ever being chased by a taxidermist, don't play dead

  19. #19
    Boolit Master

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    Installed a tankless electric in Mom's house last fall, same German brand that my daughter has had for about 4 years. Daughter said hers used less electricity than the 80 gallon heater she replaced. Mom went into the rest home, my wife and I have been using her house while we build ours. The electric bill has gone down but we are not here full time.

    The heater is a Steibel Eltron, got it from Amazon. The regular price was about $750, ordered an open box for about 1/2 price. The first one I received had severe damage. It was replaced at no cost and the replacement was in perfect condition. The only drawback was that I had to replace the breakers and wiring. The original tank heater had a 30 amp 240V service and the tankless required a 60 amp 240V service. I put a propane fired tankless in the new house before having experience with the Steibel Eltron. This will be the fourth tankless heater in three houses. The first one, about 35 years ago, had to have replacement thermocouples 2 or three times. The second one was a small electric that serviced 1 bathroom in an addition. The third was propane that served for about 10 years with no problems when that house was sold.
    Spell check doesn't work in Chrome, so if something is spelled wrong, it's just a typo that I missed.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Mal Paso's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    Like so many other things- it's a 'get what you pay for' industry.

    When I'm trying to figure out something like that, I look at how long they warranty it.
    That's usually a good indicator of quality.
    With tank water heaters the Big difference between the 6 and 12 year warranty units is the warranty. They figured out how much more the 12 year warranty cost them and charge for that. Sometimes the 12 year will have a second anode but often not. This was common knowledge in the trades.

    Water heaters would last longer if people replaced the anode. When that is used up pinholes in the glass lining of steel tank allow the steel to be attacked.

    Until the Honeywell thermostat tank heaters were a 30 year product.
    Mal

    Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.

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