Two weeks ago I went to the basement and found a puddle of water all around my water heater.
It looks to me it is leaking from the pressure valve. Is it possible to replace the pressure valve without doing the entire water heater?
Do you think I should just replace the entire thing?
It is possible to replace just the pressure valve - my water heater even has a label for how to replace the valve on it. Some plumbers will not do it, however, out of either fear of liability, concerns over safety, or just a desire to sell you a water heater. Generally speaking, they at a minimum want to do a complete inspection to try to see if the water heater is overheating.
Whether or not you should replace the entire thing depends largely on the age and quality of the water heater. A hundred people will have a hundred different opinions on this - mine is if the water heater is an off brand and near 10 years, then you should consider replacing it. If it’s a really good brand, then maybe see about repairing it and keeping a close eye on it until it gets to 15 years. However, you might also check the energy usage on it versus a new one - when I replaced my water heater about 3 years ago, I calculated that the savings in gas paid for the new heater in about 5 years. Note as well that there is a tax rebate right now on super-efficient Energy Star water heaters, but I do not think there are that many models to choose from.
Thanks for the reply. I would have to say that the water heater is at least 10 years old. As hard as it is for me to believe, I’ve been in here 7 years and it was here then. But I couldn’t say how long before that.
I agree with Una, if it is 10 years old it is time to replace it since a newer model would be much more efficient. You should calculate usage and maybe look at a high efficiency on-demand heater while you’re at it. You can save tons of money and receive the tax incentives as well.
I have thought seriously about on-demand. However I have hard water (I do use a salt water softener) and iron in my water and I was thinking that this might clog the heat-exchangers. (OK, I have to confess I know very very little about this stuff, so I may have it all wrong.)
I did some searching around today, and I’d say opinions are divided on whether or not hard water is a particular problem with tankless heaters, with most non-company sources saying “yes, hard water is more of a problem with tankless heaters.” One variable is lack of actual measurement of water hardness in the home - vis, folks think that they have “hard water” when they really don’t, while others think that they don’t have hard water when they really do.
Thank you for poking around and you make a valid point. I really have no idea if my water is hard. I assume it is because the people before me had a water softener.
I do know for sure it is high in iron content. I can smell it, taste it and see the rust stains all over.