What brand heater ?

I would just get rid of them and not replace them. Since your water is already hot there's no need to reheat it.

Sediment is due to water chemistry. As you heat the water, things come out. They have to go somewhere; either in the tank or in the water line (if you have a tankless).

The popping sound is the water heating and is normal due to water chemistry. Installing a water softener will extend the life of your unit, but won't make it bullet-proof.

Personally, not a fan of softeners. Require chemicals and produce a lot of wasted water, but that's a different discussion. Also, don't like how it doesn't leave a 'clean' feeling in the shower.


Draining the tanks periodically is good and will help with the life expectancy. Check the pop-off valves as well to make sure they work.

Other than that, they should last a while. The originals for my parent's house lasted from 1992 till about 2007 (or 2008, forgot exactly). Replacing in the attic wasn't bad; hardest part was getting the new one in. Heavier and larger.

~egon

Ours is in the attic. After my sister's blew up (hers was in the closet) & did MAJOR damage I got real nervous. I replaced mine as a preventive measure because it was at or right past its life expectancy. The labor on replacing those in the attic is high. It requires 2 people & you have to be sure the tank will fit thru the attic opening & they are heavy. When the 2nd tank reached its life expect I replaced it w/a tankless in the attic.

Mine made it about 10 years. Fortunately the one that developed a leak was in the garage. The other one in the attic just went out.

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Replacing in the attic wasn't bad; hardest part was getting the new one in. Heavier and larger.

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Your father obviously didn't make you carry the old sediment filled unit down...

In the home I grew up in we moved the water heater to the attic when dad was considering using the original space for a deep freeze. I don't remember exactly when it was moved but I was a very young (too young to help) kid. Probably 4 or 5. That thing didn't fail until around 2002/2003. So it lasted almost 20 years.

Put the deepest pan you can buy up there and run the pans drain line out an eve or soffit where you can't miss it. Preferably by a door you use daily.

Lowe's says that average life expectancy of a water heater is 8 to 12 years.

And to echo what someone else said, getting the unit into the attic is tough, but getting it out is really tough; gravity isn't always your friend.

If you're in the hill country you might consider yourself lucky if you get 10 years out of a water heater... the last ones I helped remove over there were easily 18" of solid rock at the bottom.

Had a 4 year old hot water heater rupture in the attic. I saw water coming out of the overflow pipe on the side of the house as I pulled into the drive and got up there and turned off the water just in time. The pan was full and about to over flow. I shutter to think what would have happened if we had been out of town.

It cost $1700 to replace (it was on a weekend).

You are doing good now if you get 7-10 years out of a tank heater. The quality has really declined in the past 10 years. If it's in the attic I would place a water alarm in the pan as a precaution.

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I do have water alarms in the pans but we are out of town a lot which scares me. Do you think tankless would be a lot more expensive to replace than two 40 gallon tanks in the attic?

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I have some friends that turn off the water to their house when they go out of town for cheap insurance.

From my understanding tankless need a bigger gas supply line than are usually plumbed to a tank water heater.

Ruptures happen but out of the 10 or so water heaters i've replaced all of them were just leaking.

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I do have water alarms in the pans but we are out of town a lot which scares me. Do you think tankless would be a lot more expensive to replace than two 40 gallon tanks in the attic?

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Yes, it would be more expensive, but there is less flood risk.

I was in the same exact situation last year. I replaced both of my water heaters with one large propane tankless one. I would do it again if I had to. Now, I don't have to come home wondering if my house would be flooded from one of them bursting.

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Replacing in the attic wasn't bad; hardest part was getting the new one in. Heavier and larger.

---

Your father obviously didn't make you carry the old sediment filled unit down...

In the home I grew up in we moved the water heater to the attic when dad was considering using the original space for a deep freeze. I don't remember exactly when it was moved but I was a very young (too young to help) kid. Probably 4 or 5. That thing didn't fail until around 2002/2003. So it lasted almost 20 years.

Put the deepest pan you can buy up there and run the pans drain line out an eve or soffit where you can't miss it. Preferably by a door you use daily.

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I installed the unit. It took 3 of us to get it up into the attic (a friend from A&M who you know and worked under Kenneth), but only 1 (me) to get it down.

Hard piped copper made nice handles and the sediment was not bad. Just a leaking tank. Being skinnier meant that it almost fell through the attic opening, rather than trying to push a fat drunk person up the stairs.


But I agree with the drains. My parent's go to the side of the house with the driveway. You will know pretty quickly if something is leaking.

~egon

Helped a buddy replace both of his in the attic last summer.

Echo getting the old one out...heavy as hell being filled with sediment.

if i were you, i'd proactively replace them especially if they're popping. you can try to drain the sediment off but it might be too late if it wasn't done consistently in prior years.

whether or not tankless makes sense for you, that's hard to say. for me, i looked into going tankless and it just wasn't worth the cost to me right now. in 6 years or so when this new water heater i put in last feb is getting older maybe that will be different.

Anyone replace the drain valve? My current one has a gate valve. I get the feeling when I drain it that I'm not getting the larger pieces and was thinking of changing to a ball valve.

"You will know pretty quickly if something is leaking."

Unless of course you just left your house & you will be gone all day or you are out of town (that happened to my sister). In that case it won't matter because you will find MAJOR damage when you arrive back home.