True
 

Two days ago I received a notice that I needed to replace my hot water heater due to its age ( 2002 original) my new insurance company would not insure if this isn’t done. Thinking of tankless. Any suggestions? We have gas.

I have read my Rheem manual, and it doesn't have any definitive recommendations for maintenance of an electric tank type water heater. It only "suggests" draining a small amount of water from the tank occasionally. There is no recommendation for draining and flushing the entire tank, or for replacing the anode. I have never done any maintenance on a water heater.

Huh? You don't HAVE to do anything, except pay your taxes. You don't HAVE to replace the anode rod, but you should unless you want the tank to rust through and leak or rupture.

Anode rods are available in "linked" segments of approximately 18", which allow them to be installed in tanks that are mounted in a way leaving little vertical clearance.

Water Input
 

I think electric water heaters have a major enemy called calcium. We had an electric heater many years ago that had heating elements that needed changed out every few years. Our water was high in calcium and when the tech removed one of the elements a lot of sand like material came out; he stated it was calcium. I’m not sure if Florida water has a high concentration of the mineral or not. If it does, I would drain it every couple of years.

Yes, yearly flush out of the tank to get rid of the sediment.

Annual flushing and replace anode rod every 4 or 5 years is adequate for electric H20 heater, never owned a gas or tankless heater so not sure. On the other hand, you can do nothing and just replace the heater every 10 - 12 years for about $850.

The Villages water has calcium, but it is not very high in calcium. Basically, it is considered to be average water.

Most people never pay attention to their tank hot water heater, gas or electric until it bursts, stops working, leaks or the insurance company sends them a letter.

For tank hot water heaters you should drain a couple of buckets of water yearly to reduce sediment and although you can change the anode rod (Its not that easy), its best to just replace the tank the year after the warrenty is up since under normal conditions the anode rod is supposed to last the warranty life of the tank.

If you have a whole house water filter in the garage yearly tank draining isn't necessary and if you have a water softener even better.

The thought process to change the tank hot water heater right after it's warrenty limit, 10-12 years normally, is because you never know when the tank will leak or burst causing all kinds of other damages to your home, some of which might inclulde mold.

I always hear stories of that one person who nurses their tank hot water heater for 15-20 years or even longer to only find out that it was leaking for the last 5 years or more and now they have mold and other sheetrock damage. Or the same person who goes away and when they come home they find the water heater burst and there is flood damage.

So all this said, a very high efficiency 40-50 gallon tank hot water heater costs on a non-emergency basis about $1,200 installed. This is not a huge cost to incurr every 10-12 years given all of these unknown risks will be mitagated and you will be saving money with an efficient heater.

As far as electric or gas tankless heater conversions, if you have an electric tank hot water heater you probably don't have enough electric at the tank for the tankless unit. So a new electric line will need to be run. For gas you need to check the size of the gas supply and the exhaust. Either way it can be costly to do the conversion since you only spend a couple hundred dollars a year to heat hot water for a typical home here in the Villages and the savings with tankless isn't that much. You should consider a tankless heater if you have a larger family and need unlimited hot water. Most of us here in the villages are two people households and a tank heater supplies more than enough hot water.

I wonder how many people have a problem with the faucet on the tank after draining the tank. Lot of sediment goes through that valve

Or a with whole house water filter, I plan to clean my tankless every 5 years. After the first year of use, the screen was completely clean.

Do you really think that opening the small drain valve will get rid of the sediment? The valve opening is very tiny compared to the overall size of the tank. Most of the sediment is caked onto the bottom and sides of the tank, so draining the tank using that small valve will not remove it.

If your water comes from Sumter county, this isn't correct. Water harness here is 172 mg/l based on the county's 2021 water report. 120 - 180 mg/l is considered hard water.

Here is the report: Sumter County Water Report

And here is the definition of hard water: What is hard water

I've had good luck flushing tanks using the drain valve. Leave the water on while opening and closing the drain valve shut-off. The water pressure helps blow out and break up the deposits. And when testing the TPR valve, or opening it to help the water drain from the tank, give the TPR a couple of taps with wrench to help clear out the sediement which can accumulate on the rubber seal in the TPR.

It is difficult to determine how much sediment you can remove by opening the drain valve. But, it seems to me that you will get a similar flushing action by just turning on the hot water faucets full blast in your house, especially near the water tank. The hot water pipe existing the water heater is actually larger than the drain valve. If you really want to flush out the tank, you need a larger drain valve.