It was raining today...

[Pappy]

...so I took care of a job I have been putting off for too long.

Our water is extrremely hard and calcium builds up in the bottom of the HW heater to the point that the lower element is covered and no longer works. I spent about 3 hours with the shop vac cleaning it out. The build up on the lower element was bad enough that the element was almost completely eaten through in one place. I went ahead and replaced them both.

After the first of the year I am going to clean it out again and add a filter to the cold water line to keep it clean.

Right now my back hurts so bad I am going to have a soak in a hot bath before bed. Tomorrow I have a 1/2 yard concrete pad to pour!

[cabinetman]

One of those homeowner dilemmas. My last home the WH went about midnight (of course)...had to call the plumber for emergency service...big$. I wasn't in the frame of mind, or had access to supplies for a DIY.

At least you fixed it so now you can soak in hot water.

.

[dbhost]

I love how efficient my water heater is, except for energy, space, making water warm etc... Yeah I hate the danged thing... I have been considering ripping it out in favor of a tankless. Any ideas on how well the electric versions of those work? Don you wanna be the guinea pig on that?

[Dal300]

Make certain you replace the sacrificial anode every year or two also.
It's there for the same reason Zincs are put on boats.... electrolysis.

If the rod is eaten through or covered in minerals electrolysis will start to destroy anything else it finds handy, namely the elements and the seam of the sides and top of the tank, the inlet and outlet flanges and anything else that isn't coated.

You can kill a perfectly good water heater in less than 5 years if you aren't careful.

Good Luck!

DF

[Richard in Smithville]

Smithville used to fed from well water. Only a fool would buy a hot water heater as they only lasted around five years!

[cork58]

We have a gas fired water heater for the house, now in the shop I opted to go tankless. The only drawback I found is that it takes some time to get hot because it has to get and deliver the water to demand area. Our well water is so cold that takes a minute or so. I could see that if I were demanding hot water from more than one source it may not be able to keep up. If I shut off the demand and restart after a moment then I get a cold run for a moment right after washing my hair in the shower, trick is don't change the water temp while showering! Don't forget the toilet, it will never get warm water to the mixing valve in time. It does work very well in the shop but I'm not sure if we are there yet for a house environment.

Corks

[jAngiel]

I have an NG tankless in the addition to my house and it works awesome. There are a few quirks with it but the endless hot water is great when you have 6 kids that need to get bathed and ready for bed. My BIL has an electric version and he likes his but I never did ask what his electric bill was like. He replaced his tank so his is a whole house version, mine is supposed to handle one appliance at a time but it can actually handle a couple without any issues. If you have a whirlpool tub they are a necessity in my opinion, those beasts take a ton of water to fill up.

[toolguy1000]

Smithville used to fed from well water. Only a fool would buy a hot water heater as they only lasted around five years!

so you only took cold showers and baths?