Totally OT: home repair question

Personal Finances Building / Maintaining a Home
1

There used to be a Home Repair Board but I can’t find it and in any case METAR is more active.

The situation:

My house was built in 1987. It’s a small ranch house on one level (with a partial finished basement).

The utility closet is in the main bathroom on the first floor. The closet is 30” deep and about 6 feet wide. It has an opening covered with an accordion-type door.

The hot water heater is in the furthest corner in a 31” X 30” space. The dryer and washer are next. They are accessible from the door.

The washer leaked onto the floor last week. It isn’t the first time. I’m not sure it was defective but in any case DH got a hand cart and dragged the washer and then dryer out of the house. I got busy ordering a new washer and dryer.

Then I thought…since the washer and dryer are out of the way the water heater is accessible.

I asked Google Gemini and it said:

  1. The water heater is very old and should be replaced proactively before it springs a leak and causes an expensive flood. Also, the old water heater probably has a lot of mineral buildup which is making it less efficient.
  2. Old water heaters (while not energy efficient) are significantly more robust than new water heaters. A new water heater only has a 10 year life expectancy. Is it a good idea to replace a strong old-design water heater with a weak new-design water heater? (Which will supposedly pay for itself by energy savings.)

DH says that I should not replace the old water heater. He says that it has a good ceramic lining and there’s no reason to think it will fail. But I have seen DH delay fixes before which did not turn out well. I don’t want to go against DH’s advice but I want to make a data-based decision.

The plumber says that he has seen many water heater leaks that were destructive.

What do you’all think? Should I replace the 1987 hot water heater?

Wendy

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I personally would replace it. They aren’t that expensive and water damage is a real headache. If you don’t replace it, put a pan underneath and install a leak detector. Probably should install a leak detector no matter what.

Also this is a good time to install seismic strapping if you haven’t already.

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What McLovin said, and also consider an instant tankless heater…. the pros and cons revolve around both energy prices and personal use patterns, but tankless is worth a look.

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Yes, we have seismic strapping since we live near the Cascadia subduction zone.

Wendy

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Yes, agree. I myself did this proactively four months ago and mine was “only” 27 years old. I’ve been watching the water heaters of neighbors fail continuously for more than 10 years with about the same age on them as mine and often the same specs. This was a ‘contractor’ grade unit, though, so that means it was not particularly high quality to begin with, but they are relatively simple devices.

Pete

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Yes.

I agree that older water heaters were built much more sturdily than the current ones. That’s crapification in action for you. But even those high quality heaters of yore have a limited life span. And yours is getting close to 40 years old.

As you have said to intercst on more than one occasion, you can afford this replacement with no affect on your life style. Why run the risk of a failure that could cause damage and considerable inconvenience?

Think of it as an insurance policy. Pay a smaller amount now to get some peace of mind that you won’t have a much larger expense down the road. But don’t cheap out in the new unit or the contractor to install it. Get a good quality replacement and don’t pick the cheapest plumber in the yellow pages (I guess that should be in the interwebs these days! :blush:)

PS. Neither you nor DH are still in your 40s. No need to haul the old washer and dryer out yourself. The installer will do that for you.

PPS. Says the guy in his 60s who didn’t follow his own advice on this just a few months ago. Then again, I didn’t pay for installation of the new washer, either, because the replacement itself was a strain on the budget and I’m still healthier than average for my age. Plus my washer is in the garage, so there’s no close quarters maneuvering required.

—Peter

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Speaking as one who has owned and maintained a number of rent houses, Yes, replace it. I’d put in a non-metallic tank variety, like the Rheem Marathon. Lifetime guarantee, nothing to corrode, won’t ever leak. Plus they are super insulated and so quite efficient.

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Wendy,

Since there are so many options, I recommend starting here to narrow down your choices:

Consumer Reports

Water Heater Buying Guide

Updated September 15, 2025

https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/water-heaters/buying-guide/

In 1987, I bought my current single-family residence in Los Angeles County and in 1998, replaced the original 50-gallon natural gas tanked water heater with IMO at that time the highest quality for a higher priced Bradford-White 50-gal gas tanked water heater with a 10-year warranty that 27 years later continues to operate well.

Transitioning my post to on topic, if my water tank heater failed, buying a natural gas-powered replacement in my neck of the woods would encounter the following ongoing, up-in-the-air socio-economic-environmental dilemma.

CalMatters

June 6, 2025

Air board (i.e., South Coast Air Quality Management District board for the 4-county region of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties) rejects smog rules phasing out gas-powered heaters in LA basin

https://calmatters.org/environment/2025/06/gas-water-heaters-furnaces-phaseout-la-basin-aqmd-rules/

IN SUMMARY

The new rules would have set increasing targets for sales of zero-emission products in the 4-county L.A. region over the next decade. Opponents say they would have limited consumers’ choices and driven up costs, while supporters say they are critical for healthy air.

After a contentious, five-hour hearing, Southern California air quality regulators rejected measures that would have phased out residential gas-powered water heaters and furnaces in the Los Angeles basin.

The two rules, designed to clean up one of the biggest sources of the region’s severe smog, would have set increasing targets for sales of zero-emission products in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties over the next decade — beginning with 30% in 2027. The targets would not have been mandatory, although manufacturers would pay fees for each natural gas water heater or furnace they sell.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District board in a 7-5 vote rejected its boldest smog-fighting proposal in years. The decision, driven mostly by concerns about affordability, was a rare rebuke of measures proposed by the agency’s staff, which came after years of compromise and efforts to scale back what originally was a mandate phasing out the polluting heaters.

The board voted 7-4 to send the two proposed rules back to a committee, which means any new version likely won’t be considered until next year.

An overflow crowd of several hundred people attended today’s hearing, with more than 200 people testifying. In addition, the agency received more than 30,000 written comments, fueled by an aggressive push of opposition from the gas and building industries.

“Despite not being called a mandate, the rules would force on consumers electric units that are more expensive upfront to purchase, may require costly panel upgrades and are more costly to operate with rate increases being sought by providers,” Chino Mayor Pro Tem Chris Burton told the board, adding that the electric heat pumps also would increase demand on an already stressed grid.

The Trump administration’s Justice Department warned the air district in a letter Thursday that it would sue to block the rules.

“California regulators are on notice: if you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court. The law is clear—feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said on X.

https://x.com/usattyessayli/status/1930763910459830700?s=46

I highly recommend reading the entire CalMatters article.

Regards,

Ray

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Water heaters fail two ways – a small leak think drip – drip - drip. This can go on for a long time and if you have a gas water heater the natural draft of air for combustion will hide things until the drips get larger and more frequent — think a larger hole.

The second kind is a flow of water - can be anything up to the full flow of a bath tub faucet.

The technology of today’s typical water heaters is not much different from 50 years ago. A steel tank with a sintered glass lining. Today you have a lot of options that did not exist 50 years ago. Tankless, heat pump, and stainless steel to mention a few.

Particuarly with the water heater buried behind other appliances, I would replace that water heater - and I would do like next week. When it is not leaking you can look at brands, plumbers and even new options like tankless.

If you want anything other than the typical units, you will want time to talk with plumbers who have installed and do a bit of research. These are things 99% of the world will not do if their tank is leaking. Also where we live it is not for sure a decent plumber can come this week.

If you go with tankless do not consider the bottom of the cost range. These are inherently more expensive to make and they have to compete with the “Builder Special” units. We have a water recirculating system and it is great. I find this like air conditioning and automatic transmissions - now that I have it, I would not give it up to save a few bucks.

Rinnai units have a recirculating feature on some units.

At a minimum I say spend $40 or $50 and get a leak alarm under your water heater - not one with batteries rather one that plugs in the wall.

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I second looking into a tankless water heater.

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We had one fail at the entry point of the water input to the heater. It failed late at night, and when we woke up the basement was about 4 inches deep in water, as the line, unbridled by any back pressure, just kept shooting out a stream for 8 hours.

Yeah, that was an insurance claim - handled wonderfully by Amica (didn’t even charge us the deductible, they got that from GE who made the heater) but the hassle of remediation with special fans and replacing the lowest wallboard all around and repainting the (mostly) finished basement was a hassle I’d rather not go through again.

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Yea, those were the good old days. We had boards where you could get answers to stuff but NOOOOOO they just had to go and change it. Yea, change is good. Sure.

The only reason everyone “has” to use METAR is because there’s basically no where else to go.

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Except that’s not what Wendy did: she used this board, “Building / Maintaining a Home” that is exactly the right place for her question and in which she received a fair number of responses. IOW, there was some place for her to go with her question.

I have difficulties with the current boards, too, (maybe with the total ejections of people whose views are not adjacent to the monitor’s?), but not with Wendy’s appropriate use of this one.

Pete

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Of course she used this board. You see a couple of months ago she said the if you place “OT” in front of you subject it’s totally OK to use the board (or whatever you call it) for anything you want. Makes sense, right?

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Her “OT” comment had more to do with the METAR board since it was being used for all sorts of things unrelated to economics, let alone macro-economics. I don’t really see why she put an “OT” on this board since this board is precisely the kind of place where her question belonged. Now if she is also posting a question about a water heater on METAR, I could definitely see why she would use OT.

Pete

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@MataroPete you are absolutely right.

I posted OT on METAR because I couldn’t find the Building/ Maintaining a Home Board and didn’t even know if it still existed.

Then one of the kindly TMF monitors moved it to this board where it is ON topic but didn’t take away the “Totally OT” title.

I appreciate everyone’s input.

Wendy

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Hi @WendyBG,

Here is the ‘board’

We have always had electric hot water heaters. Had one old one that had a leak and made quite a mess in the basement.

In our house we built in 2005, I bought a Rheem Marathon 40 gallon through our electric coop. They delivered it for free and 14 years after install, the vacuum relief valve started to drip. They came out and fixed for free.

In this house, I bought an 85 gallon Rheem Marathon. With guests in the house, we have had 6 showers back-to-back and still had hot water for me at the end.

So, like @Wyomingtim, I would replace it and if it is electric, I LOVE the Rheem Marathon.

If you are tempted to get a heat pump water heater, I would not do it. Inside a relatively enclosed area like you have, the temperature in the “closet” would increase which will decrease the efficiency of the heat pump.

Does that help you?

Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
Profile - gdett2 - Motley Fool Community (Click Expand)

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Actually it’s the opposite. I have one, and it lowers the temperature in the room dramatically as it heats the water. (That’s what they do: steal heat from one place to put it in another.)

Because it’s in the same room with the HVAC units, I figure it helps them too on hot days. As it turns out, now that I have battery storage for my small solar setup, and the batteries/inverter make heat, I pipe the “cold” air coming off the water heater into the room next door with the batteries, and it all evens out.

The heat pump water heater is incredibly more efficient than a resistance heater one, but also expensive enough that I don’t know where the break-even point would be. (We have low electric rates; in a high rate environment it might make good sense.)

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As Goofy commented, the congestion should not be a problem.

My research identified another issue that should be considered. There are filters that must be cleaned periodically. When filters are seriously dirty, there will be a notice on the heater’s control board (which may not be easy to see) or notice to an App if your heaters uses an App. But look at videos of the actual cleaning process. It is not so simple remove a 30 inch tall filter from the top of a water heater - admittedly this is worst case. But even the more easily accessed filters are not as simple as furnace filters.

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Yes, I put the wrong temperature sense in my post, but the gist of it is still VALID!

As the heat pump extracts heat inside the enclosed space, the ambient temperature goes DOWN.

Anyone that has ever used a heat pump KNOWS that lower temperatures being pulled through the “outside unit” means there IS LESS HEAT ENERGY to put into the fluid!

This is very basic thermo.

If the doors are louvered and air can freely circulate, the closet should be Ok.

If the doors do not provide adequate air exchange, it is probably a problem.

Does that help you?

Gene
All holdings and some statistics on my Fool profile page
https://community.fool.com/u/gdett2/activity (Click Expand)