Water Heater

[Jumper_Dad]

Question. I have a 12ish year old electric water heater. Warning light says lower element has gone out. At that age is it smarter to repair (new elements) or replace the entire heater?

[CincySportsFan]

Going to be interesting to see the comments on this one, because I know what I did.  I've always wondered if it was the smart thing or not.

I ended up replacing the element.  Was pretty easy to do and wasn't that expensive.

The thing that took the bloody most amount of time, was cleaning the bottom of the tank.  My dad said, "While you've got it empty..."  There was a bunch of sediment on the bottom that I got out.  So, I was glad I did it, even though I was cursing myself while doing it.  I'm sure there's another, easier way to do it than how I attempted.

The only thing I wish/should have done at that time, was to replace the other heating element and the anode rod too.

[All Blue]

If I replaced the entire water heater everytime an element went bad I'd be broke. Very hard water here and used to go thru couple of elements a year. Installed a water softner and its been a couple of years since changing one. Now if I could only remember to change the anode rod because the salt is very hard on a water heater.

[rjs4470]

2 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Question. I have a 12ish year old electric water heater. Warning light says lower element has gone out. At that age is it smarter to repair (new elements) or replace the entire heater?

Elements are pretty easy, cheap fixes. That being said, you've certainly gotten what you would have expected out of the water heater in terms of service, and tank failures are probably your biggest worry now, and they get more and more likely as it continues to age. The advantage to replacing the heater at this point, is you won't have to worry about tank failure anytime soon, and any new heater will likely be way more efficient, and cheaper to operate than your existing tank. For this reason, I'd probably lean towards replacing the heater instead of just the element, assuming that fits in your budget.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

I'd say....the answer is a big 'ol "it depends."

You're at 12 years, so you're more or less living on borrowed time with your heater. Electric heaters usually top out at 15 years old before they need replacing.

The manufacturers and plumbers will tell you to drain and flush your water heater twice a year to keep sediment from building up in the tank. Let's be real, nobody does that. I've been in my house for 3 years now, and I never have. Keeping the sediment cleared out keeps the heater running at full capacity. Also, sediment minerals can sometimes increase the rate of corrosion within your heater's tank and on the parts that are present inside of the tank - that's why the lower element is generally the one to go bad first in electric water heaters...sediment starts building up from the bottom of the tank, and that's the first thing it comes in contact with and causes to go bad.

A replacement element runs $30-40 at a big box store like Lowe's, Home Depot, or Menards (I still chuckle like a 12 year old sometimes when I hear people say "Menards"). Replacement anode rods usually run roundabout $15-30 more than a replacement element.

You can replace elements and anode rods without being a plumbing or home repair expert. And I'd assume there are YouTube videos out there that make it even simpler. It usually does require a special socket for your socket wrench to deal with the anode, and the element requires a special "wrench" (you can get an el-cheapo water heater element wrench for like $10 or $15.)

I will say, sometimes, depending on the condition of your water heater, you can be in the middle of your repair with your new element/anode already purchased, and the parts within the water heater that your elemen/anode connect to can just crumble because of age and corrosion, and then you're stuck going ahead and replacing the whole water heater anyway. One of my friends had that happen not too long ago. He was tightening the new anode into place, and the whole threaded socket that it screwed into just broke away from the tank liner because of corrosion...and just like that, the whole water heater was shot.

[Jumper_Dad]

I think with its age, I am probably going to just get a new one. Last time I had an element go out, I ran into what CWB was talking about...the threads and inside just crumbled away. 

Thanks everyone.