Old water heaters.

[clare]

The question came up a while back about how long a water heater lasts. Out of curiosity I checked the date code on the GSW (gas) water heater I installed shortly after we bought this house in 1982, when the house was 8 years old. It (the water heater, not the house) was built August 1983

The current water heater was installed on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in 1983 (I believe that's columbus day for the Americans).

So the original lasted 9 years - and the replacement has been in service now for TWENTY SEVEN YEARS. GSW 5G30NS

[clare]

Actually, make that TWENYT SIX years and 4 months.

[mike]

That's nothing. My folks have a water heater that is still working after at least 49 years.

[Red Green]

mike wrote in news: [e-mail]:

49 years?!!

Oh I get it, a rain barrel out in the sun :-)

[mike]

[e-mail]:

Sun? What is the.... OH, you mean that glowing disk-shaped thing in the sky that is sometimes seen filtered through the clouds? Yeah, they don't see much of that in the Pacific Northwet.

The tank is an electric model, cranked to thermonuclear temps.

[Oren]

I think the poster meant "boiling water" on the stove?

It made for a nice warm bath in those days.

[Stormin Mormon]

Yeah, but what is that in American years? Or dog years?

[Red Green]

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:hlcpmi $34l$ [e-mail]:

Or Earth years vs Mercury years.?

[aemeijers]

innews: [e-mail]:

It mostly depends on your water quality. In central Indiana where I grew up, the burner and clockwork parts usually crapped out before the tank did. 20+ years was routine.

Guess I oughta check the year on mine, here in SW MI. Pretty sure it is ten years plus at this point. Seems to work fine, and so signs of any leaks.

-- aem sends...

[ransley]

Yes they last, and nobody cared about efficency so they were not designed for it. Gas units get less efficent every year from scale, not electric though. Most new regular grade Ng tanks only have an EF rating now of 55-60, and that is their new efficency rating 55-60%. Then factor in a dirty burner, wasting pilot light and unefficent design of 20 years ago and you have a bigger gas bill. I pulled out a

20 yr tank and cut it open for fun, it had nearly 13 inches of rocky scale that was blocking heat trasnfer. My new tank cut my summers gas bill in half, so there are other reasons to replace them, and if it blows, will it ruin anything in the basement?

[clare]

Well, the efficiency isn't TOO bad. I heat the entire house and the hot water for under $700 per year in gas. 100 sq ft 2 story plus finished basement in Central Ontario.

[ransley]

I bet Its under 45% so its crap.

[Roger Shoaf]

I bet Its under 45% so its crap.

Unless you are paying to cool your house the heat *lost* actually is lost inside your house ands the heat from the standing pilot gets absorbed into the water you were going to heat anyway.

Either cheap electricity or expensive gas could sway the cost factor to electric however usually gas is the cheapest.

[clare]

It's staying 'till it leaks, and then I'll look at higher efficiency. Replacingg my 30+ year old furnace with a non-condensing high efficiency (tempstar 80+) furnace didn't cut my gas bill a penny. It DID lower my electric bill. So I'm not going to pay a huge premium for a few points in efficiency. DEFINITELY won't go to electric.