Replace hot water system ?

My daughter just purchased a 30 year old condo. It still has all the original appliances.

If the water tank in the 40 gallon General Electric hot water system goes, it will flood the condo, and cause lots of damage. My real question is what's the chance the existing system will last five years? Or the chance that a new system will die in 5 years?

Reply to
George Eberhardt
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The heater is also 30 yrs old?? Whoa! Avg life is 10 years, elec may last 20 years. 30 is borrowed time...

Replace it and see if it is possible to install a drain pan under the heater (and drain it to somewhere). Also make sure the relief tube discharges to someplace safe.

This Old House did a show where they installed a pan with a float switch which shuts off the water. Expensive, but this kind of thing could be attractive.

Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

I tend to agree, but as far as I can tell the whole 300 units are all about the same condition, with original equipment. And its gas..

There is no way to drain pan, and the overflow is onto the floor. Its a ground level concrete pad.

Thats an idea thats worth following up. Would not stop all the damage, but would limit it. Thanks.

Reply to
George Eberhardt

Often, in condo-style dwellings, a drain pipe is simply punched thru the exterior wall to take care of both the pan and relief. (Dunno if that would be applicable here.) Jim

Reply to
Speedy Jim

its a toss up, flip a coin.. thats the only way of telling... no one can tell you the answer.. they can say, oh well you got 10 more years or tell you that it will not last 6 months... who you gonna believe??? they both telling you what they think and that would be two different plumbers who come out and look at the hot water heater..... over the internet you not gonna get any kind of answer that will really satisfy you, unless you find someone that tells you what you want to hear and let it go like that.... hope this helps.

Reply to
jim

If the heater sits on the floor, maybe the solution is to build a sort of "box" for it to sit in, with a couple of rows of ceramic tile. And overflow type switch inside the box would contain any future possible leaks to keep them at a minimum.

Now the only question is, should this be a mud job or would cement backerboard suffice? =:-)

Reply to
HA HA Budys Here

Look into Tankless and tankless gas will save 300 a year over an elec tank at regular .12kwh rates

Reply to
m Ransley

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