What are the causes for a water heater replacement?

Water heaters are the container of joy we never pay attention to until something happens and the joy is gone. We do take hot water for granted! The only time you think about the heater hidden away in a closet is when your shower is cold!

But do you know what causes hot water replacement? What causes a hot water heater to fail?

There are really only a couple of things that can go wrong. The element can burn out – but that can be replaced and is common.

Of the two reasons for failure, one is very clear and the other takes more time to see. If you run out of water, open the closet door and see water (usually rust colored) on the floor, you know the old heater’s days are done. Heaters rust out due to several reasons including mineral issues in the waters and simple rusting of parts. Time for a new heater!

The other common cause for replacement is often overlooked for years. We’ve all heard waters heaters making those scary rumbling and popping sounds. That’s a telltale sign of a water heater with a badly scaled heat exchanger. It will still work but you are not only wasting electricity, but it takes much longer to make water hot.

Here’s the problem. Scale on the heat exchanger means the efficiency of heating your water has gone way down compared to a unit with a clean surface. That popping and rumbling is caused by small steam bubbles forming and collapsing due to localized hot spots on the surface of the heat exchanger.

There you go. Two reasons for hot water heater replacement. Call us and we can swap out that heater quickly. (And probably save you some money on your electric bill)!