Six Types of Water Heater, and the Four Reasons They Quit Early

A water heater is the one appliance in the house expected to run constantly and never really gets thought about until the shower turns cold. Most of them don't fail from simple old age. They fail from one of four specific things going wrong inside the tank, and three of the four are avoidable with the right setup from the start.

The six types in use around North Georgia homes

Traditional water heaters and gas water heaters cover most homes, the difference being how the water gets heated rather than how it gets stored. Tank water heaters keep a reservoir of hot water ready to go, while tankless units heat water on demand as it passes through, with no standing reservoir at all. Quick recovery water heaters are built to reheat a depleted tank faster than a standard unit, which matters in a household that runs through hot water quickly. Commercial water heaters scale the same basic technology up for higher demand buildings.

Internal oxidation

Most tank water heaters have a sacrificial anode rod inside, a length of metal that corrodes on purpose so the steel tank doesn't have to. Once that rod is fully depleted, usually after several years depending on water chemistry, the tank itself starts rusting from the inside. By the time that rust reaches the outside of the tank as a visible leak, the damage has been happening for a long time already.

Sediment buildup

North Georgia water carries minerals that settle out of hot water and collect at the bottom of the tank over time. That layer of sediment insulates the burner or heating element from the water above it, which makes the unit work harder and less efficiently to hit the same temperature. It also tends to announce itself with a popping or rumbling sound from the tank, water boiling underneath a layer of sediment instead of moving freely through it. Left alone long enough, that same sediment layer can bake onto the tank floor and shorten the unit's life on its own.

The wrong size for the house

A water heater sized too small for the household runs almost constantly trying to keep up with demand, and that extra runtime wears it out faster than a properly sized unit would. One sized too large costs more to run than it needs to, heating and reheating more water than the household actually uses. Getting the size right at installation is one of the few failure causes that gets solved once and doesn't come back.

Water pressure running too high

Municipal water pressure that runs high puts constant stress on a water heater's tank, fittings, and the pressure relief valve meant to protect it. Over months and years that stress shows up as failed fittings, a valve that won't hold, or a tank that gives out earlier than its rated life. A pressure check is a small thing to test and a real factor in how long a heater actually lasts.

How long a water heater should actually last

A well maintained tank water heater typically runs 8 to 12 years before one of the four causes above catches up with it, while a tankless unit, with no tank to build sediment or corrode, often runs considerably longer. Flushing sediment out of a tank once a year is the single most effective thing a homeowner can do to push that number toward the high end instead of the low end, since it directly addresses the buildup that insulates the heating element and forces it to work harder.

The anode rod is worth the same attention, even though almost nobody thinks about it. Checking it every two to three years, and replacing it once it's mostly consumed, is inexpensive compared to a full tank replacement. It's the difference between internal oxidation staying a maintenance item and becoming a leak that shows up as water on the floor of a utility closet.

A water heater that's short cycling, making noise, or simply running out of hot water faster than it used to is usually telling you which of these four is happening. Fortune Plumbing repairs and replaces traditional, gas, tankless and quick recovery water heaters across Gainesville, Cumming and the rest of North Georgia, and can be reached at (770) 532-9489 or by text at (770) 295-9117.