Question on hot water tank anode rod replacement

[thor447]

Here's my take on it. Do you have the money to replace it right now while it's not an emergency? Will you have the money squirreled away when you wake up with water all over your laundry room and garage floors. I recently had to plunk down $1000 to replace my water heater unexpectedly and that was with my friend from school giving me the friends and family discount. If you have the money now and your tank is 10+ years old, I'd suggest biting the bullet and do it while you can plan for it.

That's solid advice, thank you. I came to the conclusion last night. I'm just going to go ahead and install an entire new unit and be done with it. No point in waiting for it to fail in the next year or two.

 

[CoronaBorealis]

Man, funny how these threads can sometimes be so timely. Our water tank is 21 years old. My wife and I have decided we’ve pushed our luck enough and it’s time to get a new one before it becomes a panic situation. We have one quote and we’re waiting on another company to come out and quote us this coming week, but just for comparison what should we expect in terms of cost? With only the one quote so far I don’t know if they are high, low or average.

We have a 40 gallon gas tank currently, but we’re thinking of going tankless. We know that’ll be more expensive upfront, but ONg is looking to raise rates from last years storm anyway so we’ll be paying more down the road with a less efficient system.

What are reasonable prices for parts/labor for a tanked heater and tankless heater?

 

[Bocephus123]

yep believe service contractors are up to 1500-2000 on installs. i was doing them for 700 with tank and parts was a good day for me.

 

[GC7]

@thor447 it's possible (but probably unlikely) that your current WH has a multi-piece anode rod. You could also get one of these for your new one. These are meant for low clearance situations.