Quote:
Originally Posted by Chocaholic
Will keep the question short.
10 year old Rheem electric tank heater (2012) installed in attic space for a portion of the house. All working fine. Not easily accessible. Do you proactively replace due to age or wait for it to fail?
Being in attic space, my concern would be eventual leaking and subsequent damage. Do relatively modern tanks rot out and leak due to age or just stop heating?
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Most attic installs require a pan to be installed in the even the tank has a leak. Personally, if your water isn't corrosive, I wouldn't worry much about it. The only reason I replaced my old electric water heater was due to recovery capacity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chocaholic
Good advice. It’s in a pan that’s maybe 3cm deep...don’t know if there’s a level sensor. Just bought the house and not moving in for a couple of weeks. Will definitely check when we get in. Thanks.
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Just saw this. Part of code in many cases is that the drain for the pan be in a location where the owner will notice water dripping from it. An occasional shot of air up the drain outlet will keep it clean and working in the event the tank fails.
For maintenance, the best thing you could do before moving in is to turn off the power and fully drain the tank. Then close the drain, turn the water on, let some water into the tank and drain it again. This gets any sediment out of the tank. Sediment is what tends to harm electric elements.