The glass half full version of the story is: the hot water tank has given us some warning over the last two weeks that it is about to fail.
The glass half empty version of the story is: it’s the third day of the new year and we have to replace the hot water tank.
The pressure relief valve on the hot water tank started leaking about two weeks ago. Mostly it was a dribble, but three times there either has been a mess on the floor or a full bucket of water to empty down there. I finally called the plumber yesterday, and he came out and took a look. The hot water tank is nearing the end of it’s life and so it is going to be replaced today. I thought that hot water tank was supposed to last 10 years, but that is only if you have soft water like Victoria. With hard water like in Calgary, a hot water tank only last 6 to 8 years. Our tank is seven years old.
I guess the next conversation will be whether or not we should install a water softener.
Updated
The plumbers came and took away our old tank and replaced it with a new one.
The major bits of new information that Tammy gathered from them:
- Need to purge the tank every 6 months to keep the sediment level low.
- The grade of our floor under the hot water tank slopes away from the drain. Moving the drain would not be cost-effective. Better to use a cement product to alter the floor so that any leaks would flow towards the drain.
- A water softener is our best bet for both extending the length of our tank’s life and also improving our dry skin problems.
