I used to work as a mitigation (fire, water, mold) company project manager. When we would get calls for water damage caused by water heaters, the homeowners almost always said they were 8-10 hrs old.

If you are putting in a new tank, I would suggest getting one of those pans and a sensor. Many of those units can be tied into your alarm system, so you get an alert if you are away from home and it starts leaking. If I remember right, the average cleanup and rebuild from one of those leaks was around $15k.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
they leak before they fail. If its in a place you frequent and where a water leak doesn't matter (think concrete basement floor) run till dead. If its not the above I'd get a new one asap. I've had between 6-25 years. you simply don't know. but 15 is on the wrong side of the curve. and they don't actually cost very much.

This is my view. I had one that was more than 20 years, and I was getting ready to replace it (it was in the attic) when we got flooded by Harvey, and sold the place.