{"id":11897,"date":"2020-06-29T01:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T01:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beplumbsmart.com\/?p=11897"},"modified":"2023-12-20T17:09:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T23:09:58","slug":"how-to-check-the-age-of-a-water-heater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/how-to-check-the-age-of-a-water-heater\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Check the Age of a Water Heater"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Let\u2019s talk about <strong>water heaters<\/strong>. Your water heater is one of the most expensive and important fixtures in your home, yet many homeowners never even think about theirs until there\u2019s an emergency.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Today, we\u2019ll go over a few basics to help you know if you should think about replacing yours, as well as some helpful tips.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Old Is Your Water Heater?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The first thing you\u2019ll want to look for is the age of the water heater. Your unit will probably have a few different labels on it, but the important one is usually plain and white or light gray. It\u2019ll look something like the one here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Usually (especially on newer units), the manufacture date will be printed as such right on the label. If not, you can usually figure it out by looking at the first four digits of the serial number.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The water heater associated with this label you can see was manufactured in January 1997 (0197). If your water heater is this old, it means that you\u2019re very lucky&#8211;and that you should replace it as soon as possible. Most standard water heaters are warrantied for six years, and the average life expectancy is 10-12. If you\u2019re in that range, it would be wise to keep an eye on it even if you\u2019re not experiencing issues.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Signs of Water Heater Decay<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Regardless of the age of your water heater, one sign that it\u2019s likely near the end of its life is if you see rust-colored water coming out of your hot taps. This is a sign that the inside of the tank has rusted <a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/water-heater-repair-vs-water-heater-replacement-how-to-choose\/\">to the point of disintegration<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Note: it\u2019s possible to have rust-colored water without a water heater issue, but it\u2019s generally only found in older homes that still have galvanized steel water lines in some places.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does Your Water Heater Have an Isolation Valve?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>While you\u2019re checking out your water heater, it\u2019s also useful to note whether or not it has an isolation valve in case of an emergency. If you\u2019re facing the front of your water heater, the cold\/inlet pipe will be on the right and the hot\/outlet pipe on the left. There should be a shutoff valve on the cold side, although not every unit is installed properly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>If you ever experience a catastrophic leak on your water heater, you can close that valve and isolate the unit along with all of your hot water lines. That way, you\u2019ll at least still have cold water until you can have the water heater replaced.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>And there you have it. There aren\u2019t really any DIY tips for handling a water heater issue&#8211;the best thing to do is to call a professional if you have a problem. It\u2019s good though to have a plan to replace your water heater when it goes out, as well as how you can keep your water on in the event of a leak.<\/p>\r\n<h2>Schedule a Plumber<\/h2>\r\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/schedule-a-plumber\/\">Schedule a plumber<\/a><\/strong> if you need assistance, we are happy to help.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/about\/reviews\/\">Read our reviews<\/a> to learn more <a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/about\/\">about us<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/plumbing-services\/\">our services<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s talk about water heaters. Your water heater is one of the most expensive and important fixtures in your home, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/how-to-check-the-age-of-a-water-heater\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[33,34],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Check the Age of a Water Heater | Plumb Smart, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn How to Check the Age of a Water Heater. Plumb Smart offers emergency plumbing, drain cleaning, and sewer inspection services.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/how-to-check-the-age-of-a-water-heater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Check the Age of a Water Heater | Plumb Smart, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn How to Check the Age of a Water Heater. Plumb Smart offers emergency plumbing, drain cleaning, and sewer inspection services.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/how-to-check-the-age-of-a-water-heater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plumb Smart, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/plumbsmartinc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-29T01:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-20T23:09:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/plumbsmart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/shutterstock_77747251.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Little\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@guruplumber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@guruplumber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Little\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Check the Age of a Water Heater | Plumb Smart, Inc.","description":"Learn How to Check the Age of a Water Heater. 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