Eight signs your water heater is near the end

Only one of these means replace it today. The rest are worth knowing about early.

Water heaters give plenty of warning before they fail, and the warnings are easy to read once you know them. Only one item on this list is definitive; the rest are worth acting on before they become an emergency.

1. Water pooling under the tank

If the water is coming from the tank body rather than a fitting, the steel has perforated and nothing repairs it. This is the definitive sign. Check the fittings, the T&P discharge and the drain valve first, because those are all repairable and they all produce puddles too.

2. Age past twelve years

Most tank heaters are built for eight to twelve years. Well maintained ones exceed it comfortably; neglected ones fail early. The serial number on the data plate usually encodes the manufacture date - we can read it for you.

3. Rusty hot water only

If the cold runs clear and the hot runs brown, the tank interior is corroding. Sometimes it is just a consumed anode rod, which is a repair. Persistent rust on an older tank is the tank itself.

4. Rumbling that has been there for years

Sediment insulating the burner from the water makes the tank bottom run hotter than it was designed to. Heavy, hardened sediment that will not flush out has already shortened the tank's life.

5. Hot water that no longer lasts

Worth diagnosing rather than assuming, because sediment, a failed element and a broken dip tube all cause this and all three are repairs. If those are ruled out and the tank is old, capacity loss is a tank problem.

6. Repairs stacking up

One element or one thermocouple on a healthy tank is good value. A third repair on a ten-year-old unit is money spent on something you are going to replace anyway.

7. The relief valve keeps discharging

The T&P valve releases when temperature or pressure goes too high. If it is weeping regularly, either the valve has failed, the thermostat is overshooting, or the system needs an expansion tank. All need looking at - it is a safety device doing its job.

8. Visible corrosion at the fittings and jacket

Rust creeping around the top fittings or blooming at the base of the jacket is the outside of a process happening on the inside too.

Repair or replace, honestly

Under eight years with a sound tank: repair, nearly always. Over twelve with a leaking tank: replace. In between, we give you both numbers and let you decide, because sometimes a cheap repair buying two more years is exactly the right call.